The butterfly does not look back upon its caterpillar self, either fondly or wistfully; it simply flies on.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of moving forward and not dwelling on the past.
Guillermo Del Toro's quote about the butterfly emphasizes the process of transformation and growth, suggesting that once one evolves from a previous state, it is vital to embrace the new self without longing for what was left behind. The butterfly serves as a metaphor for personal change, encouraging individuals to let go of their past identities and to focus on the journey ahead.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth.
I don't try to sanction other people's joy in monsters. I mean, I think the fact is, humor, fantasy - you know, like fear, desire or laughter - create genres of their own: comedy, melodrama, or erotic films or horror films... The boundaries cannot be defined. It's to each his own.
As a director, I design every movie to be true to itself, and damn it if they like it, and damn it if they don't.
If you ask me, I alternate between truly bizarre, what you would call 'Hollywood' movies and truly bizarre, what you would call 'arthouse' movies.
But I think we are seeing a resurgence of the graphic ghost story like The Others, Devil's Backbone and The Sixth Sense. It is a return to more gothic atmospheric ghost storytelling.
The saddest journey in the world is the one that follows a precise itinerary. Then you're not a traveler. You're a f@@king tourist.
When you start with Super 8, you are everything. You're the DP, the sound man, the effects guy. And what I started understanding, by working for other people, is that the best type of director is someone who rose through the ranks.
We want to overthrow the imperial power not because it is Manchurian but because we want republicanism... We republican revolutionaries can never have the notion of becoming emperors after the revolution, like all the peasant rebels did in the past.
We all have the chance to create a world where extreme poverty is the exception rather than the rule.
The challenge of the unknown future is so much more exciting than the stories of the accomplished past.
The only way really to influence countries, in terms of poverty, is to get them to change their policies and get them to understand what the issues are.
One can't erase the tremendous burden of apartheid in 10 years, 20 years, I believe, even 30 years.
Times change. The vices of your age are stylish today.
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