We live in a climate of fear, and because of this whole ideology of consumption almost to the point of religion.

Hollywood is designed to check the box office on Monday morning and see: "How'd we do? How much?" It's another facet of this whole culture of accumulation and consumption. Black people are caught up in it, white people are caught up in it, white actors, black actors, female actresses - everybody's caught up in it.

I have the capacity to express what I feel needs to be expressed. And I try to do what I believe in.

I was able to do The Saint of Fort Washington, on the relationship between two homeless men.

I'm not so vain as to believe that my involvement changes anything whatsoever.

Mel Gibson is my friend. I love Mel. He's not the person that I hear people are often trying to diminish. Whatever his challenges are in life, he still remains someone I'm very close to.

The civil rights movement didn't deal with the issue of political disenfranchisement in the Northern cities. It didn't deal with the issues that were happening in places like Detroit, where there was a deep process of deindustrialization going on.