In short, Mendelsohn's suspicions are well-founded. The characters do without a doubt speak in ad copy. To say that Glamorama is a novel would be misleading. A number of recent films, including The Matrix, Existenz, and Eyes Wide Shut, have explored this allegorical landscape. Characterization appears facile, tone flat.
Plots seem gimmicky, often thematically overloaded and unbalanced, juvenile, or incoherent.
Yet, given their prevalence and visibility in various media, only reactionary criticism can continue to dismiss these immersive allegories that offer the opportunity to act within a scripted space from the vantage point of a model identity. Near the end of the book, as Victor's narrative slides occasionally into second-person, it is clear that this wisdom refers to the allegory of Glamorama itself. But Glamorama foregrounds allegory with new intensity. This debate has focused rather narrowly on representations of violence in Ellis's work, and whether these representations are justified by a didactic satirical intent. Victor Ward and the enchanted panorama through which he moves are symptomatic of a cultural condition.