--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the financial crisis arrived, it…" description: "\"When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that this was something I had to make a movie about.\" — Charles Ferguson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png" --- # When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that… ![“When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that this was something I had to make a movie about.” quote by Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png) > “When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that this was something I had to make a movie about.” [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The crisis sparked a need to document and explain it through cinema. **In simple terms:** A crisis inspired a movie. Key Takeaway Use storytelling to clarify complex events. Themes media crisis storytelling Mood concerned determined Type documentary activist When to use this quote - activism - education - policy debate - public speaking Key Concepts documentary filmmaking public awareness Questions to Reflect On - How can film balance urgency with accuracy? - What responsibilities do filmmakers have to their audience? A Different Perspective Films may oversimplify nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Financial crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/financial-crisis/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) ## Related quotes > [The crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition, that can be heaped upon us, till custom and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-crisis-is-arrived-when-we-must-assert-our-rights-or-submit-to/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The Death of Money is an engrossing account of the massive stresses accumulating in the global financial system, especially since the 2008 financial crisis.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-h-makin/the-death-of-money-is-an-engrossing-account-of-the-massive-stresses/) John H. Makin > [President Obama has a good sense not just of the economic requisites for financial crisis firefighting but also how you build political support for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lael-brainard/president-obama-has-a-good-sense-not-just-of-the-economic-requisites/) [Lael Brainard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lael-brainard/) > [A financial crisis is a great time for professional investors and a horrible time for average ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/a-financial-crisis-is-a-great-time-for-professional-investors-and-a/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [The financial crisis of 2008 was not caused by investment banks betting against the housing market in 2007. It was caused by the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-surowiecki/the-financial-crisis-of-2008-was-not-caused-by-investment-banks/) [James Surowiecki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-surowiecki/) > [In the immediate postwar era, financial crises in advanced countries were rare events, and before 1970 did not happen at all. Since then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-m-taylor/in-the-immediate-postwar-era-financial-crises-in-advanced-countries/) [Alan M. Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-m-taylor/) > [The prevailing ideology of the modern west - which is political economy - is in the doghouse. Having failed to notice atmospheric pollution, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buchan/the-prevailing-ideology-of-the-modern-west-which-is-political-economy/) [James Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buchan/) > [It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-not-a-stretch-to-say-the-whole-financial-industry-revolves/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [There was a clarity to the Nineties. It was pre-9/11, before that anxiety kicked in that exists right now about the financial crisis or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-brownstein/there-was-a-clarity-to-the-nineties-it-was-pre-9-11-before-that/) [Carrie Brownstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-brownstein/) > ['Nobody goes to jail.' This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/nobody-goes-to-jail-this-is-the-mantra-of-the-financial-crisis-era/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Senator Obama will be taking office at a critical juncture. There are many pressing challenges facing the international community, including the global financial crisis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-clark/senator-obama-will-be-taking-office-at-a-critical-juncture-there-are/) [Helen Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-clark/) > [Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, stressing the experience of wandering in time, space and mediums. The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/) Nicolas Bourriaud > [The financial crisis just made the hole deeper, which is why our stimulus needs to be both big and smart, both financially and educationally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/the-financial-crisis-just-made-the-hole-deeper-which-is-why-our/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [Firstly, economic globalisation has brought prosperity and development to many countries, but also financial crises to Asia, Latin America and Russia, and increasing poverty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-lindh/firstly-economic-globalisation-has-brought-prosperity-and-development/) [Anna Lindh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-lindh/) > [The financial crisis we are facing today arises from the fact that there is almost no more social, cultural, natural, and spiritual capital left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/the-financial-crisis-we-are-facing-today-arises-from-the-fact-that/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) ## More by Charles Ferguson > [I thought I should try something relatively inexpensive, relatively contained, relatively small. I started working on a feature, a film I'd still like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/i-thought-i-should-try-something-relatively-inexpensive-relatively/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [If allowed to continue, this process will turn the United States into a declining, unfair society with an impoverished, angry, uneducated population under the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/if-allowed-to-continue-this-process-will-turn-the-united-states-into/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [I'm actually all in favor of freeing the entrepreneurial spirit - but it turns out, interestingly, that you actually need very strict regulations to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/i-m-actually-all-in-favor-of-freeing-the-entrepreneurial-spirit-but/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [I sort of plunged into filmmaking. I decided I'd jump off the deep end, so I started thinking about what kind of a movie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/i-sort-of-plunged-into-filmmaking-i-decided-i-d-jump-off-the-deep-end/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [It is no exaggeration to say that since the 1980s, much of the global financial sector has become criminalised, creating an industry culture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/it-is-no-exaggeration-to-say-that-since-the-1980s-much-of-the-global/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [But that's not how most of the people mentioned in this book became wealthy. Most of them became wealthy by being well