For me, it's about making art that's not good but phenomenal. James Baldwin didn't want to just stay above the fray. Prince didn't think, 'I wonder what the industry is gonna think about 'Purple Rain.'' It's just, is this honest? Is this real? Does this move me? The rest is icing.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of creating art that is genuine and impactful rather than conforming to industry standards.
Lena Waithe's quote reflects a commitment to authenticity in the arts, stressing that true art should evoke genuine emotion and honesty. By referencing the works of James Baldwin and Prince, she illustrates that great artists often disregard outside opinions and focus on their personal truth and the emotional connection their work brings. The idea is that once you've created something that resonates deeply, any external validation becomes secondary.
In practice
In a motivational speech on creativity, one could say, 'As Lena Waithe quoted, it's about making art that's honest and real.'
As a black woman in the industry, you really do have to hold your head higher, stick your chest out, be kind and polite and generous even when you don't want to be sometimes. I learned that and, also, just to never take no for an answer.
Being a black lesbian myself, I roll my eyes a little bit when I see black lesbian characters on shows where it's purely there for decoration. You can just hear it in the writers room... 'What if we make her a lesbian?'
It's weird because I see black gay characters on television all the time, but do I relate to them? Not always, because they're set pieces.
The cool thing about dope black style becoming in style is that the industry has no choice but to try and reduplicate that.
Being born gay, black, and female is not a revolutionary act. Being proud to be a gay black female is.
I don't want to be white. I don't want to be straight. I don't want to blend in.
I always had a dream about trying to make a movie that had no dialogue in it, that was just music and pictures. I still haven't done it yet, but I tried to get close in the beginning.
I don't start a novel until I have lived with the story for awhile to the point of actually writing an outline and after a number of books I've learned that the more time I spend on the outline the easier the book is to write. And if I cheat on the outline I get in trouble with the book.
I would passionately make the case that the harder the times, the more we need things that aren't just about keeping our job and making a buck - important though those things are. Arts programming isn't some sort of add-on or ornamental luxury.
The reward of art is not fame or success but intoxication: that is why so many bad artists are unable to give it up.
I like to feel like you can bite my paintings. Not to eat them, to hurt them. I like to feel like I'm painting with my teeth.
It's a choice - there are two different sorts of photographer: those obsessed with the technicalities and those obsessed by the subject.
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