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" Writing for television is completely different from movie scriptwriting. A movie is all about the director's vision, but television is a writer's medium. "
Shonda Rhimes
Writing
Director
Vision
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" Frankly, the idea that we need to be beautiful, if you really think about it, it's odd. But if you can turn it inward and see yourself as beautiful, that's what changes the world. "
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" I never, ever pay attention to the ratings. I stopped paying attention to the ratings somewhere around season two or three of 'Grey's.' It's something I have no control over, so I don't even pay attention. "
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" Why should I dislike anything about my appearance? I came off the factory line this way. I am perfect. "
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" I think that women are raised to believe that they're supposed to want certain things, and so you feel like you're supposed to apologize when you don't want those things. "
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" I don't identify with her, but I highly admire Eleanor Roosevelt. "
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" I think any time you allow someone to see themselves reflected in another person on screen, there's validation there. It's hard to feel strong and sure of yourself when you're 15, but if you can turn on your television or computer and see someone who makes you feel like, 'I can be that strong...' there's validation there. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" My 15-year-old threw open the door the other day to my room and screamed, ''Freaks and Geeks' only has one season? Can they make another one?' And I tried to explain to her that it happened a long time ago. She didn't understand that because it felt very relevant to her. "
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" A lot of people think that they are leaders just because they have been placed in charge of something - and you're not. "
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" I always like to say our shows should be something that, you know, before 10 o'clock, if your kid wanders into the room, they should be able to glance at the TV, watch what's happening, but not quite know what's happening. That's always my standard. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" The secret sauce of the business that I can offer is my creativity, and in order to keep my creativity alive and fresh, I have to pretend that no one is watching the show, that there are no audiences, there are no ratings; I'm just telling a story. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" In my house, you got in trouble if you didn't speak up. My mom would be furious at us if we went to school and behaved nicely if someone treated us badly. If we got in trouble because we had yelled at them or told them that they were wrong, my mother would be like, 'Good job.' "
Shonda Rhimes
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School
" I like people with their own opinions, and I like people who argue with me. It's very exhausting to be in a room full of people who just nod and smile. "
Shonda Rhimes
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Like
" You can't tell stories and really walk in someone's shoes and not have a love for them, even if they're doing horrible things. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" A woman who doesn't want to have kids is sort of a mystery to people. That's a question they're asked the minute they get married, it's a question they're asked constantly, 'Don't you want to have kids?' And I feel like that's completely unfair. "
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" I work for ABC. If the thing that ABC is paying me for is storytelling - not to make sure that a costume is exactly right or all those other things - then it is up to me to find the most creative space possible so that that function of my job can happen. "
Shonda Rhimes
Creative
Work
Space
" I can't change the past. It made me what I am. "
Shonda Rhimes
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Past
Change
" I say it in the writers' room all the time: My black is not your black. What's terrifying is that, just the same way we've all accepted that normal is white, everybody seems to buy into the idea that there's only one way to be black or one way to be Hispanic. That's as damaging as anything else. "
Shonda Rhimes
Time
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Hispanic
" Sometimes people don't want to be empowered because they are afraid of being the person to make the decisions. "
Shonda Rhimes
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Sometimes
" I don't think that my job requires me to be competitive at all. I'm in my office by myself, or I'm in my writers' room with my people. I've chosen a job in which there's no competition allowed. It's probably best for everyone. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" I've never personally had to use a Planned Parenthood. But I have many friends who have and do and did, and I think it's important that that access be there for everyone. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" Calling a show a 'guilty pleasure' is like saying 'I'm embarrassed to say I watch it but I can't stop.' That's not a compliment. "
Shonda Rhimes
Guilty
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" I have so much going on inside my head in terms of writing, there's such a large space in my life taken up by that. I can't imagine it being taken up by a husband and children and writing, and everything getting its due. I don't believe there is room for all of it. I really don't. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" I have found that if I spend the first hour of my day at home, I get more done, and less people steal my time. "
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Day
" You have to have more people who don't look like you in the writers room. I try to have some people who don't look like me in my writers room. I think it's important to have a group of voices, of people who can dissent. "
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Group
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Look
" I don't ever approach anything from the issue first, so I can't tell you that I've thought about tackling universal health care. I'd have to have some great story I'd want to tell, and then universal health care would become part of the way to tell that story. "
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" I don't understand why people don't understand that the world of TV should look like the world outside of TV. "
Shonda Rhimes
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" I don't read work emails after 7 P.M. or on weekends. "
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" There have to be practical steps. There's no point in holding out for a magic door because there are no magic doors. You can dream your life away or actually do what you dream of doing. That's the most valuable advice I can give. "
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" Most people, I think, have accepted that it's not up to them to control other people's choices, except, it seems, when it comes to Washington, D.C., where everyone has an opinion about people's uteruses. "
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" This is going to sound crazy, but there was a period of time where on TLC they would show those surgeries - like a woman had a 90-pound tumor, or they separated these twins. And my sister and I - she lived in Ohio when I lived in California - would watch them together on the phone. "
Shonda Rhimes
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