I’ve watched this old Steven Spielberg clip a few times. I love it because it’s a reminder that serious artists have no interest in hearing nice bullshit from their alleged friends and admirers. Give it to me straight or don’t say anything at all.

Stanley Kubrick had to sit on Spielberg’s chest and force him into being honest about his true, deep-down feelings about The Shining. He had to grill and interrogate the truth out of him, otherwise Spielberg (who has since come to love The Shining) would have never given it up.

Husbands and wives are like this also — they always lie to protect each other’s feelings. The only way you get the real truth from a husband or wife is when you’re arguing with them and they’re really angry at you and losing their temper, and so they’ll tell you some uncomfortable fact or observation they would otherwise keep quiet about.

Before I stopped drinking (I’ve been sober since 3.20.12) I told an ex-girlfriend that I was starting to feel horrified about my weight and that I was starting to resemble a 50ish lesbian in a cowboy hat. “Stop it…you look fine!” she insisted. She lied — I was turning into Wallace Beery in Min and Bill. Hell, I was turning into Marie Dressler. Everybody lies about everything, including your enemies.