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" If some of us can get an Oscar for extolling that it's hard out there for a pimp, why can't others of us admonish: 'Then quit acting like a pimp'? "
John Ridley
Why
Others
Acting
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" I didn't know I was a good director, and I mean that sincerely. I had done a film a long time ago called 'Cold Around the Heart.' Nobody saw it, and it didn't turn out the way I wanted to. "
John Ridley
Good
Heart
Time
" There is not a country on earth whose people don't deserve to be free and safe. "
John Ridley
Deserve
Earth
Country
" Seriously, you know - I love to write. I enjoy the process; I enjoy the different processes, because writing for film and television and graphic novels is all very different. So I've never had the feeling of, 'Oh, you have to do this one thing.' "
John Ridley
Know
Enjoy
You
" Slavery was not a bad day on the job. It was not your boss yelling at you. It was not hard work for little pay. This was a full system of human subjugation. "
John Ridley
Work
Slavery
Job
" Even I haven't downed enough L.A. Kool-Aid to believe that somehow Hollywood movies are an overt instrument of morality. "
John Ridley
Even
Believe
Movies
" For children, diversity needs to be real and not merely relegated to learning the names of the usual suspects during Black History Month or enjoying south-of-the-border cuisine on Cinco de Mayo. It means talking to and spending time with kids not like them so that they may discover those kids are in fact just like them. "
John Ridley
History
Black
Children
" Just mention the idea of warrantless wiretaps and expect to get hit up with a congressional investigation. But give somebody an avatar and a URL, and he can't tweet, post or hyperlink enough personal information about himself to as many people as possible. "
John Ridley
Enough
Personal
Information
" Slavery is something that affects all of us. It's all of our history. "
John Ridley
Slavery
Us
History
" There are any number of very hard working people in Hollywood who deserve recognition. Mostly its the artisans and crafts persons - the 'below the line' workers - whose only reward is to be pejoratively labeled 'below the line' workers. I say get them all on the next thing smoking to Vegas for an all expense paid weekend of whatever. "
John Ridley
People
Recognition
Smoking
" Not only does Hollywood make money - it seems to make better movies during recessions. I'm sure a lot of studio executives wish we could have one every year. "
John Ridley
Hollywood
Wish
Movies
" 'The Martin Show,' the 'Jamie Foxx show,' 'Living Single,' 'The Wayans Brothers,' 'Hanging with Mr. Cooper...' Some of these shows were good, some were typical television, but they facilitated a lot of work for blacks in front of as well as behind the camera. A lot of us in Hollywood thought it was the beginning of a real racial breakthrough. "
John Ridley
Beginning
Camera
Good
" I don't want an underachiever working on my car's transmission. Why would I want someone regular sitting in the Oval Office? Sorry, give me somebody who has demonstrated a capacity to excel. "
John Ridley
Sorry
Sitting
Me
" In every election cycle that I can recall, there comes a moment - or a few - where charges of elitism and claims of commonness are wielded by presidential candidates like a sword and shield: 'Vote for me 'cause I'm one of you. It's the other guy who's out of touch.' "
John Ridley
You
Vote
Sword
" It's not that white guys shouldn't be allowed to engage in discussions on race in America. But there's nothing more exhausting than white male liberals' dogmatisms on race that were clearly formed during a conversation they had with that one black guy they met back in college. "
John Ridley
Conversation
America
Black
" Let's be very clear: Living 'unforgiven' is not the sole domain of blacks. It can be found in any successful person. "
John Ridley
Living
Found
Clear
" With fear of stating the obvious: Freedom belongs to 'We the People,' not 'They the Politicians.' "
John Ridley
Freedom
People
Politicians
" I don't really have anything against the French except that, as an American, I've been bred to despise them with the same zeal as soccer and Renny Harlin films. "
John Ridley
American
Same
Soccer
" I still have my first 'Black Lightning' that I got way back in the day, and my first 'Steel.' And I proudly display those comics, by the way. I have a lot of comics, but those are among the ones that mean the most to me. "
John Ridley
Me
Way
Black
" With comics, you don't have to worry so much about budgetary constraints. In film and television, however fanciful you want to be, someone can come up to you and go, 'Okay, this is going to cost X amount of dollars, and we only have so many days to film this.' With graphic novels, you can have that alien invasion you've always wanted to see. "
John Ridley
Someone
Television
You
" So, is Hollywood anti-religion? Not in my opinion. But unlike, say, politicians and preachers who talk faith before going off to speak in tongues to their mistresses, Hollywood just doesn't wear its faith on its sleeve. "
John Ridley
Faith
Say
Speak
" When times are tough, people want to escape to somewhere fantastic without having to pay actual escape-to-somewhere-fantastic cash. And offering a couple of hours away from the ordinary is what the movies do best. "
John Ridley
Movies
Escape
Tough
" Obama is the New Generation and the hot light of a dawn that goes way beyond clever talk of morning in America. "
John Ridley
Generation
Hot
Light
" If art is singular expression, then by nature, the best art is controversial. But when art stirs debate for reasons besides its artistic integrity, that's when things get bent. "
John Ridley
Debate
Best
Art
" Republicans can be a funny bunch. They're against affirmative action, but they always seem to be able to find people of color to fill a slot just when they're most needed. "
John Ridley
Action
Just
People
" When I go to business meetings, I'm still told way too often by some receptionist, 'The mail room is downstairs,' to believe that racial perceptions don't still exist. But I figure there are always going to be knuckleheads no matter how many of their herd get stuck in the tar pits of progress. "
John Ridley
Meetings
Believe
Business
" When it comes to fighting for freedom, those who are willing to fight should not be limited by our bigotry. Only rewarded with our gratitude. "
John Ridley
Freedom
Fighting
Fight
" Oh, happy day when the enemies of ascendancy have got to confess that people of color rock. "
John Ridley
People
Enemies
Color
" The great thing about working with NPR - and, really, there's like a million of 'em - is all the cool stuff I get to do for the public. Meet the president. Hang out at the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas. Drink a $10,000 martini. "
John Ridley
Vegas
Working
Cool
" In the Everybody-Give-Me-A-Hug victim culture in which we live, the obese want a spot at the table along with those who face discrimination based on the way that God or Nature or our Intelligent Designer created us. "
John Ridley
God
Culture
Nature
" I'm sorry, but chick fights are sexy. If you don't think so, you're either an uptight woman or a lying man. "
John Ridley
Woman
Man
You