Saw the 2021 documentary about the life of actor Paul Newman the other day, Pierre-François Gaudry’s Paul Newman, derrière les yeux bleus (Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes). It’s hard not to make a film about Newman’s life without sanctifying the man, although he really did come close with all of his humanitarian work aside from all of the iconic roles he’d played in his career. But I’m not here to list his filmography nor his philantrophic endeavors today. Possibly another time.

Something Newman said, it had to be around 1977-1980 (it’s unclear from the film exactly when), stuck with me as it’s as timely today as it was 40-odd years ago—maybe more so.

It’s very hard to take a lot of pride in your craft if the three biggest stars in America are two robots and a shark.