My immediate family was always very supportive. It was my own fear of the rest of the world not accepting me, the rest of our society not accepting my wish to be an actor.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
I grew up watching foreign programs - American, English, Mexican, and very little Kenyan. 'The Color Purple' was the first time I saw people who looked like me.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of representation in media, indicating how seeing oneself in art can empower and inspire.
Lupita Nyong'o's quote reflects her childhood experience of growing up in a media landscape dominated by foreign programs, where she rarely saw characters that resembled her own identity. 'The Color Purple' served as a pivotal moment in her life, as it provided her with a sense of connection and recognition, underscoring the vital role that representation plays in shaping self-identity and cultural visibility.
Themes
RepresentationMediaIdentityArtEmpowerment
In practice
Example use cases
During a panel discussion about diversity in film, this quote can be used to emphasize the need for more varied representations.
More from Lupita Nyong'O
All quotes β[My mother] always said I was beautiful and I finally believed her at some point.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion: for yourself and for those around you.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade in that beauty.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
As human beings, we aren't as individual as we'd like to believe we are. And I think that's what makes acting possible. Despite the fact that I have not experienced something, I have it in my human capacity to imagine it and to put myself in someone else's shoes, and to take someone else's circumstances personally.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
I've loved the opportunity to learn about the fashion world and appreciate it as an art form, and I look forward to my continued education, but I never want it to take over my acting.
Lupita Nyong'ORead
Similar quotes
Look, Hollywood's a mecca, but it's not the final answer. You pick up a camera anyplace in the world, you can make a movie.
Robert DuvallRead
I always had a great appreciation for jazz, but I'm a very pedestrian musician. I get by. I like to think that my main instrument is vocabulary.
Tom WaitsRead
It's important that a film is loud and I hope many people agree. You should be inside of a film when you go into a theater. It should surround you, envelope you, so you can live inside a dream.
David LynchRead
Cooking is one of the oldest arts and one which has rendered us the most important service in civic life.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-SavarinRead
Everything we know about Hamilton, we knew when he was alive, because he told us.
Lin-Manuel MirandaRead
Two types of films: those that employ the resources of the theater (actors, direction, etc...) and use the camera in order to reproduce; those that employ the resources of cinematography and use the camera to create
Robert BressonRead