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.
When I was a child, I was raised Catholic. Somewhere, I didn't fit with the saints and holy men. I discovered the monsters - in Boris Karloff, I saw a beautiful, innocent creature in a state of grace, sacrificed by sins he did not commit.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the complex nature of morality and innocence, particularly in the context of childhood beliefs and the discovery of deeper truths.
Guillermo Del Toro's quote delves into the struggle of fitting into conventional societal or religious ideals during childhood. It highlights a profound realization that, instead of purely identifying with traditional heroes or saints, he found beauty and grace in misunderstood figures, like monsters, who represent innocence sacrificed by the flaws of humanity. This perspective challenges the binary notions of good and evil, revealing the complexity of human experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how classic literature often portrays misunderstood characters, one might quote Del Toro to emphasize the beauty in complexity.
More from Guillermo Del Toro
All quotes →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.
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I'm still there, watching those possessed children, as far away from the mystery now as I was then. I've never written, though I thought I wrote, never loved, though I thought I loved, never done anything but wait outside the closed door.
Forget Jesus. The stars died so that you could be here today.