Oliver Stone lashes out at 'politically correct' Hollywood, says it has become too fragile and sensitive
Oliver Stone is not happy with the current state that Hollywood is in and took to slamming the industry. The actor, producer, and writer called out Hollywood for becoming very sensitive regarding political correctness and the coronavirus.
While speaking to The New York Times, Stone said, "It's just so expensive — the marketing." The 73-year-old continued, "Everything has become too fragile, too sensitive. Hollywood now — you can't make a film without a COVID adviser. You can't make a film without a sensitivity counselor. It's ridiculous."
He also slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for changing "its mind every five, 10, two months about what it’s trying to keep up with. It's politically correct [expletive], and it's not a world I'm anxious to run out into. I've never seen it quite mad like this. It's like an Alice in Wonderland tea party."
Stone shared that these "precautions" that have been implemented, which include "social distancing for actors", will in turn end up extending the shooting schedules as well as will raise the cost of production.
"You know, I just read something about how films are going to be very expensive to make now, because you need to take all these precautions, and a 50-day shoot becomes a 60-day shoot, and social distancing for actors. That’s what I’m talking about," he explained.
Stone is still working on his filmmaking and is working on a couple of documentaries. He revealed, "One is on J.F.K. Since the film came out in 1991, there's been quite a bit of new material revealed that people have basically ignored. It's a hell of a story." Stone had also spoken about his upcoming memoir titled 'Chasing the Light'. When asked why he chose to refer to his memoir as a novel, referring to himself in the third person, Stone answered, "You can read what you want. It is 'me,' but you have to distance yourself from yourself."
"That’s not to say you’re fictionalizing. If I write another book, which I hope to do, it’d be nice to get closer to where I am now. I’m not there yet. Making a film to close out your life? I don’t know. There might be a way. There have been some very nice farewell films. Mr. Kurosawa did 'Rhapsody in August' — a very nice and gentle film."
Stone had referred to director Akira Kurosawa's penultimate film that was released when Kurosawa was 81 years old. He also spoke about another one of his documentaries called 'A Bright Future' which he said would be focusing on clean energy which includes nuclear energy. "These are documentary subjects and aren't necessarily going to be popular, but they're important to me," he revealed.
Some social media users praised him and were in support of his stance against Hollywood, while others slammed him. One such user shared, "He helped create that monster, now he's annoyed that it turned on him."
"‘Alice in Wonderland’ was an interesting choice of words. He is one that has known the vile and evil acts perpetrated in Hollywood and has not done, nor said, a thing," wrote another. A supportive user commented, "He’s one of the few sane people in Hollywood. Always has been." Another shared, "They brought it on themselves. I don't feel sorry one bit."