to try to do the right thing

Photo by Art Streiber for The New York Times

from the 2011 ny times magazine interview with mike white:

Because White’s film characters tend to elicit existential discomfort, he often gets pegged as a satirist. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think I’m more of an absurdist than a satirist. I think I’m more of a — humanist? I hate to say it!” This made him laugh. But it’s an accurate description, in the sense that he returns again and again to the subject of what it’s like and what it means to be human — to try to do the right thing, to screw up, to feel bad, to try again.