They say you can't study Kabbalah until you are at least 40 years old. You know why? You have to have experienced at least one generation making the same mistakes as the previous one.
David MametRead
Films have degenerated to their original operation as carnival amusement - they offer not drama but thrills.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mamet suggests that films have lost their artistic depth and have reverted to simple entertainment.
In this quote, David Mamet critiques the modern state of cinema, indicating that films have strayed from their purpose of delivering profound narratives and emotional experiences. Instead, they have become mere sources of excitement and adrenaline, resembling the superficial entertainment found at carnivals rather than the dramatic artistry that elevates storytelling.
Themes
FilmCinemaEntertainmentDramaCarnivalThrills
In practice
Example use cases
During a film discussion panel, one might quote Mamet to highlight a concern about cinematic trends.
More from David Mamet
All quotes βMy alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.
David MametRead
You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
David MametRead
It's hard for a Jew of my generation, an American Jew, who is philo-Zionistic, not to romanticize Israel.
David MametRead
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
David MametRead
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
David MametRead
Similar quotes
Art never harms itself by keeping aloof from the social problems of the day: rather, by so doing, it more completely realises for us that which we desire.
Oscar WildeRead
It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you_x000D_ _x000D_ Without a strong rhyme to step to.
RakimRead
Creative writers are always greater than the causes that they represent.
E. M. ForsterRead
It is a peculiar part of the good photographer's adventure to know where luck is most likely to lie in the stream, to hook it, and to bring it in without unfair play and without too much subduing it.
James AgeeRead
I think there is a very quiet power in things that are not on screen
Guillermo Del ToroRead
I have many books that I want to write; I'd like to think that I'll be around for another 20 years or so and write another dozen novels, probably some sort of imaginative literature... Never again another seven-volume saga.
George R. R. MartinRead