James Cameron obviously isn't afraid to speak his mind. The director of Avatar and Titanic sparked a feud with Fox News pundit Glenn Beck in March during a press junket for his movie Avatar. Now, he's made fast enemies with British Petroleum. After the oil company turned down Cameron's offer to help mastermind a response to the oil spill, he unleashed his wrath at the D8 tech conference in Los Angeles. "Those morons don't know what they're doing," he fumed. While this latest outburst may be the most well-publicized, it certainly isn't the first. Here, ten more of Cameron's most outspoken declarations:
1. On his new career goal—saving mankind
"At this point I’m less interested in making money for the movie and more interested in saving the world that my children are going to inhabit."
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—During his now infamous press junket interview for the DVD release of Avatar
2. On his willingness to interact with an Avatar fan:
"I don't owe you a f*cking signature. Just get out of my f*cking personal space."?
—Caught on tape as Cameron was leaving the LAX airport (2010)
3. On the relative importance of his bladder:
"I'm going try to make this as brief as I can, because frankly, I have to pee something fierce."
—While accepting the "Best Director" award at this year's Golden Globes (2010)
4. On the pointlessness of asking him to direct a movie he didn't write:
"I don't look at scripts. I just write them."
—Attributed to Cameron by IMDB (circa 1988)
5. On the humbling experience of selling three scripts within months of each other:
"I haven't paid for lunch in two weeks."
—In reference to his success with Terminator, Rambo, and Aliens (circa 1983)
6. On why men prefer fantasy heroines to their wives and girlfriends:
"A big recalibration happens when [men are] forced to deal with real women. Let's face it: real women are complicated."
—From a "Playboy" interview destined to rank very low among feminists' favorite "Playboy" interviews (2009)
7. On his vision for Neytiri, Avatar's female heroine:
"Right from the beginning, I said, she's got to have tits."?
—From the same "Playboy" Q&A (2009)
8. On his love for cinema:
"I made Titanic because I wanted to dive to the shipwreck, not because I particularly wanted to make the movie… I said, I'll make a Hollywood movie to pay for an expedition… Titanic was about f*ck you money."
—From the same "Playboy" Q&A (2009)
9. On winning the "Best Director" Oscar for Titanic:
"I'm the king of the world…whooooo!"
—Irrefutable proof, say some, of Cameron's "celebrity hubris" (1998)
10. On his willingness to spread the gospel of self-congratulation:
"We all have the best job in the world. Give it up! Give it up for yourselves!"
—While accepting the Best Drama Golden Globe for Avatar (2010)
This article was originally posted on March 25
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