Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss criticized the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new diversity and inclusion standards, saying the updated requirements for the Oscar competition “they make me puke”.
Dreyfuss’ comments came during a lengthy interview he gave on the show Line of Fire with Margaret Hooverfrom the PBS channel, in which the actor spoke about civic education in the United States, partisan speech and especially the Hollywood Academy’s diversity inclusion initiative.
“It’s an art. No one should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest and most current idea of what morality is. What are we risking? Are we really in danger of hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate on this,” he said. Dreyfuss told Hoover. “You have to let life be life. I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or a majority in the country that should be treated this way.”
The four new diversity and inclusion standards were first announced in 2020 and will be instituted for the upcoming 2024 Academy Awards, with two of the four requirements to be met for a valid Best Picture submission. The four standards are described as the expansion of screen representation, themes, or narrative; expand representation between creative leadership and department heads; provide industry access and opportunities to underrepresented demographic groups; and expand representation in audience development.
Dreyfuss’ comments followed up with a defense of Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film othelloin which the English actor played the protagonist of Shakespearean with face painted black.
“He’s so condescending”
“He brilliantly played a black man. Are you telling me I’ll never get the chance to play a black man? Someone else is told that if they aren’t Jewish, they shouldn’t be acting The merchant of Venice? Are we crazy?” Dreyfuss said. “This is so condescending. It’s so inconsiderate and they treat people like children.
Dreyfuss’ notable films include Shark, Close encounters of the third kindboth Steven SpielbergAND American graffitiby George Lucas. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for farewell girl.
He also referred to renewed efforts to control curriculum and ban some books in public schools in the interview with Richard Dreyfuss.
“I think we are cowards. Republicans send their kids to school hoping and praying that their kids come back, Republicans and Democrats send their kids to school with an urgent prayer that their kids go back to being Democrats,” Dreyfuss said. parent walks into a public school and says, ‘I don’t want my children to be exposed to opposing viewpoints.’ This is wrong”.
Source: Clarin
