Since I was a kid, I've had an absolute obsession with particular kinds of American music. Mississippi Delta blues of the Thirties, Chicago blues of the Fifties, West Coast music of the mid-Sixties - but I'd never really touched on dark Americana.
Many medical students, like most American patients, confuse science and technology. They think that what it means to be a scientific doctor is to bring to bear the maximum amount of technology on any given patient. And this makes them dangerous.
Even putting aside the Judeo-Christian morality upon which the Constitution and our nation's culture are based, the notion of forced euthanasia would contradict the long-held body of medical ethics to which all American doctors must adhere.
If one of us, any of us, any American is traveling in a town somewhere in America and a medical crisis hits them, for someone who is diabetic or perhaps has heart disease or some other problems, where do we get the records to determine what to do?
I'm an American designer. It's important to riff on that. I remember, when my mom and I first came to the States, she was so shocked that everyone was so dressed down in sandals and shorts. It's not quite like that in Asia. To give that a superluxuri...
I've done all kinds of movies, but I wanna do some more independent films that are not your run-of-the-mill type movies like 'American Splendor', which I had a big part in, that are really trying to do something unique.
I got to learn from the American audience. Hearing what it is they're not getting. These are audiences, 35 to 40, an older demographic that controls seven to 10 trillion dollars. And the producers and distributors have convinced themselves this group...
If military movies were automatically successful we'd make nothing but military movies. But seriously, patriotism is one thing that all Americans have in common.
Gene Kranz: We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.
Lester Burnham: [narrating] It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself.
Angela Hayes: Yeah? Well, at least I'm not ugly! Ricky Fitts: Yes, you are. And you're boring, and you're totally ordinary, and you know it.
Lester Burnham: Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Carolyn Burnham: Honey, I'm so proud of you. I watched you very closely, and you didn't screw up once!
Jane Burnham: [turning the camera on Ricky] Don't you feel naked? Ricky Fitts: [looking down, grinning] I am naked.
Lester Burnham: You better watch yourself, Jane, or you're going to turn into a real BITCH, just like your MOTHER!
Ricky Fitts: My dad thinks I paid for all this with catering jobs. Never underestimate the power of denial.
Lester Burnham: I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up.
Jane Burnham: Are you scared? Ricky Fitts: I don't get scared. Jane Burnham: My parents will try to find me. Ricky Fitts: Mine won't.
Jane Burnham: [seeing Lester having just been shot] Oh, my God... Ricky Fitts: [looks at Lester, curiously intrigued] Wow...
Lester Burnham: [talking to Carolyn about Jane] Oh, what? You're mother of the year? You treat her like an employee.
Carolyn Burnham: There happens to be a lot about me that you don't know, Mr. Smarty Man. There's plenty of joy in my life.
