Even Tom Hanks, an actor known for his leftist politics, ridiculed cancel culture in a recent interview, saying that adults should be able to decide what offends them and avoid it rather than having the powers that be censor and abridge works to appease woke, modern sensibilities.
Hanks, 66, commented on that while promoting his upcoming novel, “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.” Speaking on why he’s not okay with someone else deciding what’s offensive, Hanks said, “I’m of the opinion that we’re all grown-ups here. Let’s have faith in our own sensibilities as opposed to having somebody decide what we may or may not be offended by,” Hanks told NBC News. “Let me decide what I am offended by and what I’m not offended by. I would be against reading any book from any era that says ‘abridged due to modern sensitivities.'”
That’s one thing that Hanks and his son, Chet, likely agree on, even if Chet probably isn’t reading books. Chet Hanks is the one behind the “white boy summer” internet joke.
Chet Hanks also, when asked if he wants to “apologize to any marginalized communities,” said, “Nah. I don’t feel like I’ve truly done anything offensive, so I don’t.“He was then asked if he thinks his actions are a “celebration of culture” and agrees that “social justice warriors can kick rocks.” Replying, he said, “Yeah, yeah…. yeah!… No, I 100% agree. Social justice warriors can kick rocks.”
i asked chet hanks if he wanted to apologize to any marginalized communities pic.twitter.com/EEzD9VrtNs
— ziwe (@ziwe) May 6, 2022
He also said, when speaking about the sort of stories in the novel, “I have pulled every single one of those moments of behavior myself on a set. Not everybody is at their best every single day on a motion picture set. I’ve had tough days trying to be a professional when my life has been falling apart in more ways than one and the requirement for me that day is to be funny, charming and loving – and it’s the last way I feel.”
GB News, adding context to Hanks’ comments on avoiding books abridged to appease woke, modern sensibilities, said:
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Publishers of classic works, including Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, recently announced plans to rewrite segments of the books.
Dahl’s classic collection of books are covered by Puffin UK and the publisher said it had “listened to the debate”.
Puffin UK stressed there were “very real questions around how stories can be kept relevant for new generations”.
The publisher removed words like “fat” to describe characters and added gender neutral terms.
A spokesperson for the Roald Dahl Story Company, commenting on the decision, said: “We want to ensure that Roald Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today. When publishing new print runs of books written years ago, it’s not unusual to review the language used alongside updating other details including a book’s cover and page layout. Our guiding principle throughout has been to maintain the storylines, characters, and the irreverence and sharp-edged spirit of the original text. Any changes made have been small and carefully considered.”
Featured image credit: By Alexandra Hemmerly-Brown – http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/03/12/35779-world-war-ii-veterans-honored-by-hanks-spielberg/index.html?ref=home-headline-title3, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9752179