Serj Tankian Quotes

My assignment is what every writer's assignment is: tell the truth of his own time.

The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation.

I prefer to make movies which not only have a message for 'then' but a message for 'now.'

I'm always interested in looking - historically - at how theater can animate history and how all of that can make us engage with our lives in an enriching way.

People like Dick Gregory, Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone show me what the definition of an artist is - it isn't just to make art but to speak truth to what's happening, speak beauty into the world, speak love into the world and also... get involved.

As artists, our primary function is not to be educators - but we are at a time in history, where for us, our history needs to give context for stories that we hope to tell down the road.

An artist is made to entertain. That's their primary goal, to entertain you. But some artists record the moments of time. You wouldn't know what was happening in the '20s and '30s; you got to check the song or art.

I think it's the job of the artist to reflect the times and also reflect his or her views of the world.

This is not necessarily the answer people want, but ultimately, I think writing is an amoral process. Your ultimate responsibility is to the truth of the story you're trying to tell.

The only reason for doing a play is to make a statement about it, and by that I don't mean a conceit of the producer.

Popular sings are the only art form that describes the temper of the times.

There’s dramatic license, which is necessary or nothing’s fun, and historical truth, which is necessary or nothing’s understood.

Literature is a far more ancient and viable thing than any social formation or state. And just as the state interferes in literature, literature has the right to interfere in the affairs of state.

I'm a writer. My job is to speak what - that which I think is true. If that bridges the gap, that's good. If it doesn't, that's too bad.

I feel like there's such a responsibility, when you make a film, to enlighten people, to make them think, to make them laugh, or even just to be entertaining.

Music is basically melody, harmony, and rhythm. But people can do much more with music than that. It can be very descriptive in all kinds of ways, all walks of life.

It's probably not an accident that the films that I care about happen to be about issues that matter to me, stories that I want to tell.

I feel I have been a part of some very wonderful films, and I have had it in mind when I was on the set, every day, that what I am doing has meaning.

It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.

I work in musical theater because people keep writing quality stories in the genre, and I'm really all about investing in a piece that says something about our current time, that is, a reflection on who we are today.

As an actor, my desire was always to be different, there was a desire to associate yourself with projects that bring about the contemporary situation.

I think that our task as filmmakers is to create the most insightful reality given the most pressing questions.

When classical singers or dancers look at cinema with derision, I have half a heart to tell them that they're wrong. They're losing a platform.

The true meaning of an artist/actor is opening my heart to the audience and, at the same time, opening their heart.

The truth is I do take drag really seriously, and I think that there's kind of a place for that - to see it as this political and historical art form, and to want to continue pushing it in new directions. And also honor the old directions as well. So I'm sort of like a drag intellectual/drag queen.