Why do we always have to see black people in hindsight? Why are the Hollywood movies always historical? What about the contemporary image of black people?
Ava DuVernay
Related I'm always annoyed about why black people have to bear the brunt of everybody else's contemp... TONI MORRISON Black, brown, white, yellow - why are we always talking about colors? I'm a girl. I believe in a... PRIYANKA CHOPRA People be telling me why do I always wear black, and I respond by saying that I am preparing for the... GERARD WAY People always accuse me of making these dark, depressing movies. 'Why do you have to pick up on ... ANURAG KASHYAP Medvienko: Why do you always wear black? Masha: I am in mourning for my life. I am unhappy. ANTON CHEKHOV When asked, "Why do you always wear black?", he said, "I am mourning for my life. ANTON CHEKHOV Black and awkward is the worst, because black people are stereotyped as being anything but awkward i... ISSA RAE Why must conversions always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses? DAVID BRIN When I was on 'One Life to Live,' I always wanted to delve into my character, Layla, to find... TIKA SUMPTER I don't think that everything on Broadway relates to us, and I think that's why we as black ... STEPHANIE MILLS On the outside, America looks like this great melting pot, but on the inside, there's this segre... GURINDER CHADHA Black women have always been these vixens, these animalistic erotic women. Why can't we just be the ... TYRA BANKS Your actions will always be what the world sees, but people who choose to see through God's eyes wil... SHANNON L. ALDER Does Hollywood do movies about terrorism? Yeah. And why do they do that? Because it sells. FARAN TAHIR Only after the last tree has been cut down,only after the last river has been poisoned,only after th... THE CREE PEOPLE It affects me even more because I wondered why are all the families black? Why are they all black? JOYCE BROWN The Information Highway intrigues me because I have always been a newshound; I have always been curi... BILLY GRAHAM I'm a sponge for historical images of black people and black history on film. KARA WALKER Why am I anti-social?? Hey GreenWind can you answer me, little black biatch that I don't go out make... DEYTH BANGER You have to give people permission to laugh. That's why they would always cut to the banana peel... DANNY DEVITO One of the big mysteries about the black hole at the center of the galaxy is, 'Why don't we ... ANDREA M. GHEZ I always figured I would live long enough to see a black president. The movies predicted it. Usually... JOHN LEGEND Audiences want great story telling; it's why white people watch my show 'Black in America.... SOLEDAD O'BRIEN The United States is not a nation of black and white people. Any fool can see that white people are ... ALBERT MURRAY Ava DuVernay is my personal Phil Jackson. She's a perfect coach. OMAR DORSEY I always think - when I get mad, and people say, 'Don't be the angry black woman' - it... AJA NAOMI KING There is an entire generation of young people who know nothing about how viciously the FBI attacked ... BOBBY SEALE You know why we're stuck with the myth that only black people have soul? Because white people do... JANIS JOPLIN I think one of my first jokes - in the black community, there's people who have jokes about skin... HANNIBAL BURESS People always lie to you, and people wonder why I don't have faith in the society. ANDONI GARCIA When people who are not black are interested in what I do, frankly, I'm always surprised. I don&... TA-NEHISI COATES You should always be kind to people, Ava. You never know what sorrows they’re carrying around. ANITA DIAMANT People always make these generalized statements about Hollywood, and there's all kinds of people... MICHAEL KEATON People won't admit it, they're too busy grabbing to see that the lights have fused. They can't see t... JOHN FOWLES We want to live in the black and white, but we don't. The world is gray. And, I'm always fas... TONY GOLDWYN If people don't say what they believe in, then we will always be like this. There will not be any ch... ELENA CUEVAS The silver and black may have another home, but the Raiders will always belong to the people of Los ... ICE CUBE You have to know the forces that are against you and that are trying to break you down. We talk abou... D'ANGELO When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, "What choice do I have?" PAT SCHROEDER Why, Mr Stevens, why, why, why do you always have to pretend? KAZUO ISHIGURO Black people have always been used as a buffer in this country between powers to prevent class war. TONI MORRISON Why worry about what people think of us do we have more confidence in their opinions than in our ... PETER T. MCINTYRE Some white people hate black people, and some white people love black people, some black people hate... EDEN AHBEZ I got interested in the question of literacy because writers are always moaning about why more peopl... ROBERT HASS The thing we love most about Hurley is he's somehow able to say what people are saying in their livi... CARLTON CUSE I think that if people are instructed about anything, it should be about the nature of cruelty. And ... RICHARD RUSSO I always thought white people.were white because they stood in the cold to long, and froze.
