It must be admitted: it is sometimes difficult to follow Tom Hanks. We left him last June 16 declaring that if he had to do it again, he would no longer play his (emblematic) role as a homosexual lawyer in philadelphia. “I don’t think people would accept the lack of authenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy. It’s not a crime to say that you should demand more from a film in terms of modernity and authenticity” , he justified, and this statement convinced us that if Tom Hanks was a great actor, we should not expect too much of him in terms of defending philosophical and artistic universalism.
Putting oneself in the other person’s place, being the host of their differences, is at the source of any notion of fraternity. Among artists – and particularly among actors – this is even more a matter of primary concern; of the “substantial marrow”. And that’s all that Tom Hanks’ statements called into question in the name of “modernity” – as if everything new was progress…
It is an understatement, therefore, that his recent interview at the BBC surprised us. On the sidelines of the promotion of his first novel, the actor spoke out unambiguously against one of the most widespread forms of this “retrograde modernity” to which he seemed to sacrifice yesterday: the rewriting of the classics of literature, for Redact any terms that may be perceived as offensive.
Welcome back, Tom Hanks!
Asked about the recent adaptations of novels by Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie or even Roald Dahl, Hanks replied to our British colleagues: “We are adults. Trust our own sensibilities rather than letting others decide. of what is hurtful”. Before driving the point home: “Let me decide what offends me and what does not offend me. modern sensibilities'”. That is what is said. And who will not go unnoticed in a world where the culture war is raging…
Perhaps his status as a living icon protects Tom Hanks from being “cancelled” one day? Perhaps the actor is saying aloud what many now, including on the American progressive left, are thinking to themselves? Maybe he’s saying that today, and he’ll say something else tomorrow (we’ll be used to it)? In the meantime, any slightly dissonant voice coming from this temple of moral posture that Hollywood has become can only do good. Welcome back, Tom Hanks!