Well, The New Yorker wrote the article that I was trying to write, off and on, for a couple of years now, about nepotism in Hollywood - what it is, why everyone is mad about it, and why everyone is so mad about it right now. I figured I should throw in my two cents while they're still kinda relevant.
So, my take on the "nepo babies" (good grief, what a moniker) as far as the ones in acting go, is that they're inevitable, and actually kind of a fun phenomenon from an audience standpoint, even the bad ones. I've got a pretty macroscopic view of Hollywood, and nepotism is absolutely not new in any respect. We've had actors who are the kids of other famous actors as far back as Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Lon Chaney Jr. And that's understandable when such a big part of being a bankable star is what you look like and the relationship you can cultivate with an audience.
Some degree of pushback is to be expected, as increased nepotism means fewer chances for everyone else trying to get into the entertainment industry. You can absolutely get by for years being a mediocre actor with the right name, but to really be a success requires more. Hollywood actually is a meritocracy when it comes to the really visible acting gigs that everyone wants, and audiences and critics are merciless if someone doesn't live up to expectations. All of us can tell the difference between someone genuinely talented and charismatic, and, well, somebody's kid. For every nepo baby who made it, there are just as many who didn't, who gave up after a few flops and had to move on to something else.
As a movie fan, tracing the nepo baby connections can be a source of nerdy joy. Who hasn't had that moment of flabbergasted astonishment, when they learned that Nicolas Cage was actually born Nicolas Coppola, and is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola? Or marveled that Maya Hawke's screen presence is a perfect combination of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman? As someone who watches a lot of old movies, I'm constantly finding the parents of future stars. In "The Sting," for instance, I came across an older actor who sounded exactly like James Earl Jones - his father Robert Earl Jones, of course. If you recognize a famous last name in the credits, there's a good chance it's not by accident.
There's a lovely sort of irony in discovering an older actor's work through their kids. Jane Birkin, Jill Clayburgh, Jayne Mansfield, Bruce Dern, John Mills, and Roy Kinnear all have actor offspring whose work I was familiar with first, before learning their parents were also celebrated actors a generation ago. It's just like recognizing Michael Douglas is Kirk Douglas's son, only backwards. Inevitably you run across the Barrymores, the Richardsons, the Carradines, the Bridges, and the Arquettes. There are third and even fourth generation screen actors who are active now, with roots stretching all the way back to the silent era and vaudeville and beyond. Acting is a much less disreputable profession than it used to be, so it's no wonder that these legacies are getting more common.
Still, most nepo babies aren't talented or tenacious enough to last in the entertainment industry for very long. I suspect the majority of the prime targets of the current anti-nepotism wave are on their way out already. It's a nasty business, especially when it involves younger kids, but their parents can't claim they didn't know what to expect. However, when an actor with a legacy appears who does have an interesting screen presence, or who does display good acting chops, I guarantee that that's what you'll notice first. Probably the best compliment that you can pay to someone like Zoey Deutch or Lewis Pullman is that you had no idea they were related to so-and-so.
I'm purposely leaving out a lot of specifics and a lot of examples, because I have no wish to comment on any of the individual spats going on. However, as usual, both sides have a point, however muddled or blown out of proportion. There will always be nepo babies. It's not fair. Nepo babies will always get flack. It's not fair. I just hope that someone will come up with a better term soon, because I cannot keep a straight face reading about the "nepo baby" issue, let alone writing about it.
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