Your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel.
August WilsonRead
Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because all the values in that household are strictly what I would call white American values.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the disparity between the representation of black families in media and the reality faced by many in black America.
August Wilson's quote critiques how mainstream media, particularly shows like 'The Cosby Show,' depict black families as conforming to norms associated with white America. It points out the significant socio-economic challenges faced by many in the black community, contrasting their reality with the idealized portrayal seen on television.
Themes
MediaRepresentationSocioeconomicValuesDisparity
In practice
Example use cases
In a panel discussion on media representation, one might use this quote to illustrate the differences between reality and portrayal.
More from August Wilson
All quotes →I think the blues is the best literature that we as blacks have created since we've been here. I call it our 'sacred book.' What I've attempted to do is to mine that field, to mine those cultural ideas and attitudes and give them to my characters.
August WilsonRead
All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.
August WilsonRead
I do - very specifically, I remember Bessie Smith; I used to collect 78 records that I would buy from the St Vincent de Paul store at five cents apiece, and I did this indiscriminately. I would just take whatever was there. And I listened to Patti Page and Walter Huston, 'September Song.'
August WilsonRead
I know some things when I start. I know, let's say, that the play is going to be a 1970s or a 1930s play, and it's going to be about a piano, but that's it. I slowly discover who the characters are as I go along.
August WilsonRead
When I first started writing plays I couldn't write good dialogue because I didn't respect how black people talked. I thought that in order to make art out of their dialogue I had to change it, make it into something different. Once I learned to value and respect my characters, I could really hear them. I let them start talking.
August WilsonRead
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