You either have commercial pressure or ideological pressure. I prefer commercial pressure; otherwise, you can be at the mercy of one or two idiots.
Interpretation
The quote suggests a preference for commercial challenges over ideological ones, highlighting the dangers of being influenced by a few misguided individuals.
Milos Forman's quote reflects the complexities of decision-making in creative processes, particularly in the arts and media. He emphasizes that commercial pressure, although challenging, can be more manageable compared to the unpredictability and potential harm of being swayed by a small number of individuals with extreme ideologies. The implication is that commercial demands often align better with broader audience expectations, while ideological pressures can lead to narrow-mindedness and conflict.
In practice
In a discussion about managing creative projects, this quote can highlight the importance of commercial viability.
The worst evil is - and that's the product of censorship - is the self-censorship, because that twists spines, that destroys my character because I have to think something else and say something else, I have to always control myself.
A modern hero is very ambiguous. I went through some very rough times in Czechoslovakia - the occupation by the Germans at the end of the war. We had people going against their tanks with brooms. Are they nuts, or are they heroes?
Because if you lived, as I did, several years under Nazi totalitarianism, and then 20 years in communist totalitarianism, you would certainly realize how precious freedom is, and how easy it is to lose your freedom.
Mediocrity never goes away - but neither, I hope, do those who are willing to challenge it.
You are dealing with people who have taken the responsibility of killing their own because they think that they are right, they think that they are serving the interests of their people. They not going to give that up easily, just because you've shown up.
The great man, Genghis Khan, only knew how to shoot eagles with an arrow. The past is past. To see real heroes, look around you.
As no roads are so rough as those that have just been mended, so no sinners are so intolerant as those that have just turned saints.
It is not so much that we, using our brains, spin our yarns, as that our brains, using yarns, spin us.
The assurance of Heaven is never given to the person. And that's why at the core of the Christian faith is the grace of God. If there's one word I would grab from all of that, it's forgiveness - that you can be forgiven. I can be forgiven, and it is of the grace of God. But once you understand that, I think the ramifications are worldwide.
The idea of a superior or inferior race is a myth that has been completely refuted by anthropological evidence.
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