Burt Reynolds grew increasingly frustrated with Hollywood's press coverage in the early 1980s, particularly around 1982, when he felt journalists prioritised tabloid gossip about on-set feuds over serious discussion of a film's craft, such as acting, cinematography and dialogue. His irritation stemmed from a genuine commitment to artistic authenticity and personal humility, qualities he felt were rarely reflected in how the media portrayed him, prompting him to write letters to critics challenging their approach.

Speaking to Roger Ebert in 2012, Reynolds recalled feeling reviewed as a brand rather than judged on individual films, complaining that critics lumped his work together as generic "Burt Reynolds pictures." He singled out Deliverance, the 1972 film in which he played Lewis Medlock, as a project he would gladly forgo several lucrative pay cheques to make again, calling it "a good movie, a movie that will be remembered." He also reflected with self-deprecating humour on his fame, joking that he sometimes expected onlookers' excitement to be for someone else, like John Wayne.