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" Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith. "
Spike Lee
Women
Black
Change
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" I'm blessed, I can afford to send my children to private school. "
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" I'm very careful about how I portray violence in my films. I do believe that violence, especially violent video games, are not a good thing for young kids. "
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" All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. "
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" People think I'm this angry black man walking around in a constant state of rage. "
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" I knew I was never going to play professional sport, but I loved playing and I went to all the games I could afford to. "
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" Fight the power that be. Fight the power. "
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" A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there. "
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" Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that. "
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" My grandmother lived to be 100 years old. Her grandmother was a slave, yet she was a college graduate in the Spellman class of 1917. She taught art for 50 years and she saved her Social Security checks for her children's education. "
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She
Education
" I always give the example, if you turn on the radio today, black radio, Lenny Kravitz is not black. Bob Marley wasn't black: in the beginning, only white college stations played Bob Marley. "
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Today
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" If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism. "
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" I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully. "
Spike Lee
Dictate
Stevie Wonder
Wonder
" I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator. "
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Respect
Intelligence
Go
" Right now a lot of people are still choosing to go to Toronto instead of shooting in New York City, something I haven't done and something I hope I'll never have to do. "
Spike Lee
People
City
Done
" I used the principles of Kickstarter to make 'She's Gotta Have It.' We filmed that in 1985 to 1986. The final cost was $175,000. I didn't have that money. It was friends, grants, donations. We saved our bottles for the nickel deposit. "
Spike Lee
Principles
Friends
She
" '25th Hour,' like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I've been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it's great going home at night instead of being on location. "
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Night
City
Great
" There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic. "
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You
Perfect
Law
" 'She's Gotta Have It' and 'School Daze,' I really didn't know what I was doing. And the biggest indicator of that was the acting. 'Do the Right Thing' was like the first film where I really felt comfortable working with actors. "
Spike Lee
Doing
Do The Right Thing
Know
" Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner. "
Spike Lee
Dinner
You
Job
" It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are. "
Spike Lee
Quest
Down
Here
" What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real. "
Spike Lee
Hollywood
Difference
Real
" We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts. "
Spike Lee
Age
Surprise
Environment
" I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful. "
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" Any time you talk about the look of the film, it's not just the director and the director of photography. You have to include the costume designer and the production designer. "
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Photography
Time
You
" I'm riding my man Obama. I think he's a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was 'Do the Right Thing.' I said, Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to 'Soul Man.' Michelle would have been like 'What's wrong with this brother?' "
Spike Lee
Brother
Man
God
" I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets. "
Spike Lee
Great
Good
Culture
" For me, I believe in God, God is real. "
Spike Lee
Real
God
Believe
" I think the best actors in the world are here in New York City. And this city is just so vibrant the energy is just phenomenal. Great crews here. All the technicians, all the artists that work in this industry. I've just been very happy with the body that we've been able to do, especially those films we shot here in New York City. "
Spike Lee
Work
Best
City
" My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. "
Spike Lee
Lee
Also
Malcolm
" I don't get tripped up in technology. I use technology as a tool. 'Oldboy' we shot Two Pro 35mm. For 'Da Blood of Jesus,' we shot digitally. We shot the new Sony F55. It's a 4K camera. "
Spike Lee
Camera
Up
Two