Divisive Art Quotes

The films that I do tend to polarise people's views.

We've always been a polarizing band.

In England, we have this saying about Marmite: people either love it or hate it. That's like a lot of the movie work I've done. People either find it repulsive or find it really interesting and get engaged in it.

I played in a death-metal band. People either loved us or hated us. Or they thought we were OK.

People either hate my paintings or they love them. There does not seem to be much middle ground.

I think my music is like anchovies - some people like it, some people get nauseous.

I feel like people either love me or hate me, which is good, because that was the point of what I do. The point of M.I.A. is to be - it's either to be loved or hated. At least you evoke that much of a strong opinion about music.

Music should always be polarizing. What one person likes, somebody else hates. And I hate that kind of snobbery in pop music. The fact that so many people are getting upset over this one song is hysterical. And if people like it, that's great.

Good art should be polarizing.

I think I'm always very naïve. With 'Kill Your Darlings' and 'Horns', I'm like, "Why wouldn't everybody love this?" But I guess it's going to divide people in some ways. But if you're willing to go with it and suspend your disbelief, you're going to get something amazing and something unlike anything else.

As soon as one of my records goes on, it makes a vast portion of the public nervous. They get spooked by it. To some people who have ears to hear, it's a delightful, refreshing change. But to most of the public, it's a load of homemade-sounding nonsense.

Mixed reactions? Sure, I get them all the time. I'm a Marmite artist.

I think you put art out into the world, and sometimes it's divisive, sometimes it's embraced. Sometimes people cry, laugh or have complicated reactions.