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continue to do so. But they don't want to see the artist; they don't want him or her in their living rooms or classrooms. So I'm here with a small family, doing my little Dr. Bish radio shows, photographing Cambodian girls, writing notes, and making some video.
My gift has been imagination. It's always alive and working; it loves
theater
. It seems to me that someone who's born to do that, should be doing that because all people benefit when creativity is alive. Just like a guy who's born to be a great pugilist should do
that
. He shouldn't have to go through some system where there's a bunch of application forms and say, "Well, I would like to box, and I'm a potential champion," and be told, "Your application will be held on file. We appreciate your interest." You should be able to say, "Here's what I do, this is the time to do it!" Instead of all the nonsense of politics and "managerial policy": the film business and the academic business are merely managers talking to managers. They're a caste who too often control the creative, which, as Joseph Campbell says, is so essential to society. It is art and myth that reflect our identity, our process, and our history. It is the path of the poet we follow: lonely tracks in the black snowy places of memory and an unknown horizon.