The filmmaker behind 'Dear White People', 'Haunted Mansion', and 'Hollywood Black' discusses finding your voice in an industry that increasingly doesn’t want you to have one (and much more)
Yeah, it's a great quote. The whole conversation is filled with brilliant quotes, I think. The clips I edited out of it are so strong. I'm glad you found anything of value in the chat!
"to try to put him in a box, to understand and control him, to try to make him dance for them" -- oh I thought that was what they did to white people . . . .
No? I have always felt that is what Hollywood did and does to all creators. My entire life I have felt this is what Hollywood and all contiguous establishments -- the art world, the photography world, the music world, the poetry world, the lawyers who meddle in art, the politicians who meddle in art, 99.5% of critics -- do. They put 'him' (by which I mean every man woman and other creature, not excluding Lassie) into a box . . . .which they try to figure out (analyze) and control (for instance, make it do the same thing over and over), etc. etc. In this scenario, versatility, flexibility and growth -- all things artists need -- are vilified and suppressed, probably because they interfere with the stable pecuniary growth that an artist's backers require, or think they require. Backing is disproportionately more necessary to have in the art of cinema, because it has always cost so much to produce. Even so, in all the other arts, backing of some kind is required. And the backer no matter how seemingly selfless, always wants something for it, preferably control!
That's not the case here or the context of my observation. This was more about muzzling him. His perspective and early success was unacceptable, so I was suggesting it was necessary to put him in a cage - rather than a box - and make him dance according to their terms. I was certainly put in a box myself - arguably, I put myself in a box to find success - but that box is a well-advertised one most people consciously choose to climb into. It's the force, the focus on removing a voice they find threatening, that's being emphasized here.
I love that quote - "you predict the future by telling the truth in the present."
On that score, lying in the present erases the possibility of a better future by condemning us to an interminable present and a worship of the past.
Rich stuff here.
Yeah, it's a great quote. The whole conversation is filled with brilliant quotes, I think. The clips I edited out of it are so strong. I'm glad you found anything of value in the chat!
"to try to put him in a box, to understand and control him, to try to make him dance for them" -- oh I thought that was what they did to white people . . . .
I have no idea what this comment means, Bill. Feel free to expand.
No? I have always felt that is what Hollywood did and does to all creators. My entire life I have felt this is what Hollywood and all contiguous establishments -- the art world, the photography world, the music world, the poetry world, the lawyers who meddle in art, the politicians who meddle in art, 99.5% of critics -- do. They put 'him' (by which I mean every man woman and other creature, not excluding Lassie) into a box . . . .which they try to figure out (analyze) and control (for instance, make it do the same thing over and over), etc. etc. In this scenario, versatility, flexibility and growth -- all things artists need -- are vilified and suppressed, probably because they interfere with the stable pecuniary growth that an artist's backers require, or think they require. Backing is disproportionately more necessary to have in the art of cinema, because it has always cost so much to produce. Even so, in all the other arts, backing of some kind is required. And the backer no matter how seemingly selfless, always wants something for it, preferably control!
That's not the case here or the context of my observation. This was more about muzzling him. His perspective and early success was unacceptable, so I was suggesting it was necessary to put him in a cage - rather than a box - and make him dance according to their terms. I was certainly put in a box myself - arguably, I put myself in a box to find success - but that box is a well-advertised one most people consciously choose to climb into. It's the force, the focus on removing a voice they find threatening, that's being emphasized here.