--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was making films about American…" description: "\"I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and I lived on a farm in the San..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg" --- # I was making films about American society, and it is true… ![“I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and I lived on a farm in the San Fernando Valley. But I always wanted my characters to be more than cyphers for the failings of their world. And I never had to look too hard to…” quote by Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg) > “I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and I lived on a farm in the San Fernando Valley. But I always wanted my characters to be more than cyphers for the failings of their world. And I never had to look too hard to find a part of myself in them” [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Filmmakers should embed personal identity in characters, not merely reflect societal flaws. **In simple terms:** Infuse self into art. Key Takeaway Make characters reflect personal truth. Themes authenticity artistic integrity identity Mood reflective creative Type cinematic philosophical When to use this quote - screenwriting - acting - directing Key Concepts film theory character development Questions to Reflect On - How do you embed self in characters? - What risks arise from personal bias? A Different Perspective Balancing personal and universal themes is tough. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-society/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Farms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farms/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-was-making-films-about-american-society-and-it-is-true-that-i-never/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [I find the stuff that is exciting to me are the films coming out of Taiwan and Iran and France. So I have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-sachs/i-find-the-stuff-that-is-exciting-to-me-are-the-films-coming-out-of/) [Ira Sachs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-sachs/) > [Society is the true sphere of human virtue. In social, active life, difficulties will perpetually be met with; restraints of many kinds will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-carter/society-is-the-true-sphere-of-human-virtue-in-social-active-life/) Elizabeth Carter > [“The best thing any man can do or be which will be of utmost importance both to him and the society is to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnson-bandi/the-best-thing-any-man-can-do-or-be-which-will-be-of-utmost/) Johnson Bandi > [Religion, art, and science flourish best in a free society. True, freedom does not afford much opportunity for grand gestures. It has little room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-postrel/religion-art-and-science-flourish-best-in-a-free-society-true-freedom/) [Virginia Postrel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-postrel/) > [The majority of a society is the true definition of the public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-majority-of-a-society-is-the-true-definition-of-the-public/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“Brothers in one great family, children lose their common features only when they lose their innocence, which is the same everywhere. Then the passions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/brothers-in-one-great-family-children-lose-their-common-features-only/) [François-René de Chateaubriand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/) > [We lived on the farm, and our mode of transportation was wagon and team. No electricity. I'm the seventh son of 12 kids -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-campbell/we-lived-on-the-farm-and-our-mode-of-transportation-was-wagon-and/) [Glen Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-campbell/) > [I ask myself: Would I have been any worse off if I had stayed home or lived on a farm instead of shock treatments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-tierney/i-ask-myself-would-i-have-been-any-worse-off-if-i-had-stayed-home-or-2/) [Gene Tierney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-tierney/) > [I lived a normal life for a number of years. I had kids. I lived up on a farm in Gloucestershire in rural England,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-lived-a-normal-life-for-a-number-of-years-i-had-kids-i-lived-up-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gebrselassie/my-school-was-six-miles-away-from-where-i-lived-on-the-farm-i-had-to/) [Haile Gebrselassie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gebrselassie/) > [American films are less American every day, because you have to please a world audience. There's less authenticity, so it's more accessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ang-lee/american-films-are-less-american-every-day-because-you-have-to-please/) [Ang Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ang-lee/) > [We lived on a farm in the English countryside, where we wrote a lot of our music. You really were treated like an artist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-wright/we-lived-on-a-farm-in-the-english-countryside-where-we-wrote-a-lot-of/) [Gary Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-wright/) > [It really upsets me that the media insists on turning 'Do the Right Thing' or 'Boyz N the Hood' into 'black films.' They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/it-really-upsets-me-that-the-media-insists-on-turning-do-the-right/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I lived on a farm with cows, and I lived in the city with rats. My family stayed in Colorado for a while, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-behr/i-lived-on-a-farm-with-cows-and-i-lived-in-the-city-with-rats-my/) [Jason Behr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-behr/) ## More by Douglas Sirk > [There is a wonderful expression: seeing through a glass darkly. Everything, even life, is inevitably removed from you. You can't reach, or touch, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/there-is-a-wonderful-expression-seeing-through-a-glass-darkly/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [There arose a belief in style - and in banality. Banality encompassed politics, too, because it was a common belief that politics were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/there-arose-a-belief-in-style-and-in-banality-banality-encompassed/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [Ross Hunter was my assistant on Take Me to Town, He was a young man, an actor before that, and learned a lot on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/ross-hunter-was-my-assistant-on-take-me-to-town-he-was-a-young-man-an/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [At the time I belonged to the socialist party, and Hitler came to power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/at-the-time-i-belonged-to-the-socialist-party-and-hitler-came-to-power/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [In the 19th century, you had bourgeois art without politics - an almost frozen idea of what beauty is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/in-the-19th-century-you-had-bourgeois-art-without-politics-an-almost/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [These happy endings all express the weak and sly promise that the world is not rotten and out of joint but meaningful and ultimately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/these-happy-endings-all-express-the-weak-and-sly-promise-that-the/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [A