More thoughts about "free speech" and its discontents
Cancelation. That is the thing which gets elements of both right and left apoplexed. "How dare you stifle my free speech?! I'm allowed to think what I think and say what I say!!"
Case in point: the quick descent of once-respected actor Richard Dreyfuss into racism, homophobia, and transphobia:
A Massachusetts theater is apologizing to its patrons who came to attend a screening of Jaws with star Richard Dreyfuss but instead were subjected to alleged sexist and homophobic comments from the actor over Memorial Day weekend.
Attendees who headed Saturday to The Cabot theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, for what was billed as “An Evening With Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening” were likely anticipating some amusing or insightful anecdotes from the actor about filming the classic Steven Spielberg action blockbuster.
Instead, the Oscar winner went on a free-form rant that, according to social media posts from those in attendance, began while he was speaking about Barbra Streisand and moved into his bigoted perspective on trans youth, the Academy Awards’ inclusion rules and then on to trans kids affirming their gender.
Now, as I said, I once respected Dreyfuss. I've enjoyed him in everything from Jaws to Close Encounters of the Third Kind to What About Bob?. But his trajectory is the same of many of his generation, like Rosanne Barr or Carlos Santana. The world has changed and is changing, and no longer conforms to their worldviews. He makes this quite clear:
In May 2023, while appearing on PBS, Dreyfuss made comments similar to those made at The Cabot regarding the Film Academy’s inclusion rules.
“They make me vomit,” he said on Firing Line. “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. What are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. You have to let life be life and I’m sorry, I don’t think there is a minority or majority in the country that has to be catered to like that. … 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.”
How dare the world advance and evolve? Changing morés and ethics are the Achilles' heel of people like Dreyfuss. I'm sure at one point he was on the forefront of "wokeness". But now that others are calling for a seat at the table, he demurs. It's not what he signed up for. He grew up and lived in a different world, and can't process that his views are now considered blinkered and retrograde.
Of course, this is no different than a racist from the 1950s having his unquestioned white supremacy ripped away from him through the Civil Rights Revolution. It's no different than any other of the myriad moral advances through which humanity has progressed. And there are always those who inveigh against the changes as a threat to civilization.
Of course, we can assume that Dreyfuss and his defenders will wail about his "cancelation". Again, "how dare you condemn my free speech?" But that's just it. Richard Dreyfuss and his like are free to say whatever they want. And then their audience is free to shun them. That is free speech. What they want is for free speech to be one-way: they can spew whatever hatred they wish to, but listeners or viewers or readers are not allowed to respond. That's not free speech; that's abuse.
Dreyfuss has aged into a very silly man. I don't know who he thinks his new audience will be. I doubt he'll be invited to any other retrospectives on his films. As the kids say, ain't nobody got time for that. In a world of limitless entertainment options, subjecting yourself to bigoted harangues is going to appeal to few people. It's a shame, really. For a man fulminating about art, he has allowed politics to interfere with that art. And it is he who is the poorer for it. We'll roll merrily along.
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