My films have elements of genre in them, which prevents them from being purely art films.

I remember being really interested in the sad parts of Los Angeles, of which there are many, and knowing we weren't up in the citadel on the hill, but we also weren't on the bottom. I was very interested in the poetry of failure as a child.

Bettie Page was the first person to do bondage as fashion, because for her it really was all about dressing up.

They say that depression is anger you turn on yourself, and I think women do that.

She [Bettie Page] was a traumatized person, but she did have an active sex life.

I think any big success is paralyzing. I have observed it in others.

I was lucky with my first film because it had Warhol in it. That was the selling point.