There are people who have seen it all. They don't mind speaking up and saying what they think, or what they think they have to say, without worrying about skirting the rules of political correctness. They either don't care about the consequences or they simply don't care. Veteran actor Richard Dreyfuss is one of them, with the caveat that he does know what he is saying, where he is saying it and why he is saying it. He knows it will have consequences. The 75-year-old star of Jaws, who has received a long list of awards, said yesterday in an interview on the PBS program Firing Line that the Hollywood Academy "treats people like children," in reference to the rules it will implement starting in 2024 on diversity and inclusion.
Under the new rules, films will have to meet minimum requirements related to representation and inclusion to be eligible for the best film award. Starting in 2024, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science will disqualify films that do not have enough Black people, homosexuals and disabled people in the cast and crew. These standards "make me vomit," Dreyfuss said.
Legendary actor Richard Dreyfuss on Hollywood’s new inclusivity standards: “They make me vomit.” (Video: PBS) pic.twitter.com/0u7s1uHbuv
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 6, 2023
When the host, Margaret Hoover, asked Dreyfuss what he thought about these rules of inclusion, the actor replied: "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. What are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people's feelings? You can't legislate that. You have to let life be life and I'm sorry, I don't think there's a minority or majority in the country that needs to be catered to like that." He then defended the English actor Olivier, who painted his entire face black to play Othello in the 1965 Shakespeare adaptation.
