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The Academy Awards are facing a lot of criticism after implementing new diversity and inclusion guidelines for 2024.
The guidelines must be adhered to by any film considered for a “Best Picture” Oscar.
Several voting members sounded the alarm after the Academy Awards released their Aperture 2025 initiative — a comprehensive set of rules designed to make Hollywood more equitable and diverse.
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The Oscars have been widely criticized for mandating new criteria aimed at more diverse and inclusive guidelines for “Best Picture” at the Academy Awards. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
“It’s completely ridiculous,” one director said during an interview with The Post.
“I’m for diversity, but to let you cast certain types of people if you want to be nominated? That makes the whole process contrived. The person who is right for the part should get the part. Why be limited in your choices ? But it’s the world we’re in. This is crazy.”
From 2024, film producers and directors must file with the Academy that references the race, gender, sexual orientation and disability of their film’s cast and crew members.
According to the media outlet, one of Hollywood’s biggest producers also agreed to the new diversity rules, noting that “very few people in the industry are in favor” of the guidelines.
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However, they did not speak out on the subject “for fear of canceling the culture”.
Classic movies, including “The Godfather” and “Schindler’s List,” may not qualify for Best Picture with the new mandatory admissions guidelines. (Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
“Imagine if no great movies were made because of studio or corporate mandates, every movie has to meet the standard for a Best Picture nomination?” added the director.
Classic movies, including “The Godfather” and “Schindler’s List,” may not qualify for Best Picture with the new admissions guidelines currently mandated.
Meanwhile, legendary actor Richard Dreyfuss denounced Hollywood’s new standards of inclusivity in strong terms during an interview last month, claiming they made him “throw up.”
As first noticed in Hollywood in Toto, PBS anchor Margaret Hoover brought up the new guidelines during her interview with the actor in “Firing Line.”
Richard Dreyfuss condemns Hollywood’s diversity and inclusion standards during an interview with PBS. (Screenshot/YouTube)
She asked, “What do you think about these new film inclusion standards?”
Dreyfuss didn’t hold back, declaring, “They make me vomit.”
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Defending his total rejection of the concept, he said, “Because this is an art form, it’s also a form of business, and it makes money, but it’s an art. And no one should tell me as an artist that I have to admit to the newest, most current idea of what morality is.”
Dreyfuss further claimed that he does not believe that any group in today’s society 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 should be served like this.”
In 2020, the Oscars released the controversial guidelines, explaining that the new rules are “intended to encourage equitable representation on and off screen to better reflect the diversity of film audiences.”
Jamie Lee Curtis, James Hong, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Wang, Daniel Kwan, Stephanie Hsu and Daniel Scheinert, Best Picture Award winners for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” pose in the press room at the 95th Annual Academy Awards. (Getty Images)
“The opening needs to widen to reflect our diverse global population, both in the making of films and the audiences that interact with them. The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in making this a reality,” said the official website of the Oscars.
Failure to follow the strict guidelines can be detrimental to a project seeking to be considered for a Best Picture nomination, as the film may be disqualified from Oscar consideration if there are not enough people of color, people with disabilities, or people who identify as LGBTQ+ are employed.
Despite the backlash from Oscar voters and critics, a Best Picture winner met the admission criteria this year.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2023.
The sci-fi indie headlined a mostly Asian cast, including Michelle Yeoh and comeback star Ke Huy Quan.
A Hollywood executive continued to say he is willing to accept the new guidelines, with a few exceptions.
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“You have to make the best movie,” the exec told the media.
“I want to be inclusive, but I don’t want to put in a person from a certain ethnic group who doesn’t belong there because of the story that’s being told. And I don’t want to make a movie with an LGBT character.” which makes no sense in the story. You can’t do this without harming the movie. It’s ridiculous to be told what to do at the expense of getting people to movie theaters.’
Gabriel Hays of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @SGiangPaunon.
