My idea of rich is that you can buy every book you ever want without looking at the price and you're never around assholes. That's the two things to really fight for in life.
John WatersRead
Irony ruined everything Even the best exploitation movies were never meant to be `so bad they were good`. They were not made for the intelligentsia. They were made to be violent for real, or to be sexy for real. But now everybody has irony. Even horror films now are ironic. Everybody's in on the joke now. Everybody's hip. Nobody takes anything at face value anymore.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on how irony has changed our perception of art and entertainment, particularly in film.
John Waters expresses concern over the pervasiveness of irony in modern culture, suggesting that it has tainted our ability to appreciate art, especially exploitation and horror films, for their intended emotional impact. He laments that instead of engaging with films authentically, audiences now view them through a lens of detachment, ironically laughing at their flaws instead of embracing their original intentions of violence or sensuality.
Themes
IronyArtFilmCultureEntertainment
In practice
Example use cases
During a film criticism seminar discussing the evolution of horror films, this quote could illuminate the shift in audience perception.
More from John Waters
All quotes →I don't like rules of any kind. And I seek people who break rules with happiness - and not bringing pain to themselves.
John WatersRead
I believe if you come out of a movie and the first thing you say is, 'The cinematography was beautiful,' it's a bad movie.
John WatersRead
To understand bad taste one must have very good taste.
John WatersRead
To me, bad taste is what entertainment is all about. If someone vomits while watching one of my films, it's like getting a standing ovation. But one must remember that there is such a thing as good bad taste and bad bad taste.
John WatersRead
'Hairspray' maybe did change people's minds, and that's how you get your political enemies to change their minds - by making them laugh and making them look at something in a way they haven't seen it. Not by preaching and cutting them off and being a separatist.
John WatersRead
Similar quotes
Human models are more vivid and more persuasive than explicit moral commands.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
I, therefore, O Caesar, do not publish this work, merely prefixing my name to a treatise which of right belongs to others, nor think of acquiring reputation by finding fault with the works of any one.
Marcus Vitruvius PollioRead
If imperialism is not banished from the country, China will perish as a nation. If China does not perish, then imperialism cannot remain.
Chiang Kai-ShekRead
It is only in appearance that time is a river. It is rather a vast landscape and it is the eye of the beholder that moves.
Thornton WilderRead
It’s not in the book or in the writer that readers discern the truth of what they read; they see it in themselves, if the light of truth has penetrated their minds.
Saint AugustineRead
And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.
John SteinbeckRead