Neil LaBute Quotes

I think Christine and Chad are on the opposite extremes of the spectrum. Christine is a model victim, and Chad is a model perpetrator, and Howard is closer to the middle.

Everyone has a little bit of Howard and Chad in them. I think there's Christine in all men as well.

We live in a disposable society. It's easier to throw things out than to fix them. We even give it a name - we call it recycling.

In a relationship you have to open yourself up.

My best male friend is my best friend until he crosses me. We're all protective of the self.

There is a lot of absurdity sometimes, not just in Mormonism but often in other religions that want to pretend that no bad happens in their church, rather than taking care of what bad does happen.

If we put the camera on ourselves, our friends and neighbors, we'll come up with some scary stuff.

The future is now. It's time to grow up and be strong. Tomorrow may well be too late.

Everybody has the ability to be manipulative, to be hateful and deceitful.

I see bits and pieces of me in all the characters in my films.

And I've got some screenplays and plays ready to dip into when I need to.

First I would probably place men at the bottom of the food chain. On a grander scale, I would say they're reacting to change. Feminism has got to be part of that.

I was very careful to cast guys who were very good-looking and very fit and who had a certain sense of privilege about them, because with that sense of privilege comes contempt.

We humans are a fairly barbarous bunch.

Everyone has a story.

Relationships in general make people a bit nervous. It's about trust. Do I trust you enough to go there?

I would be more frightened as a writer if people thought my movies were like science fiction.

With In the Company of Men, the misogynist label stuck early and firmly. In the end, it probably did hurt the film a bit, because getting women into the theaters was difficult.

I think the more the actor lets you know what he thinks of the character, the less the audience cares - like a comedian who laughs at his own jokes.

But for me, it feels like a natural extension of what I've been doing: exploring relationships. Here you have two relationships and we can explore how difficult it is for people to be together.

People think my work is therapeutic. I don't see it that way. It's not like I'm saving money from a weekly therapy visit by writing down my life.

I didn't choose BYU, I like to think it chose me.

I make movies I want to see.

I have a healthy view of what one can do with art.

I'm more than open to hope, but I think men and women have a difficult time dealing with each other and often take the low road.

I wanted to tell a story that interested me as much in the telling as in the watching.

And with Aaron, I'd have to find a reason not to work with him.

People have perhaps gotten to the point where for the most part movies are a just bit of escape.

My business is can I create a world that's possible and could happen? I think that's the only thing that I have to do, and I think that I have done that each time.

You start as an audience member and create a world you're interested in, and then you move into the telling of those stories, bringing what has interested you as an audience member.

Without In The Company of Men, I could still be teaching, so who knows if this would've existed.

Movies are - all I've found is that they're just tougher and tougher to make.

I'm saying the American way is to overcome, to conquer, to come out on top. And we do it by spending and eating and screwing our women harder than anyone else. That's all I'm saying.