I don't think writers should write about answers. I think writers should write about questions.
The stereotypes we pretend that we reject are ingrained in our DNA.
As a general rule, I don't plan to travel with my Oscars, but we may have to make an exception.
We think we know what's right. With excessive pride comes blindness.
If you change the right mind, then that person can perhaps change the world.
I don't think it's the job of filmmakers to give anybody answers. I do think, though, that a good film makes you ask questions of yourself as you leave the theatre.
I like to write about things about which I have no answers, questions that trouble me. These things trouble me.
I just love actors, and I've always loved actors. I empathize with their job. Everyone thinks it's easy, and it ain't. To be that vulnerable and brave on camera is tough.
You have to be careful of the advice you take.
I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.
Now we really like to put people in boxes. As men, we do it because we don't understand characters that aren't ourselves and we aren't willing to put ourselves in the skin of those characters and women, I think, terrify us. We tend not to write women as human beings. It's cartoons we're making now. And that's a shame.
It takes me awhile to find something that I'm passionate about. I'm reading a lot and thinking a lot, and torturing myself a lot because I'm feeling really guilty for not writing something today.
We are manipulated by fear and the fear of others, and how we're often manipulated into doing things and voting in ways that are against our own best interest. Look at healthcare. People will tell you that healthcare is socialism and communism, and they're doing this while their wife needs an operation and their kid needs braces.
I was trying to talk about where we are right now as a society, and talk about the fear we all live in, and certainly since 9-11, how it's affected us and the world.
The hope is what America represents to the world and has always represented - the hope for a better life and a better world. We have a duty to protect and support that hope with not just our words, but with our deeds.
I like to really respect the audience and let them come through on answers.
Usually the characters are where I start. Then I continually ask myself, 'What's the worst thing that could happen to this character?'
I just want to thank people who take big risks in their daily lives when there aren't cameras rolling. I want to dedicate this award to people who stand up for peace and against injustice and intolerance.
Always write from your gut, no matter what the project is.
Right after we invaded Iraq, I put a sign on my lawn that said "War is not the answer." That sign was either defaced, ripped up, or stolen every week. I had to replace that sign twelve times.
What I love about writing is the contradictions we all embody as human beings.
A creative person has to believe in the unseen and the untouched.
I've lived in America for many years. I mean, I love being a Canadian, but I truly identify with America. I love America so much.
United States could be a great country. It needs to be a great country. It's our responsibility as citizens to make that happen, every single one of us.
You don't do pictures because the audience is ready for them. You do them because there's something gnawing at you, something inside.
