Never... never... whether you are five or 100, never give up. It's never too late.
Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting each other down and making jokes about each other because of the color of our skin. With women particularly, it's difficult because the beauty business says, 'If you don't look a certain way, God made a mistake.'
I've been very selfish and the women in my life have hated that because of my work ethic. I try not to bring my work home but the next day I want to go prepared. So okay let's have a few moments of camaraderie whatever... okay great! I go work on the script.
It's very important that we give a voice to the voiceless in terms of media; because media is a global phenom and it portrays you dependent upon what controls you have and the writers are doing great work.
I think the media and the Internet and all that stuff, has created this perception of black women as these mammy types, kind of angry, you know, full of pent up emotions and resentments. And that these women are people to feared rather than loved.
The only chance for a guy like me is to make a decent picture for a reasonable budget. If it brings in a profit for investors, maybe I'll have the opportunity to make something else.
Some people you can forgive and forget. Some people you cannot forgive or forget. There are other people you can forgive and not forget. So there's people you can forgive and forget. Forgive and not forget. It depends on what they've done.
Meryl Streep doesn't care how she looks. She just surrenders to the truth of the character. Not everybody has the ability to do that. They look good and they can pretend to be that person, it's not the same as being that person. And there are not many actors who will surrender to that.
Television is an excellent training ground for a director. If you work consistently in television, as I did, you have to come in on time and on budget. What you are allowed in feature films are, fortunately, more time and a larger budget.
I'm hoping to see some minorities in executive offices in positions of power, people who see the merit of projects with minority themes. That may or may not happen.
I could direct a very decent Holocaust film, but I don't have the same experience as a young boy who was rocked to sleep in the lap of a grandmother who had a tattooed number on her arm, who told him stories of the people who disappeared, the relatives she never saw again, as he drifted off with his cheek nestled next to that number.
It really upsets me that the media insists on turning 'Do the Right Thing' or 'Boyz N the Hood' into 'black films.' They are American films. They may open the window on the black experience, but they had things to say to everybody. That's why they were so successful.
The largest country with the largest consumption of skin bleach in the world is India. Indian men are bleaching their skin because, in terms of marriage, if your skin is dark, it's assumed you work in a field. If your skin is lighter, it's assumed you work in an office because you're not getting enough sun. Indian men are bleaching their skin.