director in Hollywood in my time couldn't do what he wanted to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/a-director-in-hollywood-in-my-time-couldn-t-do-what-he-wanted-to-do/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [I worked for UFA as a set designer, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-worked-for-ufa-as-a-set-designer-you-know/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [At the same time, of course, Marxism arose - Rosa Luxembourg, Leninism, anarchism - and art became political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/at-the-same-time-of-course-marxism-arose-rosa-luxembourg-leninism/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [My idea at this time, which was slowly developing, was to create a comedie humaine with little people, average people - samples from every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/my-idea-at-this-time-which-was-slowly-developing-was-to-create-a/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [The war was the end of an era, in art as well. And we were trying to create a new philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/the-war-was-the-end-of-an-era-in-art-as-well-and-we-were-trying-to/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [Rock Hudson was not an educated man, but that very beautiful body of his was putty in my hands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/rock-hudson-was-not-an-educated-man-but-that-very-beautiful-body-of/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [I think the great artists, especially in literature, have always thought with the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-think-the-great-artists-especially-in-literature-have-always/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [This is the dialectic - there is a very short distance between high art and trash, and trash that contains an element of craziness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/this-is-the-dialectic-there-is-a-very-short-distance-between-high-art/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [I think the great artists (..) have always thought with the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-think-the-great-artists-have-always-thought-with-the-heart/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) [Explore all 32 Douglas Sirk quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) ## More American society quotes > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-don-t-see-much-future-for-the-americans-it-s-a-decayed-country-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I have tried to defend what is most precious to our American society, a society that is now at war against the forces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demian-bichir/i-have-tried-to-defend-what-is-most-precious-to-our-american-society/) [Demian Bichir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demian-bichir/) > [Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/cumulatively-american-society-is-sliding-toward-a-new-form-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“As a culture, we had no heroes. Certainly not any politician--Barack Obama was then the most admired man in America (and likely still is),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-a-culture-we-had-no-heroes-certainly-not-any-politician-barack/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [ “The Sexual plight of these children \[those adolescents experimenting sexually\] is officially not mentioned. The revolutionary attack on hypocrisy by Ibsen, Freud, Ellis, Dreiser,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/the-sexual-plight-of-these-children-those-adolescents-experimenting/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Hip-hop is contributing to American society's misogyny and racism, hyper-sexuality anti-Black representations. Hip-Hop isn't setting the standard for misogyny. No one reduces the presidency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bakari-kitwana/hip-hop-is-contributing-to-american-society-s-misogyny-and-racism/) [Bakari Kitwana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bakari-kitwana/) > [I believe it is essential to have English as the official language of our National Government, for the English language is the tie that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sensenbrenner/i-believe-it-is-essential-to-have-english-as-the-official-language-of/) [Jim Sensenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sensenbrenner/) > [Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/black-people-cannot-and-will-not-become-integrated-into-american/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Black people in America have to, for their own protection, develop a defense mechanism, and I just grew terribly tired of it. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-robinson/black-people-in-america-have-to-for-their-own-protection-develop-a/) [Randall Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-robinson/) > [Public image is extremely important in American society and I observed personally that the Presidency of John F. Kennedy did much in the public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/public-image-is-extremely-important-in-american-society-and-i/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [Sometimes, you know, the president is a father-like figure in American society, to most Americans, even today, no matter how cynical we've become. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/sometimes-you-know-the-president-is-a-father-like-figure-in-american/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) > [The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-family-has-always-been-the-cornerstone-of-american-society-our/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [While President Barack Obama has, in one sense, tipped his hand by saying that he wants judges with "empathy" for certain groups, he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/while-president-barack-obama-has-in-one-sense-tipped-his-hand-by/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Browse all 315 American society quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-society/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps when my wife and I lived on a farm in the San Fernando Valley. But I always wanted my characters to be more than cyphers for the failings of their world. And I never had to look too hard to find a part of myself in them", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Douglas Sirk" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-was-making-films-about-american-society-and-it-is-true-that-i-never-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American society" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-was-making-films-about-american-society-and-it-is-true-that-i-never-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aae/douglas-sirk-19509_american-society_i-was-making-films-about-american-societ_2966810.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was making films about American society, and it is true that I never felt at home there, except perhaps…” — Douglas Sirk", "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": "Douglas Sirk", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was making films about American...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-was-making-films-about-american-society-and-it-is-true-that-i-never-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/i-was-making-films-about-american-society-and-it-is-true-that-i-never-2/#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 } } ] } ```