And blac... SONYA.E.WILLIAMS Overall, always strive to be genuine — about who you are, what you offer, and why you do what you ... AMY IPPOLITI The bullies are always popular. Why? People love power. MATTHEW QUICK Why do you always want to know about others?
Why are you not satisfied with yourself?
Why is there a... APURVA GAGLANI Some white people hate black people, and some white people love black people, some black people hate... EDEN AHBEZ When people ask me why I am running as a woman, I always answer, 'What choice do I have?' PATRICIA SCHROEDER One of the reasons why people - particularly young people - love action movies is because what they ... STEVEN SEAGAL I'm fighting the label of "Black" actress simply because it's very limiting in people's eyes, especi... WHOOPI GOLDBERG We always hear about the haves and the have-nots. Why don't we hear about the doers and the do-nots. THOMAS SEWELL We are prophetic interrogators. Why are so many people hungry? Why are so many people and families i... JIM WALLIS I've always been very image prone, along the lines of bands like Black Sabbath and even Devo. PETER STEELE Dammit, white folk are always giving orders, it's a habit with them. Why didn't you make an excuse? ... RALPH ELLISON Race in America has always centered on our mutual agreement not to see each other. White or non-whit... ERIC LIU That's true but I think the contemporary problem that we are facing increasing numbers of black ... ANGELA DAVIS Why do we smile? Why do we laugh? Why do we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read ... BENJAMIN ALIRE SáENZ No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women.... BELL HOOKS Black males who refuse categorization are rare, for the price of visibility in the contemporary worl... BELL HOOKS My black brothers and sisters - of all religious beliefs, or of no religious beliefs - we all have i... MALCOLM X People in Hollywood always talk about the sense of family. But that's how we were able to shoot a 10... DAVID LESTER I think black people have to be in control of their own image because film is a powerful medium. We ... SPIKE LEE If you're white and you're wrong, then you're wrong; if you're black and you're ... BOB MARLEY People are always asking me when I’m going to retire. Why should I? I’ve got it two ways - I’m... GEORGE F. BURNS People didn't always see a person with a disability who had to use a ramp or elevator as people ... MAJOR OWENS So, I was sitting there and I watched 'Paranormal Activity' and I was like, 'Boy, white ... MARLON WAYANS Why were people always going on and on about the heart? Almost everything Levi happened in Cath's st... RAINBOW ROWELL And because there is something they can’t see people think it has to be special, because people al... MARK HADDON The perceived wisdom is that people do not go in large numbers to black-and-white movies anymore - w... SAM MENDES I've always had a fondness for the Gothic. That's what kind of stories attract me: Why do pe... GILLIAN FLYNN I always loved the bad girls in the movies. I loved Bette Davis; I loved Katherine Hepburn. I loved ... IMELDA MAY It was rough being dark. I got heat from my own people more than anyone else. I remember going to my... BERNIE MAC Meanwhile "Black sheep, black sheep!" we cry,
Safe in the inner fold;
And maybe they hear, and... RICHARD EUGENE BURTON No matter what you do, you can act your heart out, but people will always say, 'Oh, Julie Adams ... JULIE ADAMS When I'm around black or white people, I'm always in the middle. Especially when I am around... KARYN PARSONS I've done movies I'm very proud of, but there's always a sense of: 'Come see this sh... OSCAR ISAAC Why are the police REALLY having trouble recruiting officers - especially Black officers? We have to... BOBBY F. KIMBROUGH JR. Why do you always see lightning first and hear the thunder later? Because your eyes are in front of... ANONYMOUS Everything always looked better in black and white. Everything always looked as if it were the first... JACK LOWDEN I always enjoyed movies and in hindsight I realise how captivating they were to me. ADAM BRODY We want the black middle class and we are confident that they will want us once they see what we hav... ANDREW JONES You go to movies to see people you love suffer - that's why you go to the movies. You don't go to se... JOSS WHEDON Why do people always assume that volume will succeed when logic won’t? - Damon L.J. SMITH I embrace my darker skin - always have, always will. In addition, I believe black women have always ... JUSTINE SKYE why do people always do hurtful