Friday, March 4, 2011

Celebrate Spike Lee's birthday by revisiting his work.

On Spike Lee's birthday, we celebrate the achievements of one of the most influential directors of our time. Spike Lee is famous not only for being a director but for being an outspoken, witty, and straightforward speaker. His movies speak to the heart of African Americans, and his voice cuts through the clutter like a sword.

Over the course of his career, Spike Lee has made thought provoking, powerful, and compelling movies. He has had much to say about those movies -- and about politics, the civil rights movement, and just about everyone else. Whether you're a huge fan of Spike Lee's films or not, you have to respect his passion, insight, and flair for the dramatic -- as these quotes illustrate!

1. "I ain't Martin Luther King. I don't need a dream. I have a plan."

2. "I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten."

3. "Racism is when you have laws set up, systematically put in a way to keep people from advancing, to stop the advancement of a people. Black people have never had the power to enforce racism, and so this is something that white America is going to have to work out themselves. If they decide they want to stop it, curtail it, or to do the right thing... then it will be done, but not until then."

4. "A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there."

5. "Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith."

6. "It is really important that young people find something that they want to do and pursue it with passion. I'm very passionate about filmmaking. It's what I love to do."

7. "We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts."

8. "Don't think that because you haven't heard from me for a while that I went to sleep. I am still here, like a spirit roaming the night. Thirsty, hungry, seldom stopping to rest. "

9. "I didn't roll out of bed and direct Malcolm X. Whatever you do, go out there and work hard."

10. "I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker."

11. "I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets."

12. "Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it."

Whether you're a film enthusiast, an amateur director yourself, or just someone with a passion for Spike Lee movies, we can all learn from his insights. This year, on Spike Lee's birthday, take a moment to watch one of his fantastic films -- and enjoy browsing his many thought provoking quotes!

For more quotes related to movies, check out the popular movie quotes section of Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories.