I think there is having a behavior that is disrespectful to women that goes unchecked, where your manhood is defined by sexual conquests, where you trade stories with your friends and no one checks anyone. At 19, that was normal.

Self-esteem and identity are very fragile things. I think a lot of times, those are the motivations for why people do take their own lives - not being seen, not being recognized, not being loved, not feeling supported, not feeling understood.

When an artist becomes complacent, he dies.

You can be addicted to White Supremacy and all of the benefits, you can be addicted to male privilege and all of the benefits that comes from it. It's like someone pointing at you and you have a stain on your shirt and you don't even know it.

I never examined my role in male culture, in hyper masculinity. I never examined it, nobody ever called me on it.

When I was young, to have a big nose, big lips or dark skin was the worst. You were the wretched.

I prefer to make movies which not only have a message for "then" but a message for "now."