A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Just how quickly the public participation flips from audience to actor has recently been noticed in Watergate, and earlier in the trial of Lieutenant Calley. When audience participation becomes too extensive, the villains on trial flip into public heroes because the audience quickly identifies with them, especially when they are men who are carrying out robot-like activities which necessarily resemble those of the average audience.
The End of the Work Ethic, 1972, in Media Research, 1997, p 99
Year: 1972
↪ Also at #1080, #3437
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan