--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nothing I do is didactic. I just want to…" description: "\"Nothing I do is didactic. I just want to hold up a mirror and say, 'This is who we are.'\" — Dee Rees" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/dee-rees-4528_didactic_nothing-i-do-is-didactic-i-just-want-to_1853964.png" --- # Nothing I do is didactic. I just want to hold up a mirror… ![“Nothing I do is didactic. I just want to hold up a mirror and say, 'This is who we are.'” quote by Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/dee-rees-4528_didactic_nothing-i-do-is-didactic-i-just-want-to_1853964.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/dee-rees-4528_didactic_nothing-i-do-is-didactic-i-just-want-to_1853964.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/dee-rees-4528_didactic_nothing-i-do-is-didactic-i-just-want-to_1853964.png) > “Nothing I do is didactic. I just want to hold up a mirror and say, 'This is who we are.'” [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She aims to reflect society truthfully rather than teach it, using art as a mirror. **In simple terms:** She wants to show reality, not lecture. Key Takeaway Use art to reveal truth. Themes identity art reflection social commentary Mood thoughtful introspective Type observational critical When to use this quote - film making - visual arts - public discourse - education - activism Key Concepts mirror metaphor authentic representation Questions to Reflect On - How can a mirror reflect hidden truths? - What responsibilities do artists have when holding up mirrors? A Different Perspective May be perceived as passive rather than prescriptive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Didactic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didactic/) [Didactic Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didactic-just-2451604/) [Hold Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hold-mirror-661561/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror/) [Mirror Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror-say/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) ## Related quotes > [Since Im in the entertainment business, I think I have to hold a mirror up to myself and say, Am I complicit in miseducating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hill-harper/since-im-in-the-entertainment-business-i-think-i-have-to-hold-a/) [Hill Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hill-harper/) > [I grew up a poor kid to a single mom, so as an African-American actor I have a responsibility to hold the mirror up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-todd/i-grew-up-a-poor-kid-to-a-single-mom-so-as-an-african-american-actor/) [Tony Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-todd/) > [Hypocrisy annoys me, people need to look into mirrors. Let me hold a mirror in front of your face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/hypocrisy-annoys-me-people-need-to-look-into-mirrors-let-me-hold-a/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [“It's kind of like when you look at yourself in the mirror and you say your name. And it gets to a point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/it-s-kind-of-like-when-you-look-at-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-you-say/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [Sometimes you gotta take a look at yourself in the mirror and say 'when in Rome.' -Ron Burgandy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anchor-man/sometimes-you-gotta-take-a-look-at-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-say/) [Anchor Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anchor-man/) > [When I was young, people would say I was ugly, but I never saw that. I would look in the mirror and say, 'They're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dania-ramirez/when-i-was-young-people-would-say-i-was-ugly-but-i-never-saw-that-i/) [Dania Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dania-ramirez/) > [If you want to meet someone who can fix any situation you don't like, who can bring you happiness in spite of what other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/if-you-want-to-meet-someone-who-can-fix-any-situation-you-don-t-like/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Sometimes you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say, 'You are the prettiest princess in all the land.' I do it once a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-barakat/sometimes-you-gotta-look-yourself-in-the-mirror-and-say-you-are-the/) [Jack Barakat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-barakat/) > [Friends hold a mirror up to each other; through that mirror they can see each other in ways that would not otherwise be accessible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/friends-hold-a-mirror-up-to-each-other-through-that-mirror-they-can/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Artists hold out the mirror to the bruises on the face of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josef-skvorecky/artists-hold-out-the-mirror-to-the-bruises-on-the-face-of-the-world/) [Josef Skvorecky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josef-skvorecky/) > [Do you want to see a beautiful girl? -Then hold up a mirror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-you-want-to-see-a-beautiful-girl-then-hold-up-a-mirror/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Period pieces hold up a mirror to the world that we live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-brosnahan/period-pieces-hold-up-a-mirror-to-the-world-that-we-live-in/) [Rachel Brosnahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-brosnahan/) > [I think good filmmaking is when you really hold the mirror up truthfully, and you don't angle it and you don't hide things with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlize-theron/i-think-good-filmmaking-is-when-you-really-hold-the-mirror-up/) [Charlize Theron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlize-theron/) > [Hold up a mirror and ask yourself what you are capable of doing, and what you really care about. Then take the initiative -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/hold-up-a-mirror-and-ask-yourself-what-you-are-capable-of-doing-and/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [I think it's important to hold a mirror up to society and yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-think-it-s-important-to-hold-a-mirror-up-to-society-and-yourself/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) ## More by Dee Rees > [I want people to get from 'Pariah' that it's okay to be you and not to check a box as a parent or child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-want-people-to-get-from-pariah-that-it-s-okay-to-be-you-and-not-to/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I thought I'd get an MBA, and then I could be anything. And I'd write on the side. That was the idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-thought-i-d-get-an-mba-and-then-i-could-be-anything-and-i-d-write/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I thought that marketing was a way to be creative in business but quickly learned all creative stuff happens at the ad agency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-thought-that-marketing-was-a-way-to-be-creative-in-business-but/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [When I first started going out to lesbian clubs, I felt a very binary recreation of hetero culture. There are butches and femmes, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-started-going-out-to-lesbian-clubs-i-felt-a-very-binary/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I was always going to direct. I wasn't going to hand my characters over to anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-was-always-going-to-direct-i-wasn-t-going-to-hand-my-characters/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [My ultimate dream was just to be an auteur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/my-ultimate-dream-was-just-to-be-an-auteur/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [For me, books were my source of affirmation. Alice Walker, Audrey Lord - it was these authors who wrote about their experiences. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/for-me-books-were-my-source-of-affirmation-alice-walker-audrey-lord/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [When I first came out, holidays were hard. I reached a point where I didn't go home anymore. I constructed my own, kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/when-i-first-came-out-holidays-were-hard-i-reached-a-point-where-i/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [You can't be limited by your own experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/you-can-t-be-limited-by-your-own-experience/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [We shouldn't be discriminating against each other. The whole 'light skin versus dark skin' is an idea we need to break down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/we-shouldn-t-be-discriminating-against-each-other-the-whole-light/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Going into a room and saying, 'I'm a black lesbian' - it's a strike against you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/going-into-a-room-and-saying-i-m-a-black-lesbian-it-s-a-strike/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Each moment is defined by a multitude of histories, the past constantly converging upon us, perpetually decaying and reforming itself on the steady pulse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/each-moment-is-defined-by-a-multitude-of-histories-the-past/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [I'd go to lesbian parties. I felt like I wasn't hard enough to be butch, but I wasn't wearing heels and a skirt -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/i-d-go-to-lesbian-parties-i-felt-like-i-wasn-t-hard-enough-to-be/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [Before Charlottesville, it might have been easy to dismiss the plot of 'Mudbound' as no longer relevant. Now, I feel like audiences will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/before-charlottesville-it-might-have-been-easy-to-dismiss-the-plot-of/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) > [For me, like, obviously, I want to see myself onscreen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-rees/for-me-like-obviously-i-want-to-see-myself-onscreen/) [Dee Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) [Explore all 109 Dee Rees quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-rees/) ## More Didactic quotes > [If writing with a goal - whether it be evangelistic, apologetic, or didactic - implies propaganda, then all recorded history is propaganda. . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-copan/if-writing-with-a-goal-whether-it-be-evangelistic-apologetic-or/) [Paul Copan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-copan/) > [Don't be didactic - don't write about poverty. Write about poor people. When you dramatize their lives and let life and characters be your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mckee/don-t-be-didactic-don-t-write-about-poverty-write-about-poor-people/) [Robert McKee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mckee/) > [The apostolic writings are of three kinds: historical, didactic, and prophetic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-schaff/the-apostolic-writings-are-of-three-kinds-historical-didactic-and/) [Philip Schaff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-schaff/) > [The flowery style is not unsuitable to public speeches or addresses, which amount only to compliment. The lighter beauties are in their place when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-flowery-style-is-not-unsuitable-to-public-speeches-or-addresses/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I don't want to be a didactic voice. I like to ask more questions than I answer, just to get people thinking and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-gadsby/i-don-t-want-to-be-a-didactic-voice-i-like-to-ask-more-questions-than/) [Hannah Gadsby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-gadsby/) > [What you demand from storytelling is a moral - even political - import. I tend to shun that didactic aspect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/what-you-demand-from-storytelling-is-a-moral-even-political-import-i/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [When I was younger I was much more polemical and didactic, much less trusting. Inherently my own vision of the world would weave its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/when-i-was-younger-i-was-much-more-polemical-and-didactic-much-less/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [I'm really interested in social justice, and if an artist has a certain power of being heard and voicing something important, it's right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirin-neshat/i-m-really-interested-in-social-justice-and-if-an-artist-has-a/) [Shirin Neshat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirin-neshat/) > [It’s the ability to bring events and characters to a resolution that draws me to writing, especially writing for children. I don’t want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wynne-jones/it-s-the-ability-to-bring-events-and-characters-to-a-resolution-that/) [Tim Wynne-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wynne-jones/) > [The novel is a perfect medium for revealing to us the changing rainbow of our living relationships. The novel can help us to live,as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-novel-is-a-perfect-medium-for-revealing-to-us-the-changing/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [“Didactic instruction is teaching by telling, i.e. teacher presentation. In didactic instruction, the teacher directly tells the student what to believe and think about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-marselle/didactic-instruction-is-teaching-by-telling-i-e-teacher-presentation/) [Terry Marselle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-marselle/) > [I don't think that writers or painters or filmmakers function because they have something they particularly want to say. They have something that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/i-don-t-think-that-writers-or-painters-or-filmmakers-function-because/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [What I do not want to write is didactic political tracts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-vinge/what-i-do-not-want-to-write-is-didactic-political-tracts/) [Joan D. Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-vinge/) > [Artist should look at the reality and brutality of modern life in all its color, nature with all its imperfections - that should be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/artist-should-look-at-the-reality-and-brutality-of-modern-life-in-all/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [I don't like making didactic, pedagogical documentaries based on standard formulas of narration: I'm only interested in the ambitious French tradition of the documentaire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-pettigrew/i-don-t-like-making-didactic-pedagogical-documentaries-based-on/) [Damian Pettigrew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-pettigrew/) [Browse all 48 Didactic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didactic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Nothing I do is didactic. 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