Michelle Dean Quotes

Shock always sells. You know? But you could shock in good taste.

To the chagrin of many, the media gravitates towards controversy.

By and large, the making of motion pictures is all about, 'Let's ratchet it up.' And I always think, 'We don't need to ratchet this up.' If you do, don't call it 'Captain Phillips' or 'The Maersk Alabama.' Call it something else, and then you have carte blanche to do anything, down to sea serpents and aliens.

Everybody said Peyton Place would be a mistake.

When I die, I don't want my demise to be used as a political rally, and that's what happened yesterday.

Even though Rush is not me and the situations were very different, I think, in the Rush Limbaugh thing, ESPN was criticized for not acting, and you remember that after a couple days of controversy over Rush.

I'm a big fan of unflinching drama and bold drama. If you shy away from dark subject matters, there's only certain places for TV drama to go. If there are shows that can break through that and be brave, those are the shows that I personally enjoy watching. I try and do work that I would watch.

Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh's whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it is incendiary. Yes, it is ugly.

The cartoons which I enjoy have caused some kind of out rage, but they have got people talking about these issues out in the open and in essence that's what its all about.

Talk radio around Boston is brutal, and I think that's part of what goes on is that people as they're driving to and from work start listening to these jerks, and I say jerks, because I don't think they know what they're talking about and they're just serving some things up as controversy so they can sell the show to sponsors.

There are always protests, whether you do something good or bad. Even if you do something beneficial, people say you do it because it's advertising.

People like controversy because that's what sells.

What you hear about the band is always going to be more disturbing than any particular song.

You make the movie through the cinematography - it sounds quite a simple idea, but it was like a huge revelation to me.

Nobody makes movies like Oliver Stone.

Anyone working in the media can tell you that there seems to be an always-ready-to-explode segment of the populace for whom offense is a fate worse than anything imaginable. You'd think offense is one of the most calamitous things that could happen to a human being; right up there with the loss of a limb, or just missing a parking space.

I chose the Egyptian dream: the dream to make a TV show, and then be called an infidel by the end.

When people protest and are upset with a movie, it becomes a big hit. They hated Passion of The Christ, it worked out pretty well for the box office. So let's get that going.

Starz is a network that's going for the content that's extremely honest and pushing the envelope and is provocative.

I prefer the European films that are like, 'No, it's over! They both die. The End.'

I've got about 5 million followers on Twitter, and if I tweet anything, there will be faux outrage.

I am a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino, who takes time to figure out what his next movie is.

To be honest, I make very controversial films. The films that I've made have been very, very bold choices.

TMZ is so disgusting.

Liberals decided it's much better not to play outraged with me anymore. I sell lots of books that way.