Posted on 05/07/2023 3:55:04 PM PDT by Signalman
Starting in 2024, films must “have a certain percentage of actors or crew from under-represented racial or ethnic groups” if they want to be considered for the “Best Picture” Oscar. Dreyfuss made an appearance on the PBS show Firing Line with anchor Margaret Hoover, who asked the actor what he thought about the new inclusion rules.
Dreyfuss declared, “They make me vomit.”
“Because this is an art form, it’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art. And 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 said.
The actor continued, claiming that such guidelines stifle creativity and risk. “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.”
Dreyfuss further claimed he doesn’t believe that any group in society today should be given special treatment. He said, “And I’m sorry, I don’t think there’s a minority or a majority in the country that has to be catered to like that.”
The actor then defended Hollywood legend Lawrence Olivier’s “Blackface” rendition of Shakespeare’s “Othello” in 1968.
He stated, “Lawrence Olivier was the last White actor to play ‘Othello,’ and he did it in 1965. And he did it in ‘Blackface.’ And he played a Black man brilliantly.”
He conveyed his point with a few rhetorical questions, asking, “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?”
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
It’s nice to see Richard Dreyfuss showing common sense!
Kudos for Richard Dreyfuss.
If a white man can’t play the Merchant, how does Hamilton exist?
Oh yeah, double standards, that is how. If the Left didn’t have double standards, they would have no standards at all.
Dreyfuss, still a lib, but has been on the outs with the hardline left for several years now.
There is a genre on youtube called reaction videos, where someone will watch a movie or music video and react to it at the time usually this being the first time hearing or viewing the video.
Mel Brooks Blazing Saddles has been a subject to many of these reactors, mostly black. It is interesting to watch their faces as the movie opens and they don’t understand the context. First they are angry then as they continue to watch they find it funny and by the end they understand it is satire and Mel was making fun of true bigots. I have not viewed one that did not enjoy the film.
One common theme from most is that Blazing Saddles could not be made today. There is no room for satire in the WOKE UNIVERSE.
It took him a while to get there. I remember seeing him on Johnny Carson during his “Jaws” fame days, LITERALLY kicking his feet like a little kid because someone offended his leftist sensibilities. But good that he’s come around finally...
I always thought Margaret Hoover was vomit inducing.
Probably hopped up on coke as well.
Not good enough.
The late Lee Rogers: “It’s enough to make a skunk vomit”.
LOL, I'm going to plagiarize that line in my offline political discussions
Look, one atta boy doesn’t wipe out 20 awww sh*ts. This lib has consistently voted for dems; dems who have always been intent on destroying the culture. It’s too late Richard. This is what you’ve help build.
The line is shifting to the left at an ever increasing rate. Those who were once considered hard leftists 20 years ago are now finding themselves on the right. It’s not them who changed, but now they see their labors coming to fruition and they’re disgusted by them.
It’s all yours, please do!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.