Spike Lee Says: Stop Being Mediocre! (Video)
Me and living legend, Spike Lee
In the spirit of my Rules to Live By column, I’d like to share a portion of a short speech that Spike Lee gave Saturday night at the San Diego Black Film Festival. He talked about people subscribing to mediocrity and how as filmmakers–but also as people–we should be willing to raise the bar. To say there are all sorts of products in the marketplace that are mediocre is surely an understatement. In America, mediocrity has become a way of life.
It’s rarely about the best that you can do, it’s mostly about the least that you can do to get the job done.
Funny, often people want to put in the least amount of effort but when it comes to how they want to be treated or the types of products that they are buying, they do not want to think that someone only put forth the least amount of effort. It’s one to grow on.
Tags: director, Do The Right Thing, Filmmakers, san diego black film festival, She's Gotta Have It, Spike Lee
About the Author
Yasmin Shiraz is the President of Still Eye Rise Films, an independent production company which films educational and thought provoking documentaries that chronicle the lives, traumas and experiences of youth. Her first production, Can She Be Saved?, a documentary that examines violence among middle school girls, was an official selection of the 2009 Roxbury Film Festival and recently won a 2009 Indie Award of Merit from IndieFest.
Yasmin Shiraz is the Award winning Author of Retaliation a novel about a community’s response to youth violence. In 2009, it was selected as one of the top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers by the American Library Association. She is the author of The Blueprint for My Girls: How To Build A Life Full of Courage, Determination & Self Love (Simon and Schuster) and five other books. Her best selling “Blueprint” empowerment series is utilized as a self esteem, motivational, and educational tool at middle and high schools, after school programs, non-profit youth centers, as well as Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the country. 
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