Film schools are not rigorous enough. They let things get by and kids get out there and they think they are saying something and doing something.
Much to my chagrin, I think that cinema has gone the wrong way in America because in many ways, I pioneered the use of video which eventually became digital video. Everyone can do it; it's Pop Art time: "Everything is art, why should you take it so seriously, after all it's kind of like a clambake." I don't buy that.
I'm from the point of view there's something important to deliver to the world. You can be an entertainer; I suppose I shouldn't be down on the idea of going to see a film for the hell of it, but there's too much of that.
I don't think film schools are mentoring kids. I think they just send them through the curriculum, so now you know how to hold a camera, how to use a Dx3 menu. You can learn that in five minutes from somebody that doesn't even know anything. But what do you know if you haven't read anything - studied art and studied literature - what do you have to contribute?
The point is not to give people a break. The point is to tell all the truth you can bear about them and not despise them, not to be a kumbaya kind of guy.
We're in an era where you learn about techniques, but you don't experience anything crucial in yourself about a piece of work from an artist that you love.
I would not presume to say that I know anything about "The Truth," whatever that is.