things, don't they realise the harm that follows it. some people tha... MIKE GRIST What I want to know is how the white man, with the blood of black people dripping off his fingers, c... MALCOLM X The woes in Hollywood always stem from the same thing. And that's the product that's out there. Peop... JACK FOLEY Why can't we save these boys without sending them to Africa? How difficult is it? We can do it, man.... BILL COSBY One of the things that we teach in the class is tolerance and understanding between different groups... JANE LOWE In a sense the quest for the emancipation of black people in the U.S. has always been a quest for ec... ANGELA DAVIS Black is what it is . Black is always going to be a constant. It's a classic. LEATRICE EISEMAN Why do we insist on putting limitations on what people are capable of doing? GABY RODRIGUEZ We do sometimes forget to tell students why things are set up the way they are. I am hoping that peo... FERN KORY The perceived wisdom is that people do not go in large numbers to black-and-white movies anymore - w... SAM MENDES I decided to use black-and-white for the film, because that is the image of adolescence to me. We se... FERNANDO EIMBCKE People used to drive through here from Hollywood to see their movies, ALAN LADD
More Ava DuVernay
I want to be an old lady, with my cane, shouting, 'Action!' and 'Cut!' AVA DUVERNAY Filmmakers need to realize that their job isn't done when they lock picture. We must see our fil... AVA DUVERNAY We know there needs to be diversity in storytellers telling their own stories. I think there's a... AVA DUVERNAY The way that we're consuming what we watch. Netflix, binge-watching, destination agnostic were n... AVA DUVERNAY I am honored to be one of this year's Urbanworld ambassadors for the festival's 20th anniver... AVA DUVERNAY When we're talking about diversity, it's not a box to check. It is a reality that should be ... AVA DUVERNAY You could make the most beautiful film, and that weekend it's raining too hard on the East Coast... AVA DUVERNAY In documentaries, there's a truth that unfolds unnaturally, and you get to chronicle it. In narr... AVA DUVERNAY There's really no precedent for someone like me gaining clout in the space that I'm in - a b... AVA DUVERNAY I usually make films with $2 and a paper clip. AVA DUVERNAY I don't even really see sit-ins and marches as passive. I see them as quite assertive. I see tho... AVA DUVERNAY I think any black woman is a queen. It's just, do you know it? Do you see it in yourself? Do you... AVA DUVERNAY You gotta follow the white guys. Truly. They've got this thing wired. Too often, we live within ... AVA DUVERNAY For female directors, there's a whole other set of things we have to think about, particularly w... AVA DUVERNAY The consumer is deciding what they want to see and when and how, and filmmakers are more aware and a... AVA DUVERNAY When we say there's a dearth of women directors, it's not that there's a lack of women w... AVA DUVERNAY I'm a big people watcher and a people talker. The beautiful thing about being an artist and a cr... AVA DUVERNAY Creativity is an energy. It's a precious energy, and it's something to be protected. A lot o... AVA DUVERNAY There can be a progression to the dream; there can be steps to it. When you dissect any successful p... AVA DUVERNAY With the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of the focus is on the protest and dissent. I'm hopi... AVA DUVERNAY Oh, Diane Nash deserves her own film. Diane Nash is a freedom fighter who is still alive and kicking... AVA DUVERNAY To win Best Director at Sundance was beyond anything I could have imagined for myself. It's stil... AVA DUVERNAY Today, when you look at social media, you see that the narrative can be overtaken by people just fro... AVA DUVERNAY Art morphs with what's going on in the world. We say 'Ferguson'; we don't say 'M... AVA DUVERNAY I love community, I love to be around other people. I love to be around other people when everyone... AVA DUVERNAY Film is a mirror. I want to see more filmmakers. We all want to see ourselves. AVA DUVERNAY Every filmmaker imbues a movie with their own point of view. AVA DUVERNAY There's a big difference between the independent film world and the Hollywood film world, and I ... AVA DUVERNAY Film school was a privilege I could not afford. AVA DUVERNAY I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film indus... AVA DUVERNAY I financed and made my own films from the start. My path has been autonomous and independent, so I d... AVA DUVERNAY There was a time when I was knocking on