Daily Inspiration Quote by Brian De Palma

De Palma’s shrugging conditional - “if it’s going to be used in some way” - is a quiet indictment of the publicity machine that shadows filmmaking. He’s not rejecting the press; he’s rejecting the ritual. The line draws a bright line between communication as craft and promotion as performance, and it lands because De Palma speaks from a career spent navigating the gap between what movies do and what marketing says they do.

The intent reads pragmatic, almost weary: he’ll show up, he’ll answer questions, he’ll play the game, but only if the exchange produces something tangible - insight, clarity, a real conversation that extends the work instead of flattening it into taglines. The subtext is sharper. “Used” hints at a long history of being misused: quotes stripped of nuance, interviews edited into harmless boosterism, directors turned into content generators. De Palma, a filmmaker obsessed with framing, manipulation, and voyeurism, is basically calling out another kind of camera setup: the press junket as controlled spectacle, where spontaneity is simulated and risk is managed.

Context matters. Coming up in the New Hollywood era, De Palma watched directors become brands and films become campaigns. His movies often critique systems that commodify attention; here, he’s talking about the commodification of the artist’s voice. The line works because it’s not a tantrum. It’s a professional boundary stated like a production note: if the scene advances the story, we shoot it. If it’s just noise, cut it.