I just don't think there's a lot of support for the woman's voice in cinema, and it becomes really difficult to raise that money and start again every time.
Ava DuvernayRead
There's a belonging problem in Hollywood. Who dictates who belongs? The very body who dictates that looks all one way.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the issue of exclusion in Hollywood based on arbitrary standards of belonging.
Ava Duvernay's quote addresses the significant challenge of inclusivity and belonging in Hollywood, emphasizing how the criteria for who is deemed worthy or appropriate is often controlled by a homogeneous group. This suggests that the power dynamics in the entertainment industry may perpetuate exclusion rather than celebrate diversity, creating a barrier for many aspiring talents who do not fit the conventional mold.
In practice
During a panel discussion on representation in the media, one might reference this quote to highlight current industry challenges.
I just don't think there's a lot of support for the woman's voice in cinema, and it becomes really difficult to raise that money and start again every time.
I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film industry.
I think for female filmmakers a big issue is making their second and third films.
When we say there's a dearth of women directors, it's not that there's a lack of women who direct: it's a lack of opportunities and access for women to direct and be supported in that.
I intend to be making films until I'm an old lady. So, if God willing I get there, I need to create a paradigm for myself where I can make it regardless of whether or not they still like what I'm making.
I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years and many, many opportunities to tell many, many stories about themselves, and black filmmakers have not had as many years, as many opportunities, as many films to explore the nuances of our reality.
Inside me is the same desperate hope I have watching the ravenous dead and thinking, Oh please, oh please, oh please. The craving inside of me is to be clutched at by some dead girl. To put my ear to her chest and hear nothing. Even getting munched on by zombies beats the idea that I'm only flesh and blood, skin and bone. Demon or angel or evil spirit, I just need something to show itself. Ghoulie or ghosty or long-legged beastie, I just want my hand held.
Van Gaal has a good vision of football, but it is not mine. He wants to gel winning teams and has a militaristic way of working with his tactics. I want individuals to think for themselves.
You are a slave of what you need in your soul.
Whenever I hear some bigmouth in Washington or the Christian heartland banging on about the evils of sodomy or whatever, I mentally enter his name in my notebook and contentedly set my watch. Sooner rather than later, he will be discovered down on his weary and well-worn old knees in some dreary motel or latrine, with an expired Visa card, having tried to pay well over the odds to be peed upon by some Apache transvestite.
The past feels distant, even when it's near. The future feels assured, even when it isn't.
There is no reason to accept the doctrines crafted to sustain power and privilege, or to believe that we are constrained by mysterious and unknown social laws. These are simply decisions made within institutions that are subject to human will and that must face the test of legitimacy. And if they do not meet the test, they can be replaced by other institutions that are more free and more just, as has happened often in the past.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.