Richard Dreyfuss Says It’s Okay To Have Children’s Feelings Hurt

Richard Dreyfuss is an old soul and he doesn’t understand why there’s so many new rules preventing actors from playing certain roles. To him, creativity should be channeled any which way, and the push for inclusion will only hurt the entertainment industry. Here’s what he has to say about Oscar’s new rules.

Richard Dreyfuss – Doesn’t Want To Give Into “The Most Current Idea” Of Morality

Richard Dreyfuss is not onboard with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ new diversity and inclusion requirements and he is very vocal about it.

On Friday’s episode of “PBS’ Firing Line,” the “Jaws” actor blasted the new requirements set in place for movies to meet if they want to be nominated for the best picture Oscar, saying that it makes him “vomit.”

“This is an art form,” he told host Margaret Hoover. “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.”

The Academy originally announced in 2020 that starting from 2021, they will be rolling out inclusivity standards “to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience.” From 2024, films will have to meet certain requirements if they want to be considered for the best picture category.

The 1978 Oscar winner 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 Goodbye Girl” star then went on to defend Laurence Olivier’s performance in the 1965 film “Othello,” where Oliver played the titular character wearing black face.

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“He played a Black man brilliantly,” Dreyfuss told Hoover. “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? This is so patronizing. It’s so, it’s so thoughtless, and treating people like children.”

Richard Dreyfuss – Accuses Hollywood Of Treating Actors Like Children

Hoover then asked the actor whether there should be a line “between the question of representation and 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.”

In response, he said: “There’s a difference between the question of representation and 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.”

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