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" I'm a lover of film and storytelling. I believe that I was put on earth to tell stories, and I'm not interested in telling the same stories over and over and over again. "
Justin Simien
Believe
Earth
I Believe
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" For me it's just, I have too many ideas, man. It's a problem, actually. "
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Me
" I never liked 'Donnie Darko' quite as much as my film school peers. "
Justin Simien
Film
Peers
Never
" The mark of a really great satire is its ability to seem prophetic, and I think that the television culture that film predicted really came true in the age of reality television and is a testament to how great it really is. "
Justin Simien
Reality
Think
Age
" 'Color-blind' comes up - people say 'Oh, I'm color-blind and therefore can't be accused of racism,' but I think that if we are going to have an honest dialogue about racism, we have to admit that people of color are having a different experience. "
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Experience
Color
Think
" Balance, I think, and self-care is something I want people to really take to heart. "
Justin Simien
Want
Balance
Think
" It is frustrating having to walk through America having to bob and weave people's impressions of me because they see a tall black guy walking down the street. That is frustrating. "
Justin Simien
People
Black
Walking
" Stories teach us empathy. They reveal to us ourselves in the skins of others. "
Justin Simien
Others
Teach
Empathy
" Every movie has the thing it's about, and then, deep down, it has this thing that it's really about. 'Star Wars' is not really about a space opera, action, and the galactic quest. It's about self-doubt. "
Justin Simien
Deep
Space
Star
" To surrender your ego, you have to have one first. "
Justin Simien
First
Surrender
You
" The downside of doing a multi-protagonist movie is that you don't get to service each character as you would if they were the central protagonist of the movie. "
Justin Simien
You
Get
Character
" I remember the first time that I realized that being black meant that I wasn't allowed certain things. It was in the fourth grade, and it was who I thought was my best friend not inviting me to his birthday party because I would be the only black kid there. It was the first time I ever felt restricted, and it certainly wasn't the last time. "
Justin Simien
Best Friend
Best
Birthday
" I talk about being a 'what' to people. Like, being gay in mainstream society is a different kind of 'what' than being black. They don't always jive. It's confusing and leads to these really awkward personal stories that have just been in me for awhile. "
Justin Simien
Me
People
Black
" If you walk out of a movie that's meant to be about race in our country, and you're feeling good and happy, then that movie didn't tell you all of the truth. It's too big of an issue, and it's too complicated for you to feel good. It's something you should feel like you need to talk about. "
Justin Simien
Happy
Walk
You
" The way Hollywood and TV is, black people don't have any choice but to see ourselves in white-dominated television shows and stories and movies. "
Justin Simien
Choice
Hollywood
Movies
" There is a difference between being offended and being prejudiced and even being bigoted against. There's a difference between that and racism. "
Justin Simien
Against
Offended
Racism
" America is a different country, and it will forever be a different country after the election of Donald Trump. "
Justin Simien
Donald Trump
Election
America
" I've always thought that 'Dear White People' should live on as a TV show, so I'll leave it at that. "
Justin Simien
Always
Live
TV
" Self-doubt is a constant companion for a chubby, gay, black boy born in the South. "
Justin Simien
Boy
Born
Black
" When you're part of a society where you're constantly having to define your identity and sort of negotiate with what the mainstream culture thinks you are, you have less energy and time to figure out who you are when you go home at night. "
Justin Simien
Home
Go
Culture
" For whatever reason, gay characters, or characters that deal with sexuality issues, who are black, in 'black films'... are typically not dealt with with any sort of complexity. They're exoticized: their being gay is sort of the point. "
Justin Simien
Black
Gay
Reason
" If you examine any aspect of the human condition long enough, you really do have to start laughing at it. Because the business of being human is kind of ridiculous. "
Justin Simien
You
Kind
Enough
" It's always kind of gratifying to go back to the place that launched you and show you did good. "
Justin Simien
Place
Good
Always
" Here's the thing: I come from a filmmaking background, so this concept of sort of overseeing a television show but not directing was, in general, not weird, but I had to get used to what that felt like. My initial instinct was, 'I want to direct as much of this as possible.' But the logistics of making of TV, that's just not possible. "
Justin Simien
Weird
Want
Television
" Films with predominantly white casts can come in any form, tell any story, big or small. For black films, you have the light, fluffy rom-coms or 'Madea' movies, and then you have the black-torture awards movie. "
Justin Simien
Small
Story
You
" I remember distinctly not seeing myself. I didn't see myself in black culture, white culture, mass culture. "
Justin Simien
Culture
Black
Remember
" I love great prestige television, but because I make television, sometimes I don't want to, like, you know, fall into a very heavy cerebral drama. "
Justin Simien
You
Great
Fall
" Racism is over in the 'Star Trek' future, but they found a way to comment on sexism and racism in the present day in such a subversive and smart way, you know? "
Justin Simien
Know
Day
Future
" Hip-hop isn't dead by any means, but it's not something I define my black identity with. "
Justin Simien
Dead
Black
Define
" Any time a black person has the audacity to tell everybody else that they're also human beings, they are confronted with all kinds of malice and violence and ill will. It's been that way since black people were brought to this country. "
Justin Simien
Country
Black
Time
" One of the things that I love about Robert Altman's movies is that, really, a Robert Altman movie is just a bunch of short films about various people told at the same time. "
Justin Simien
Short
Love
Movies