Richard Dreyfuss Criticizes Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Standards

Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has criticized the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new diversity and inclusion standards, saying the updated requirements to compete for an Oscar “make me gag.”

Dreyfus’s comments came during a wide-ranging discussion interview On PBS’s “Firing Line With Margaret Hoover,” where the actor spoke about civic education in the United States, partisan rhetoric and the initiative to include diversity in academia.

The four new diversity and inclusion standards It was announced for the first time. in 2020; They will be anchored to the upcoming 2024 Academy Awards, where two of the four must be met to send a favor for Best Picture. The four criteria are described as expansion of on-screen representation, themes, or narrative; Expand representation between creative leadership and department heads; provide industry access and opportunities for underrepresented population groups; And broaden representation in audience development.

“It’s art. No one should tell me as an artist that I have to succumb to the latest idea of ​​what morality is. What do we risk? Do we really risk hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legitimize that,” Dreyfuss said. Vacuum cleaner. «You have to live life. I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or a majority in the country whose needs should be covered like this.

Dreyfus’s comments continued in his defense of Laurence Olivier’s performance in 1965’s “Othello,” in which the English actor played Shakespeare in blackface.

“He brilliantly played a black man. Did they tell me I’ll never get the chance to play a black man? Are they telling anyone else that if he’s not Jewish, he shouldn’t be playing [in] ‘The merchant of Venice’? We are crazy? Dreyfuss declared: “This is very intolerant. He is inconsiderate and treats people like children.”

Dreyfuss highlights include “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “American Graffiti,” and “W.” and “Mr. Dutch Opus». He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for ‘The Goodbye Girl.’ The Dreyfuss interview also touched on renewed efforts to control the curriculum and ban some books in public schools.

“I think we are cowards. Republicans send their children to school hoping and praying that they return. Republicans and Democrats urgently send their children to school and pray that their Democratic children return,” Dreyfuss said. “The idea of ​​a parent going to a public school and saying, ‘I don’t want my kids to be exposed to opposing views. ” that is wrong.”