It’s become abundantly clear that cherished character Danny Glover no longer gives a flying damn what anyone thinks of him. This past weekend, he appeared in the extremely poorly-reviewed Dirty Grandpa. Waltzing away with what we can only assume was a hefty paycheck, he then moved on to the other side of the DGAF-itude that comes with advanced age by dropping opinions of unadulterated realness during a new interview with Variety. Danny Glover has put up with Hollywood’s institutionalized racial iniquities for nearly 40 years. He’s tired, and it’s time to get real.
Because all entertainment reporters are contractually obligated to ask their subject’s opinion on diversity in Hollywood for the next few weeks, the conversation between Glover and Variety’s reporter quickly drifted towards matters of race. Glover didn’t mince words when elaborating on his stance toward the increasing diversification of Hollywood, saying, “This is not a democratic process. Awards are subjective, always have been, so maybe we should do away with them. The whole thing,” to which the interviewer replied “Oscars?” Glover, undeterred, confirmed, “Oscars.”
Shutting down the Oscar program would be a radical move, to be sure. To quote 30 Rock, “But without actors, who will give awards to actors?” Glover realizes that the larger Oscar enterprise involves more than simple movie-picking and prestige real or imagined. He continued, “But there’s a lot of money tied to Oscars. There’s a lot of money, when you put $100 million into making a movie, and then another $40 million into [publicity and advertising].” The frankness in Glover’s statements is certainly refreshing, and could only have come from someone who’s amassed years of frustration with a deck stacked against nonwhite actors. In other, much more memorable words: He’s getting too old for this sh*t.
