Popular literature and culture used to reflect people's aspirations, pain, and passion. All those particular things are no longer available to us.

But rarely have I made choices that made me feel I was really compromising what I believe.

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.

Today's cinema is a proliferation of comedies, which are in some ways creating caricature images. They're one-dimensional.

The world is dealing with issues of immigration, deindustrialization, and poverty.

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

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.