Justin Simien

To surrender your ego, you have to have one first.

— Justin Simien

I think I have a threshold for taking things too seriously.

— Justin Simien

I want to make movies in every genre.

— Justin Simien

Racism is wrong, racism is very dangerous.

— Justin Simien

You can't get along in society without an identity.

— Justin Simien

I loved Lena Dunham's 'Girls.'

— Justin Simien

I think we all have identity crises throughout our lives.

— Justin Simien

I think I'll always be making movies that intend to say something new.

— Justin Simien

I've always thought that 'Dear White People' should live on as a TV show, so I'll leave it at that.

— Justin Simien

Black people are experiencing a systemic disadvantage, and it goes back to slavery, which was not that long ago.

— Justin Simien

I wanted to be a filmmaker since I was a kid. I always did things that took me a little closer to…

— Justin Simien

Hollywood is a world where the only thing that gets green-lit is something that made money the last year.

— Justin Simien

Stories teach us empathy. They reveal to us ourselves in the skins of others.

— Justin Simien

I never liked 'Donnie Darko' quite as much as my film school peers.

— Justin Simien

As a person of color, I was just really tired of the fact that I wasn't seeing my story in the culture.

— Justin Simien

I'm a lover of film and storytelling. I believe that I was put on earth to tell stories, and I'm not interested…

— Justin Simien

One of the most powerful lessons I learned is when you make an argument in a film, you have to make sure…

— Justin Simien

I think we are aware that post-racialism isn't real, right? I mean, I hope so. I kind of joke that we're post-post-racial.

— Justin Simien

The mark of a really great satire is its ability to seem prophetic, and I think that the television culture that film…

— Justin Simien

It is a fine line between making fun of the right thing and making fun of the wrong thing. And the language…

— Justin Simien

I tend to be collaborative, and I want to hear other people's ideas. Especially with actors, I want them to feel like…

— Justin Simien

Everyone is very aware that, not only do we have a race problem, but it's so pervasive that it affects national and…

— Justin Simien

Usually, with 'Star Trek,' you always trust the captain. The captains are always going to pull us through; the captain's always going…

— Justin Simien

Shows like 'Empire'... one of the most profound powerful things is that there's a gay male character who is loved. That character…

— Justin Simien

'Color-blind' comes up - people say 'Oh, I'm color-blind and therefore can't be accused of racism,' but I think that if we…

— Justin Simien

If you walk out of a movie that's meant to be about race in our country, and you're feeling good and happy,…

— Justin Simien

That is just the reality of being a marginalized person in this country: you have to deal with the psychological impact of…

— Justin Simien

I thought I was depressed because I wasn't a writer/director. I moved into a space where I'm a writer/director, my movie is…

— Justin Simien

I know it's 'Dear White People,' and you can imprint all kinds of concessions about what the show might be about on…

— Justin Simien

I have this natural thing in my head that when I sit down to write something serious, I tend to make jokes.…

— Justin Simien

I remember the first time that I realized that being black meant that I wasn't allowed certain things. It was in the…

— Justin Simien

White people don't have that problem, they get to go through life never having to fit into a box, and it's really…

— Justin Simien

I think art is much more valuable when it's honest. If it's not honest, it's just propaganda.

— Justin Simien

It's always kind of gratifying to go back to the place that launched you and show you did good.

— Justin Simien

I like the movies that embrace the complexity of the human condition.

— Justin Simien

Hip-hop isn't dead by any means, but it's not something I define my black identity with.

— Justin Simien

You know what, man, that's part and parcel of being a black person in this country: everything's harder. It just is.

— Justin Simien

America is a different country, and it will forever be a different country after the election of Donald Trump.

— Justin Simien

There are a plethora of ways of being black, just like there's many ways to being white.

— Justin Simien

Self-doubt is a constant companion for a chubby, gay, black boy born in the South.

— Justin Simien