Criteria for consideration chided as “political correctness on steroids” found one conservative biopic’s Oscars snub being viewed as “a loss of freedom of expression.”
Heading into the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, the category of “Best Picture” was arguably a contest between gender ideology and prostitution as films such as “Emilia Pérez” and “Conclave” fell to Director Sean Baker’s “Anora.”
However, it wasn’t merely the content that catapulted some films ahead of others for the shortlist of nominations as Sean McNamara’s Dennis Quaid-starring biopic “Reagan” failed to meet the DEI requirements necessary for consideration, prompting producer Mark Joseph to quip to the New York Post in the style of the Gipper, “There they go again.”
Speaking with the newspaper, screenwriter Howad A. Klausner added with regard to the film about President Ronald Reagan, “By these new rules, many previous winners would never have been recognized.”
Last year marked the first time that the films were expected to meet two of four criteria areas in order to be considered for nomination by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, like having the cast clear a threshold where at least 30% of individuals were from “underrepresented” groups.
Oscars voters upset over Academy’s woke inclusion standards set to go into effect in 2024 https://t.co/RPWHIMvwvG pic.twitter.com/c2pi42HzPs
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) June 21, 2023
In an email to Fox News Digital, Klausner went on to add, “I think the situation speaks for itself. There’s not really anger and indignation among those of us who made this film, we didn’t seriously expect to be nominated for anything by Hollywood in this cultural climate – it’s just sadness really.”
“What has become of the magnificent Dream Factory that once was Hollywood,” he went on. “Once upon a time, it spoke to the heart and dreams of pretty much everybody, and the leaders and luminaries of the 20th century industry intuitively seemed to ‘get’ the middle of the country as well as the cultural elite.”
Supporting the screenwriter’s point, Reagan-era domestic policy adviser Ed Feulner contended in a January op-ed for the Washington Times that films like “Rocky,” “Patton,” and “The Godfather” each would have been snubbed.
“What an indictment of the industry that, ironically, catapulted Reagan onto the public stage years before he ran for office. This is political correctness on steroids,” wrote Feulner as the other criteria included a main character from an “underrepresented racial or ethnic group,” a storyline focused on such a group, and/or marketing and distribution meeting the same standards.
“There’s a loss of freedom expression,” Trump-endorsing Quaid said of the rules having taken on the titular role of the 40th president. “Back in the ’70s, [Hollywood] may have been skewed to the left, but everybody was trying to be politically incorrect back then. It was an exciting time. We had a real dialogue with people instead of trying to fit into a mold.”
In one telling figure regarding the impact the DEI policies have had on the Best Picture category, Klausner told the Post, “We were among 116 films that were eliminated for consideration this year.”
“Obviously, there needs to be a conversation about this policy,” he added as Joseph voiced his intention to seek a Guinness World Record over the disparity in approval of viewers compared to critics.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Reagan” had a 98% approval with audiences while critics had scored it with a paltry 18%.
“I mean, movies seriously used to bring us all together,” Klausner wrote to Fox News Digital. “Now they seem to be a big part of the continuing cultural divide. I don’t have any axe to grind or fingers to point here, I still have many friends and colleagues in ‘The Town’ as it’s lovingly known.”
“I just really lament the truth in what a very highly placed studio executive told me recently: ‘Now we primarily make movies for 10% of the population,” added the screenwriter.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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