The leader must resemble the follower to gratify a twofold wish

Evidence

Even the fascist leader’s startling symptoms of inferiority, his resemblance to ham actors and asocial psychopaths, is thus anticipated in Freud’s theory. For the sake of those parts of the follower’s narcissistic libido which have not been thrown into the leader image but remain attached to the follower’s own ego, the superman must still resemble the follower and appear as his ‘enlargement’. Accordingly, one of the basic devices of personalized fascist propaganda is the concept of the ‘great little man’, a person who suggests both omnipotence and the idea that he is just one of the folks, a plain, red-blooded American, untainted by material or spiritual wealth. Psychological ambivalence helps to work a social miracle. The leader image gratifies the follower’s twofold wish to submit to authority and to be the authority himself. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 192

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘great little man’ device maps onto how modern influencer and populist branding works — the pseudo-humble celebrity or politician who projects both omnipotence and ordinariness.
• DEFINE: Defines the ‘great little man’ propaganda device: someone who is both omnipotent and ‘just one of the folks’.