Richard Dreyfuss Slams New Oscar Diversity Rules Saying "They Make Me Want to Vomit"
Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) is not happy with all the new Oscar diversity rules that have been implemented by The Academy of Art and Sciences. The new rules that have been set are in place for film projects to be eligible for the Best Picture award at the Oscars, and Dreyfuss doesn’t hold back how he really feels about this and slams the diversity rules.
Dreyfuss recently appeared on PBS’ Firing Line and during the conversation host 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.”
In response to that, Dreyfuss said: “They make me vomit. This is an art form. It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art. 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 added, “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.” The legendary actor went on to say that he doesn’t “think there’s a minority or a majority in the country that has to be catered to like that.”
Dreyfuss went on to praise Laurence Olivier’s blackface performance of Othello, and said: “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?”
The host of the series went on to ask Dreyfuss: “Do you think there’s a difference between the question of…who is allowed to represent other groups…and the case of blackface explicitly in this country given the history of slavery and the sensitivities around Black racism?”
Dreyfuss responded saying: “There shouldn’t be because it’s patronizing. Because it says we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt. We have to anticipate having our feelings hurt, our children’s feelings hurt. We don’t know how to stand up and bop the bully in the face.”
As you might imagine, Dreyfuss is getting a lot of backlash for his comments. The thing is, nothing is stopping Dreyfuss from making the kind of art that he wants to make. He has the freedom to make whatever films he wants and to play any character he wants. They aren’t saying he can’t make his films the way he wants, they’re just saying if his art doesn’t abide by the rules he won’t be nominated.
I mean, not many people seem to care about the Oscars these days, anyway. The ceremony has become pretty bland in recent years.