Richard Dreyfuss is a Hollywood actor who has a long list of hits on his resume. These include “Jaws”, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “What About Bob”, and other classics. If I missed your favorite, it’s probably because he has a lot of good movies.
Richard Dreyfuss has had a very successful career in Hollywood, but he’s not happy with the new diversity criteria that films must meet to be eligible for an Oscar. The star gave a biting reply in a recent interview on PBS’s Firing Line when Margaret Hoover asked him if he agrees with the rules.
Hoover: Beginning in 2024, all films must meet new inclusion criteria to be eligible to win the Academy Awards’ best picture. The films will have to include a certain number of actors and crew members from racial groups or ethnicities that are underrepresented.
What do you make of the new standards for film inclusion?
Dreyfuss: They make me sick.
I guess the PBS anchor nearly had a heart attack — a Hollywood star speaking against progressive ideologies? It’s unheard of.
But Dreyfuss was not finished.
As an artist, no one should tell me that I must give in to whatever the most recent idea of morality is. What do we risk? Do we really want to hurt people’s emotions? You can’t legislate this.
You must let life be. I am sorry, but I don’t believe there is a majority or minority in this country who needs to be catered for like that.
The Guardian explains what rules will be implemented in the future:
The new Academy regulations will be in effect for the Oscars 2025. Films that want to be nominated for best picture must meet at least two of the four criteria.
At least 30% of an ensemble cast must be underrepresented (such as women, people of color, LGBTQ+, or those with disabilities). The subject of the film can also be a group that is underrepresented.
The funnyman went on to question the unquestionable: namely, that blackface is unacceptable–period. The actor says that this is not true:
Lawrence Olivier, the last white actor who played Othello in 1965. He did it in blackface. He played a brilliant black man.
Am I told I’ll never get the chance to play a Black man? Someone else is being told they can’t play The Merchant of Venice if they aren’t Jewish? Are we crazy? Are we crazy?
It’s so patronizing. This is so childish and a waste of time.
It’s crazy to consider how recently blackface was considered legitimate in the arts.
Lawrence Olivier played Othello in blackface in 1965 with a ridiculous accent and goofy walk. pic.twitter.com/HNay6wo4vI— Jean-Michel Connard 🎃 (@torriangray) April 2, 2022
My colleague reported back in January that this wasn’t the first instance Dreyfuss had stepped away from the ultra-liberal Hollywood lanes. In fact, Dreyfuss stopped acting in order to concentrate on “getting people to see America” again. Arama explains:
He has given up acting.
Dreyfuss said that you have to make kids love “those values” in a long interview with Glenn Beck. He said, “That is the problem.” “They don’t know anything about the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.”
He has written a book called “One Thought scares me” where he describes the damage we are doing to our nation’s identity by removing civics from education. Recently, he appeared on the “Rubin Report” to bemoan Americans’ lack of knowledge about the Constitution.
Rarely do we see Hollywood stars speak with such passion about these issues, and not simply repeat the talking points of far-left Democrats and progressives. Dreyfuss has a long and distinguished career. He doesn’t have to worry about being canceled.
How refreshing.
