Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten. "

Related Quotes:

" 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. "

" '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. "

Do The Right Thing

" I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers. "

" I don't like acting; not in front of the camera. "

" Making films has got to be one of the hardest endeavors known to humankind. "

" Fight the power that be. Fight the power. "

" A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there. "

" 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. "

" I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I'm still bankable. "

" 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. "

" I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody. "

" I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner. "

" 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. "

" A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there. "

" All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love. "

" I tend to favour films that have multiple plot and story lines, multiple characters and ensemble pieces. "

" '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. "

" I didn't dream about being a director. I didn't know I wanted to do something with film until the summer between my sophomore and junior years at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. "

" Mike Tyson is the most complex person I've ever met in my life. I've known Mike since 1986. We're both from Brooklyn. I didn't know him growing up, but once he became heavyweight champion, I knew him then. "

" People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been working since 1986. From the beginning, I was determined to not just be a flash in the pan. I've got to keep up with Woody Allen. He's lapping me. "

Do The Right Thing

" Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up. "

" 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. "

" For me, I believe in God, God is real. "

" 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. "

" I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully. "

" You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. "

" I get offered to do stuff where the money's nice but it's not something I want to do - I get offered a lot of commercials too. "