OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Richard Dreyfuss, who won Best Actor at the 1978 Oscars, is speaking out about Hollywood’s release of “diversity and inclusion guidelines” that will be implemented at the Academy Awards starting next year.
Legendary actor of “Jaws” criticized the standards, saying that they make him “vomit.”
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In order for a film to win “Best Picture” at the Oscars, the movie must adhere to the new diversity guidelines. The film must include “a certain percentage of actors or crew from under-represented racial or ethnic groups.”
During an interview, PBS anchor Margaret Hoover said, “Starting in 2024, films will be required to meet new inclusion standards to be eligible for the Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture.’ They’ll have to have a certain percentage of actors or crew from under-represented racial or ethnic groups,” Hoover added.
Actor Richard Dreyfuss says Hollywood’s new inclusivity standards make him want to vomit. Good. More actors, directors and producers need to speak up. Not all great stories are diverse. Not all true stories are diverse. Forced diversity hurts everyone.
pic.twitter.com/UhU0htJdo3— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 7, 2023
She asked, “What do you think of these new inclusion standards for films?”
Dreyfuss shot back, “They make me vomit.”
“Because this is an art form, it’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art,” he continued.
“And no one should be telling me, as an artist, that I have to give in to the latest most current idea of what morality is,” Dreyfuss explained. “And what are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. And you have to let life be life.”
‘Jaws’ star Richard Dreyfuss slams new Oscars diversity rules https://t.co/w0ItxSFEqu pic.twitter.com/E2u3Qv3ELF
— New York Post (@nypost) May 7, 2023
Dreyfuss says no group in society should be given special treatment. “And I’m sorry, I don’t think there’s a minority or a majority in the country that has to be catered to like that,” he added.
The actor defended Hollywood icon Lawrence Olivier’s “Blackface” rendition of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in 1968.
“Lawrence Olivier was the last White actor to play ‘Othello,’ and he did it in 1965. And he did it in ‘Blackface.’ And he played a Black man brilliantly,” Dreyfuss said.
Dreyfuss asked rhetorical questions to prove his point: “Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man? Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish, they shouldn’t play the ‘Merchant of Venice?’ Are we crazy? Do we not know that art is art?”
