Audience Quote by Roger Ebert
“Crowds can be frightening. They have a way of impressing the low, base taste upon their members. Watching the way thousands of people in his audience could not think for themselves, could not find the courage to allow their ordinary feelings of decency and taste to prevail, I understood better how demagogues are possible.”
About This Quote
Source Essay: 1995, Film Critique
Crowds can suppress individual judgment, enabling demagogues; highlighting the danger of conformity and loss of personal taste.
In simple terms: Crowds diminish personal judgment.
Key Takeaway
Resist conformity.
Themes
society
psychology
demagoguery
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
analytical
social
When to use this quote
- political activism
- media literacy
- public speaking
- critical thinking
Key Concepts
groupthink
social influence
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you maintain personal taste?
- What fuels demagoguery?
A Different Perspective
Individual agency can be limited.
![“The one thing that Jessica [Johnson] and Miles[Morales] have in common is that there's a great many people in the audience who were desperate for that kind of material. They didn't say anything, didn't tell anybody.” quote by Brian Michael Bendis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/092/brian-michael-bendis-9912_actor_the-one-thing-that-jessica-johnson-and-m_417854.jpg)
![“Gene [Siskel] often mentioned something François Truffaut once told him: the most beautiful sight in a movie theater is to walk down to the front, turn around, and look at the light from the screen reflected on the upturned faces of the members of the audience.” quote by Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2d8/roger-ebert-655_audience_gene-siskel-often-mentioned-something-fr_61356.jpg)
