If you really want to live
There’s something you should know
It’s a simple secret
Buried not that long ago
You may have to use your voice
And possibly your mind
It may not make sense at first
But leave your screens behind
There’s a different kind of integration
And different sights and sounds and touch
And even imagination
—“Look Up” (Thornton/Andrew)
I’M NOT GOING TO BE HEARTBROKEN IF JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR doesn’t become the movie of the year and win the Academy Award. There was a time when I thought about stuff like that, but I don’t think about it anymore. I trust that a certain section of the audience will go see it, but the problem is that people don’t want to go out to the movie theater anymore. What needs to happen is that we’ve got to get people who are sitting on their asses watching Attack of Spartacus or whatever the hell that show is off their asses and get them to go out to see movies again. People have gotten complacent. They’re sitting at home and watching TV because, “Oh, it’s twelve dollars now, and I got to buy popcorn,” but that’s the point of everything I’m saying.
I don’t believe in watching movies on a telephone, and I think people ought to get in their damn car and drive to the theater and pay twelve dollars. You pay twelve dollars to get coronary artery disease, so why don’t you pay twelve dollars to see a good movie? A pork chop in a restaurant is twenty-four dollars. Go buy a pork chop, cook it yourself, and then go pay twelve bucks to see a movie.
The magic in life is disappearing very quickly, and we’ve got to get it back. Part of getting it back is getting people who lived in the time when there actually was magical stuff to participate again, because if we don’t, it’ll completely disappear. So let’s go out to the theater. Guys my age get these gadgets, and they say, “Look, I just got this thing, it’s the size of a thimble, and I can watch a movie, listen to music, read a book, and it can jack you off! All I got to do is take this fucking thing, push a little button, and I don’t have to do anything ever again!”
I WATCH MOVIES FOR ENTERTAINMENT, TOO, AND LIKE ANYBODY ELSE, I don’t only like good stuff. I like horrible shit sometimes. I’ve seen horrible movies that made me cry like a baby. I’ve seen movies most people wouldn’t find funny that made me laugh because something in it struck a chord from my childhood.
I’ve talked a lot about things I hate, and I do hate a lot, but it’s not because of the thing itself—it’s because of the people who are making the thing. If somebody gives something their all and loves what they’re doing, God bless them. Do it. Follow your dream. Do what you love. But nowadays, there are so many people out there who thrive on hating things just for the sake of hating. They think that hating something and talking bad about things make them seem more cool or hip. I can boil down my point of view to this: I’m against people who are against shit. I don’t care who you are, if you believe in what you’re doing, I’m all for you. But believe in whatever it is you believe in with all your heart and soul.