doors and concerned with being recognized in dominant cultur... AVA DUVERNAY We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won&... AVA DUVERNAY 'Queen Sugar' is a drama about family. It's something that allows us to be ourselves and... AVA DUVERNAY Oprah Winfrey is a big role model for me from a business capacity and a creative capacity. She is an... AVA DUVERNAY Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your... AVA DUVERNAY There's been no major motion picture released by a studio, no independent motion picture, in the... AVA DUVERNAY A black woman making art is a disruptive act. Every story that I tell as a woman is a political act,... AVA DUVERNAY As long as you're in an environment where the worth of the project isn't based on the projec... AVA DUVERNAY All the traditional models for doing things are collapsing; from music to publishing to film, and it... AVA DUVERNAY I spent a whole 12 years helping other people tell their stories as a publicist, so just to be able ... AVA DUVERNAY I've been to Sundance eight times as a publicist and thought I was very prepared. I mean, who co... AVA DUVERNAY The best art is realized when you can share the experience of making of it and not just the presenta... AVA DUVERNAY The studios aren't lining up to make films about black protagonists, black people being autonomo... AVA DUVERNAY I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years... AVA DUVERNAY My interest as an artist is to illuminate the lives of black folks. I definitely am focused on films... AVA DUVERNAY Oh gosh, I'm completely allergic to historical dramas. Particularly those around the civil-right... AVA DUVERNAY Women have been trained in our culture and society to ask for what we want instead of taking what we... AVA DUVERNAY My next project is 'Venus Vs,' which is a documentary that follows tennis star Venus William... AVA DUVERNAY Artists should be free to create what we want. I believe there's a special value in work that is... AVA DUVERNAY Nonviolence is pretty ballsy, pretty advanced weaponry. AVA DUVERNAY I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifull... AVA DUVERNAY I like silence. Aesthetically, I feel strangled by the fast cutting and a wall of sound. And I think... AVA DUVERNAY I really admire Werner Herzog and Spike Lee. They're amazing documentarians. If you took away al... AVA DUVERNAY All black women aren't sassy, loud, difficult, or subservient. We are, in fact, very complex and... AVA DUVERNAY I want more girls to be able to see themselves behind the camera creating images we all enjoy, and I... AVA DUVERNAY If your dream is only about you, it's too small. AVA DUVERNAY There's something very important about films about black women and girls being made by black wom... AVA DUVERNAY It's not enough even to have one black Barbie... because black women are not a monolith. AVA DUVERNAY I made my first film when I was 35, so I firmly believe that you don't have to be one thing in l... AVA DUVERNAY I make films about black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a black man, d... AVA DUVERNAY If you're doing something outside of dominant culture, there's not an easy place for you. Yo... AVA DUVERNAY oh, the heartbreakingly beautiful tender weight of being human. AVA. remember you are capable of the most powerful thing in the universe. you are capable of l... AVA. i swallowed the syllables of your name and i was full. AVA. i just want to be honest about my feelings without destroying everything. AVA. i am changing and i am loving change. AVA i am awake and alive and swollen and heavy with love. AVA i am changing and i am loving change. AVA. no one needs love from you more than you need love from you. love yourself first, AVA. i am soft again. there is water and it surrounds me. there is feeling and i can feel it. AVA. love yourself first, and you will always be in love. AVA. every choice i have ever made after you existed has been dependent on exactly how close i ... AVA. there's always been a little sadness inside my happiness. i've never been able to separat... AVA. and sadness clung to me because she did not know how to be alone. AVA. i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA you giver of light. you lover of love. you beautiful beautiful human being... AVA. do not let anyone in until they love you so fiercely, you have no defense against their lo... AVA. i am soft again. there is water and it surrounds me. there is feeling and i can feel it. AVA you have outgrown this skin. stop trying to hold it in. stop trying to hold it together. AVA. you wanted it