I grew up in such a featureless, personality-less suburb. There was nothing to push against.
When this government [Chiang Kaishek's] finally fell there was no one ready to teach the Chinese the human way of life.
Los Angeles is a bleached-out, soulless pit.
The people who control culture in China have no culture
I feel most at home in the United States, not because it is intrinsically a more interesting country, but because no one really belongs there any more than I do. We are all there together in its wholly excellent vacuum.
When there is no such thing as religious culture and moral education, serious social problems such as drug addiction and racism fill the gap.
Los Angeles is often described as the nadir of vapidity, a smog-choked space cradle.
The cinema has done more for my spiritual life than the church. My ideas of fame, success and beauty all originate from the big screen. Whereas Christian religion is retreating everywhere and losing more and more influence; film has filled the vacuum and supports us with myths and action-controlling images.
It's hard to make a lot of pop culture references where there's no pop culture.
The reason that I like to use classical myths as models is because African American writers and African American stories are usually understood as occurring in some kind of vacuum - because of slavery.
I have no culture, no humane harmony in my brains. I can't live without a culture anymore.
So, my fellow Christians, protest this film if you like, but then how about devoting some energy to fill the vacuum created by your retreat from popular culture.