connected and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/but-that-s-not-how-most-of-the-people-mentioned-in-this-book-became/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [I used to be a businessman and I enjoyed what I did and I thought that it was socially useful. I don't have anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/i-used-to-be-a-businessman-and-i-enjoyed-what-i-did-and-i-thought/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [I'd been a film maniac since I was very young; by the time I was eight or nine years old, I was hooked on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/i-d-been-a-film-maniac-since-i-was-very-young-by-the-time-i-was-eight/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [The real challenge is figuring out how the United States can regain control of its future from its new oligarchy and restore its position…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/the-real-challenge-is-figuring-out-how-the-united-states-can-regain/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [When the U.S. government is serious about doing something that's complicated and difficult, it can do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/when-the-u-s-government-is-serious-about-doing-something-that-s/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [A very high fraction of America's economic problems come not from our difficulties with education or globalization or competition with the Chinese or whatever.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/a-very-high-fraction-of-america-s-economic-problems-come-not-from-our/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/forgive-me-i-must-start-by-pointing-out-that-three-years-after-our/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [Everyone knows, or has strongly suspected, that capital theory is difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/everyone-knows-or-has-strongly-suspected-that-capital-theory-is/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [A fierce and sentimental addiction to forms makes us shudder at change. It is much easier to say that the system is all right-only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/a-fierce-and-sentimental-addiction-to-forms-makes-us-shudder-at/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [WikiLeaks combines several of my prior interests in technology, policy questions, and journalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/wikileaks-combines-several-of-my-prior-interests-in-technology-policy/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) [Explore all 19 Charles Ferguson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) ## More Crisis quotes > [People in great groups have blinders on. Their work is all they see. They value failures as learning opportunities. They are optimistic, not realistic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/people-in-great-groups-have-blinders-on-their-work-is-all-they-see/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [The crisis of our diminishing water resources is just as severe (if less obviously immediate) as any wartime crisis we have ever faced. Our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-wright/the-crisis-of-our-diminishing-water-resources-is-just-as-severe-if/) Jim Wright > [It is popular to call it a crisis of the Western world. It is in fact a crisis of the whole world. Communism, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/it-is-popular-to-call-it-a-crisis-of-the-western-world-it-is-in-fact/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [The financial crisis we are facing today arises from the fact that there is almost no more social, cultural, natural, and spiritual capital left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/the-financial-crisis-we-are-facing-today-arises-from-the-fact-that/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [Ideal for the child and society in the best of times, Rudolf Steiner's brilliant process of education is critically needed and profoundly relevant now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chilton-pearce/ideal-for-the-child-and-society-in-the-best-of-times-rudolf-steiner-s/) [Joseph Chilton Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/) > [In a couple of decades you have half of the wells that are drilled right now, and you're talking about numbers in the millions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/in-a-couple-of-decades-you-have-half-of-the-wells-that-are-drilled/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [Disasters affect every state, and North Carolinians have given our own tax dollars to help neighbors and those in other states in times of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/disasters-affect-every-state-and-north-carolinians-have-given-our-own/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) > [Things happen too quickly, crisis follows crisis, the soil of our minds is perpetually disturbed. Each of us, to relieve his feelings, broadcasts his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-struther/things-happen-too-quickly-crisis-follows-crisis-the-soil-of-our-minds/) [Jan Struther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-struther/) > [When this coronavirus crisis is over, what kind of society will we be? A more important question is what kind of society do we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-lucas/when-this-coronavirus-crisis-is-over-what-kind-of-society-will-we-be/) [Caroline Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-lucas/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Firstly, economic globalisation has brought prosperity and development to many countries, but also financial crises to Asia, Latin America and Russia, and increasing poverty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-lindh/firstly-economic-globalisation-has-brought-prosperity-and-development/) [Anna Lindh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-lindh/) > [If we Europeans are not in a state to be able to solve the refugee crisis ourselves, if we only depend on Plan B…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-kurz/if-we-europeans-are-not-in-a-state-to-be-able-to-solve-the-refugee/) [Sebastian Kurz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-kurz/) > [Urbanisation is not a crisis but an opportunity, seeing it as a crisis is wrong. And not just villages, we want everyone to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/urbanisation-is-not-a-crisis-but-an-opportunity-seeing-it-as-a-crisis/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) [Browse all 3,419 Crisis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that this was something I had to make a movie about.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Ferguson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-seemed-to-me-that-this-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crisis" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-seemed-to-me-that-this-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ab/charles-ferguson-28952_crisis_when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-see_607777.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When the financial crisis arrived, it seemed to me that this was something I had to make a movie about.” — Charles Ferguson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Ferguson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When the financial crisis arrived, it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-seemed-to-me-that-this-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/when-the-financial-crisis-arrived-it-seemed-to-me-that-this-was/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```