all to make sense and you wanted the most complicated answer, but the answer... AVA. i am awake and alive and swollen and heavy with love. AVA. hold company with yourself so sacred that even when you are alone, you are whole. AVA. i'm so hooked on how your mind works, on what you notice, on everything that excites ... AVA. some people are so deep you fall into them and you never stop falling. AVA. you came in slowly like the fog and consumed me. AVA. i want so much to touch you where my hands cannot. AVA. we get brave. we move. we believe. we keep going. AVA. you giver of light. you lover of love. you beautiful beautiful human being... AVA everything i know about love is that it hurts and is almost always never returned the... AVA. we get brave. we move. we believe. we keep going. AVA i can't hold onto love. i'm not gentle enough. i always end up crushing the thi... AVA. the opening, the breaking, the falling apart is always so quick. the hurti... AVA. i open for you like a flower. i let you in like a new day. AVA everything i know about love is that it hurts and is almost always never returned the... AVA i took it off. i did not want to carry it with me anymore. AVA i took it off. i did not want to carry it with me anymore. AVA. i feel everything. i do not know how to un-feel and to not feel is to stop the sun. AVA Some people say Liz and I are whores, but we are saints. We do not hide our loves hypocritically, an... AVA GARDNER How could she just leave me here to live without her? I miss her so much. I love her. I want her to ... AVA DELLAIRA Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. AVA GARDNER You think you know someone, but that person always changes, and you keep changing, too. I understood... AVA DELLAIRA What I told you about saving people isn't true. You might think it is, because you might want someon... AVA DELLAIRA And maybe what growing up really means is knowing that you don't have to be just a character, going ... AVA DELLAIRA I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won't be as good as... AVA DELLAIRA God knows I've got so many frailties myself, I ought to be able to understand and forgive them in ot... AVA GARDNER Because once you're afraid of one thing, you can get scared of a lot of stuff. AVA DELLAIRA The truth is, honey, I've enjoyed my life. I've had a hell of a good time. AVA GARDNER We want to go home and see with our own eyes what the damage is before we decide if we're going to r... AVA SEVIN We heard they had an oil spill. Whether it got to our house, we don't know. AVA SEVIN We come here for meals and to see the people we've met from the different areas of New Orleans. We w... AVA SEVIN On Saturday, when the mayor told everyone to evacuate New Orleans, we got everything together and go... AVA SEVIN Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistak... AVA GARDNER After my screen test, the director clapped his hands gleefully and yelled: "She can't talk! She can'... AVA GARDNER I suffered, I really suffered, with all three of my husbands. And I tried damn hard with all three, ... AVA GARDNER I don't understand people who like to work and talk about it like it was some sort of goddamn duty. ... AVA GARDNER I think the main reason my marriages failed is that I always loved too well but never wisely. AVA GARDNER What's the point? My face, shall we say, looks lived in. AVA GARDNER Some people say Liz and I are whores, but we are saints. We do not hide our loves hypocritically, an... AVA GARDNER I couldn't imagine a better place [Australia] for making a film on the end of the world. AVA GARDNER For the loot, honey, for the loot. AVA GARDNER I liked the darkness, the dusty bay window, the view over the grey, muddy harbour and the towering c... AVA BLOOMFIELD I took a deep, deep breath and held it in my core; kept it close behind my protruding, fleshless rib... AVA BLOOMFIELD Maybe, in the final analysis, they saw me as something I wasn't and I tried to turn them into someth... AVA GARDNER The numbers on the board don’t mean a thing, because for the first time in forever, I have somewhe... AVA DELLAIRA You know when you think you know someone? More than anyone in the world? You know you know them, bec... AVA DELLAIRA Deep down, I'm pretty superficial. AVA GARDNER I'm not going to make someone my priority, when I'm their option. AVA PORTER Sometimes your music sounds like there’s too much inside you. Maybe even you couldn’t get ... AVA DELLAIRA I have only one rule in acting - trust the director and give him heart and soul. AVA GARDNER When I lose my temper, honey, you can't find