Ellen Page Quotes

Sometimes films ignore other points of view because it's simpler to tell the story that way, but the more genuine and sympathetic you are to different points of view and situations, the more real the story is.

Since becoming aware of the need to be inclusive, I've tried to make my stories broader and more representative of our world.

Everybody asks, 'What does 'Humans of New York' mean?' and I always say that I try to avoid putting any kind of message in the work even if it is a positive or optimistic message. The moment you do that, you're looking for certain people and words that fit into the world view you are trying to show, and it becomes preachy.

Anytime you're writing stories about a group of people with whom you have limited experience, there's a lot of guesswork.

I know it's 'Dear White People,' and you can imprint all kinds of concessions about what the show might be about on the title, but my goal was never to, like, educate white people. My goal was always to create characters that you can relate to and fall in love with.

Diversity is strength. Our cinema and our art forms need to diversify so that it tells all stories, all perspectives.

I think diverse stories are just stories. I don't think 'diverse' is an add-on package. Things that are not diverse are weird because that's not accurate.

A lot of times I don't know if I trust the director to tell that film's story. Or I think it's inappropriate for a male director to tell a female story, or a white director to tell a black story. Everyone walks away from a movie differently, because you're relating it to your own life.

I want my audiences to be as open-minded as my characters.

If we truly seek diversity in fiction, we have to let the needs of others come before our need to define ourselves as social justice allies.

In my time since moving to the United States, I've found that there is a dearth of great writing for black people. There are stories that depict us in a way that isn't cliched or niche, and that a white person, a Chinese person, an Indian person can watch and relate to. Those are the stories I want to be a part of telling.

There is a huge business case for diversity. You will be making products for people you don't understand, you don't interact with. If you don't have an inclusive, diverse workforce, it makes you myopic.

You have to want to be in the company of those you're making films about.

Depending on the story that you're telling, you can be relatable to everybody or nobody. I try and tell everybody's story.

I'm challenging everybody on every side of every divide to be more who they are, to cultivate their capacity for awareness.

I hope that doing truthful portrayals of people in a variety of circumstances gives people a kind of subterranean link to those characters.

When I meet gay fans out and about, they're so great to talk to - and I'm big on hugging, because I'm from the Midwest. They're just so energetic and loving. I'm proud to have those fans, and their support means a lot to me. I don't want just girls coming to my movies; I want guys to come, too!

Honestly, I expected to get a cold reception because of my subject matter. But when editors took a look at the story I had to tell, and saw that this was not a parochial story at all, they really warmed to it.

In fact, some reviewers have said that as they got into the story they forgot that the protagonist is a black woman. They were moved by the story - by the people as a whole - and not by the little things.

I have tried to be more relatable, but I won't be relatable to everybody.

I'm a fierce advocate for diversity. Always have been, always will be.

Never again can the Republican Party simply write off entire segments of our society because we assume our principles have limited appeal. They have broad appeal. We need to be larger than that.

To achieve progress in the face of adversity, we need a genuine commitment to gaining a deeper understanding of humanity. I'd like to see a world with more leaders who are familiar with the depths of the views of those they deeply disagree with, so that they can understand the nuances of everyone they're representing.

Diversity is more than just a buzzword to me. It's my life.

I try to see the good in everybody, and I don't care who people are as long as they're themselves, whatever that is.