The French have the reputation of being arrogant. I don't think it's arrogance but a certain authenticity.
I encourage students to pursue an idea far enough so they can see what the cliches and stereotypes are. Only then do they begin to hit pay dirt.
I'm not a big believer in the sense of Jews having a monopoly on comedy.
All comedy does that. Every comedian I can think of - Larry David, Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, Chris Rock - that's where the best comedy comes from, from stereotypes.
Do people really believe there's something different about the eyes of murderers?
In American films, Russians are often portrayed like cartoon villains without clear motivations.
Asian American men, Asian men have been basically eunuchs in American cinema and television.
With Bound, we wanted to pull at conventions, because you begin to wonder, Why do these stereotypes exist? Where do they come from? You use that as the subtext.
