Richard Dreyfuss criticizes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new diversity and inclusion requirements.
The jaws the actor told Margaret Hoover on Friday’s episode PBS’ firing line Films must meet minimum requirements regarding representation and content to qualify for the Best Picture Oscar “Make Me Puke.”
“It’s an art form,” he continued. “It’s a kind of business, and it makes money, but it’s an art. No one should tell me as an artist that I have to submit to the latest, current idea of what morality is.
In 2020, the Academy announced that it would begin publishing inclusivity standards in 2021 “to better reflect the diversity of moviegoing audiences to promote equal representation on and off screen.” And starting in 2024, films must meet minimum requirements to be considered for the Best Picture category.
Dreyfus won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Goodbye girl, and, “What are we at risk for? Are we really in danger of hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate it. And you have to let life be life.
The American Graffiti The actor went on to defend Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film OthelloIn which Oliver played the lead role of Shakespeare in Blackface.
“He played a black man brilliantly,” Dreyfuss told Hoover. “Am I being told that I will never get a chance to play a black man? Has anyone else been told that if they’re not Jewish, they can’t play? Merchant of Venice? Are we crazy? Don’t we know that art is art? It is very supportive. It is very thoughtless and treats people like children.
Hoover asked Close the third type of meetings Actor means “There is a difference between the question of representation and who can be allowed to represent other groups? … and the case of blackface, obviously in this country, given the history of slavery and sensitivities around anti-black racism.
He replied, “It should not be. … because it supports. Because it says we are too weak to get our feelings hurt. We should expect our feelings to be hurt, and our children’s feelings to be hurt. We don’t know how to stand up and punch a bully in the face.
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