Harmony Korine is a director I really admire. He changed the way I look at film not once, but twice. In 1997, he made Gummo. What an experience that was... It's not a conventional narrative at all. It's a collage of random artistic scenes of everyday life in white trash suburbia.

Most people can think of America and see New York City, or Hollywood celebrities, but the America I think of is poor, hopeless people born into desperate living, and dealing with it. Harmony Korine's work suggests optimism even under the worst conditions, and he does it by turning it into art. You might think "art" is good and all, but it's not going to pay the bills, but you know what? Art does pay the bills, when it's good enough to inspire you in any way.

When I watch Gummo, I see a reflection of myself, in the sense that my life isn't much better than this, but it's all in your outlook, and how you want to perceive things. Harmony Korine makes an ugly situation very mesmerizing, and when it's pretty, and honest... then somehow, it doesn't seem so bad...