A Steady Diet Of Mass Culture Is

Really, It's Not People Who Don't Understand Us Who Drive Us Nuts—it's When Those Who Shouldn't, Do.

Vulgarity Is Not As Destructive To An Artist As Snobbery.

Watching Old Movies Is Like Spending An Evening With Those People Next Door. They Bore Us, And We Wouldn't Go Out Of Our Way To See Them; We Drop In On Them Because They're So Close. If It Took Some Effort To See Old Movies, We Might Try To Find Out Which Were The Good Ones, And If People Saw Only The Good Ones Maybe They Would Still Respect Old Movies. As It Is, People Sit And Watch Movies That Audiences Walked Out On Thirty Years Ago. Like Lot's Wife, We Are Tempted To Take Another Look, Attracted Not By Evil But By Something That Seems Much More Shameful -- Our Own Innocence.

Protagonists Are Always Loners, Almost By Definition.

An Avidity For More Is Built Into The Love Of Movies. Something Else Is Built In: You Have To Be Open To The Idea Of Getting Drunk On Movies. (being Able To Talk About Movies With Someone -- To Share The Giddy High Excitement You Feel -- Is Enough For A Friendship.