All worthy work is open to interpretations the author did not intend. Art isn't your pet -- it's your kid. It grows up and talks back to you.
Joss WhedonRead
I'd rather make a show 100 people need to see, than a show that 1000 people want to see.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of creating meaningful work rather than seeking mass appeal.
Joss Whedon suggests that true artistic value lies in producing content that resonates deeply with a smaller audience, rather than simply trying to please a larger group. He advocates for authenticity and personal expression in art, implying that the impact on a few is more significant than broad popularity.
Themes
ArtAuthenticityMeaningfulAudienceCreation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at an art conference, I shared this quote to inspire creators to focus on depth over breadth.
More from Joss Whedon
All quotes βBecause itβs no longer enough to be a decent person. Itβs no longer enough to shake our heads and make concerned grimaces at the news. True enlightened activism is the only thing that can save humanity from itself.
Joss WhedonRead
I designed 'Buffy' to be an icon, to be an emotional experience, to be loved in a way that other shows can't be loved. Because it's about adolescence, which is the most important thing people go through in their development, becoming an adult.
Joss WhedonRead
My dad would go to work every day and write in a room full of funny people. He enjoyed it. I know great writers who find the process agonising but to me, writing has always been sheer joy.
Joss WhedonRead
I loved the idea of a girl going into a dark alley, and a monster comes, and then she just aces him. Itβs like, you want to see the tiny person suddenly take control. God, my whole career is basically about that!
Joss WhedonRead
Limitations are something that I latch onto - like working in genre, or if you're writing TV, there are act breaks, there's a length of time it's supposed to be. The restrictions of budget and sets can be really useful. When you can have everything, it's very hard to make things feel real and lived in.
Joss WhedonRead
Similar quotes
As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Tradition is the great misleader because it's too easy to follow what has already been done - even though you may think you're giving it a kick. I was really trying to invent, instead of merely expressing myself.
Marcel DuchampRead
Romantic art deals with the exception and with the individual. Good people, belonging as they do to the normal, and so, commonplace type, are artistically uninteresting.
Oscar WildeRead
I maintain that anyone who still refuses to see, for instance, a horse galloping on a tomato, must be an idiot. A tomato is also a child's balloon - Surrealism, again, having suppressed the word "like."
Andre BretonRead
Novels attempt to render human experience; that's really all they are. They are meant to convey empathy for the character.
Sue Monk KiddRead
Writing a new play shouldn't be seen as a mystery belonging to a priesthood, but as a challenge, a technical challenge, just to get into it.
Tom StoppardRead