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" 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. "
Spike Lee
Power
Opportunity
Blessed
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" 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. "
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Get
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" When I went to school, you had to take art, you had to play an instrument. You had to play an instrument. But it's all degraded since then. I do not know what kind of nation we are that is cutting art, music, and gym out of the public-school curriculum. "
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School
You
Music
" 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
" I am a hybrid. I do independent films and also do Hollywood films - I love them both. "
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Independent
Am
Hollywood
" 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. "
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People
Man
Black
" I don't like acting; not in front of the camera. "
Spike Lee
Front
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Camera
" 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. "
Spike Lee
Now
Men
Black
" I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated. "
Spike Lee
I Am
School
Education
" I think my work shows that I love women. I understand where these types of criticisms are coming from because black people have been so dogged out in the media, they're just extra sensitive. "
Spike Lee
Women
People
Media
" 'Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations. "
Spike Lee
Film
Do The Right Thing
Right
" I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator. "
Spike Lee
Respect
Intelligence
Go
" The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes. "
Spike Lee
Truth Is
Writing
Truth
" 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. "
Spike Lee
America
Time
Culture
" My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker. "
Spike Lee
Lee
Also
Malcolm
" A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there. "
Spike Lee
You
Credit
Movies
" I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films. "
Spike Lee
You
Hope
Pessimist
" 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 think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect. "
Spike Lee
People
Perfect
Interesting
" 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
" 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
" I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully. "
Spike Lee
Dictate
Stevie Wonder
Wonder
" Fight the power that be. Fight the power. "
Spike Lee
Power
Fight
" 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. "
Spike Lee
Movies
Doctor
Me
" You have to do the research. If you don't know about something, then you ask the right people who do. "
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Ask
Know
People
" It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody. "
Spike Lee
Been
Parents
Observation
" 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. "
Spike Lee
College
She
Education
" What's the difference between Hollywood characters and my characters? Mine are real. "
Spike Lee
Hollywood
Difference
Real
" I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your kid in a good school today, your kids are going to be behind the eight ball. "
Spike Lee
Today
Good
I Am
" People of color have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented, and these images go around the world. "
Spike Lee
Color
People
World
" And one thing Hollywood does well is sequels. "
Spike Lee
One Thing
Well
Hollywood