Rachel Kushner Quotes

The first show I worked on was 'In Living Color.' I think 'The Daily Show' was the culmination of having that point of view - being able to look at this third rail in our society.

While I feel it's important for films to examine our society, I don't particularly like watching the films that do it.

The problem isn’t with rock lyrics, it’s with the fabric of this society itself.

I'm kind of a twisted social documentary photographer.

All critics have the responsibility to tease out the social ideas and social problems in a movie. I don't feel an obligation to do that because I'm black.

People like to complain about the state of contemporary literature, but I can only assume they don't read it very widely.

What interests me is to understand the nature of the modern.

I'll talk all this craziness in my music, but when I have your attention, and you're listening to me, I'll talk about what I want to talk about and what I think we need to address.

Few writers can rival Helen Fielding when it comes to fully capturing the modern woman.

More people should rap about reality.

Literature plays a huge role in examining difficult real-life issues.

I think the best entertainment tackles social issues in a sort of seamless way.

Film has to reflect the real world.

The American writer has his hands full, trying to understand and then describe and then make credible much of American reality.

The Pakistani writers are addressing change and what's happening today in the world. There is something completely contemporary in this writing.

I enjoy films like 'American Beauty' and want to do similar films that reflect our culture.

State of the Culture' is more mature content. We want to go as deep as we can on whatever the subject matter is, we're not there to joke.

Expressing criticism of society is not being a grouch.

In movies that tackle these political issues, there are far more interesting themes to be explored than partisan politics, which is what we get on cable news every second of every day.

Science fiction is a great way to pretend you are writing about the future when in reality you are attacking the recent past and the present. You can criticize communists, racists, fascists or any other clear and present danger, and they can't imagine you are writing about them.

When you write songs you're commenting on love, you're commenting on sex, relationships, whatever it is that you decide to write about it. And I've wanted to write about politics or spiritual ideas for years.

I would say that Mickey Mouse has a greater influence on the American public than Shakespeare, Milton, Dante, Rabelais, Shostakovitch, Lenin, and/or Van Gogh. Which says 'What?' about the American Public. Disneyland remains the central attraction of Southern California, but the graveyard remains our reality.

I think it's a very important function of art to challenge accepted reality, especially when that reality is created by powerful interest groups.

Most of the problems that we have are brought on by the government and not by music. Music is a mirror of what we're going through, not the cause of what we're going through.