it any place. AVA GARDNER Hell, I suppose if you stick around long enough they have to say something nice about you. AVA GARDNER When he fell down the stairs, he told people he'd had a stroke. He was just pissed out of his skull.... AVA GARDNER But to me, they were beautiful, like their own constellation. AVA DELLAIRA But you said you love me. You don’t just leave after that. AVA DELLAIRA Emptiness felt like a living thing. A parasite growing in the center of your chest, somewhere behind... AVA JAE The most liberating moment, is the moment you finally let go. AVA HARRISON I think it's like when you lose something so close to you, it's like losing yourself. AVA DELLAIRA You are bravery to me. AVA DELLAIRA Sometimes your music sounds like there's too much inside of you. Maybe even you couldn't get it all ... AVA DELLAIRA I think that by beauty, you don't just mean something that's pretty. You mean something that makes u... AVA DELLAIRA You learned right away that applause sounds like love. AVA DELLAIRA May, I love you with everything I am. For so long, I just wanted to be like you. But I had to figure... AVA DELLAIRA We are each weird in a different way, but together, that's actually normal. AVA DELLAIRA Because I was promoted as a sort of a siren and played all those sexy broads, people made the mistak... AVA GARDNER I have only one rule in acting--trust the director, and give him heart and soul. AVA GARDNER The truth will set you free, they say, but believe me, nothing will set you free. AVA FARMEHRI When you have to face up to the fact that marriage to the man you love is really over, that's very t... AVA GARDNER If beauty is truth, and truth is beauty, they are defined by each other, so how do we know the meani... AVA DELLAIRA I feel like I am drowning in memories. Everything is too bright. AVA DELLAIRA I think it’s like when you lose something so close to you, it’s like losing yourself. That’s w... AVA DELLAIRA The thing about traditions is that they hold up the shape of your memory. AVA DELLAIRA We do things sometimes because we feel so much inside of us, and we don’t notice how it affects so... AVA DELLAIRA It's sad when everyone knows you, but no one knows you. AVA DELLAIRA So maybe when we can say things, when we can write the words, when we can express how it feels, we a... AVA DELLAIRA I know that it can be hard to believe that someone loves you if you are afraid of being yourself, or... AVA DELLAIRA A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel, or not to f... AVA DELLAIRA I mean, words can't be good enough for a lot of things. But, you know, I guess we have to try. AVA DELLAIRA she walked like she belonged in a better world, AVA DELLAIRA Nirvana means freedom. Freedom from suffering. I guess some people would say that death is just that... AVA DELLAIRA I wish you could tell me where you are now. I mean, I know you’re dead, but I think there must be ... AVA DELLAIRA Sometimes when we say things, we hear silence. Or only echoes. Like screaming from inside. And that�... AVA DELLAIRA Truth is beautiful, no matter what the truth is. Even if it's scary or bad. It is beauty simply beca... AVA DELLAIRA There are a lot of human experiences that challenge the limits of our language,” she said. “That... AVA DELLAIRA There's more to life than being a passenger. AVA DELLAIRA But we aren't transparent. If we want someone to know us, we have to tell them stuff. AVA DELLAIRA I know I wrote letters to people with no address on this earth, I know that you are dead. But I hear... AVA DELLAIRA When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved. AVA DELLAIRA You can be noble and brave and beautiful and still find yourself falling. AVA DELLAIRA What's the point? My face, shall we say, looks lived in. AVA GARDNER All of a sudden we were out of the lot and on the highway next to the mountains, flying. I put my ha... AVA DELLAIRA Dragons have wild hearts that need the open sky AVA RICHARDSON I loved the feeling of being alone together in the car, like we could go anywhere we wanted. Just us... AVA DELLAIRA The time is not always now for everything. AVA RICHARDSON Our phone bills were astronomical, and when I found the letters Frank wrote me the other day, the to... AVA GARDNER You usually find that this is the most romantic sex, because it starts out with long, luscious kisse... DR AVA CADELL When you know you're never going to see someone again, you want to leave her wanting you - and you'l... DR AVA CADELL There's a correlation between a woman's bottom lip and her vagina. Sucking gently on her lip will ma... DR AVA CADELL