Daily Inspiration Quote by Rowan Williams

A theologian calling Disney an “empire” isn’t just throwing shade at a big corporation; it’s a moral diagnosis aimed at the machinery of desire. Rowan Williams frames “marketing culture” as an ecosystem, not a neutral business function. The pointed “feeds and colludes” suggests a two-way pact: companies manufacture cravings, audiences supply attention, and both sides pretend it’s harmless fun. “Obsession” is the giveaway. He’s less interested in whether people like Disney movies than in how liking becomes identity, ritual, even liturgy - complete with pilgrimage (theme parks), relics (merch), and catechism (endless franchised narratives).

The question form matters. “What can we say…?” is an invitation to judgment, but also an admission that ordinary criticism feels inadequate. Williams is probing why a culture that prizes autonomy so easily consents to being managed. The line lands harder because he refuses the easy villain story: “colludes” implicates us. This is not propaganda done to the public; it’s desire done with the public.

The sting in “unprecedented degree of professionalism” is its coolness. Professionalism is typically praise; here it’s evidence of an ethical vacuum. Disney’s genius, he implies, is not simply storytelling but the disciplined conversion of wonder into a revenue stream - turning childhood longing into a lifelong subscription model. In context, this reads like a warning from someone trained to see how institutions shape the soul: modern enchantment can be engineered, and engineered enchantment tends to demand more than it gives.