If a story doesn't give you a hard-on in the first couple of scenes, throw it in the goddamned garbage.
Interpretation
A compelling story should evoke strong feelings from the start.
This quote by Samuel Fuller emphasizes the importance of immediate emotional engagement in storytelling. If a narrative fails to captivate or provoke a visceral reaction within the initial scenes, it is regarded as unworthy of continued attention, suggesting that impactful storytelling is essential for creating a successful narrative.
In practice
A filmmaker might use this quote when discussing the need for exciting openings in screenplays.
I don't care if it's a mystery story, a Western, or the story of Julius Caesar. To me it's the emotion, the lies, the double-cross, whether it's Brutus doing it to Caesar or Bob Stack doing it to Robert Ryan that defines what kind of drama it is.
A film is like a battleground. It's love, hate, action, violence, death—In one word, emotions.
The pleasures of writing correspond exactly to the pleasures of reading
I am a painter with letters. I want to restore everything, mix everything up and say everything.
When you're young, with less on the line, it's easier to be audacious, to experiment. So I introduced the concerns of my generation - politics, sex, drugs, rock-and-roll, etc. - to the comics page, which for many years caused a rolling furor.
Beauty is truth's smile when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror.
An artist is always alone - if he is an artist. No, what the artist needs is loneliness.
Look, then, into thine heart, and write! Yes, into Life's deep stream! All forms of sorrow and delight, All solemn Voices of the Night, That can soothe thee, or affright, - Be these henceforth thy theme. (excerpt from "Voices of the Night")
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