Tom Hanks, the Hollywood star, explained in a recent interview that he is against cancel culture and efforts to police modern content for what may be deemed offensive by some.
The film legend told BBC that he does not want to be dictated what to offend by the PC culture.
“I think we’re all adults here.” We know the date, the place, and the context in which these things were originally written. It’s easy to say, “That doesn’t fly at the moment, does it?” Hanks said. “Let us trust our own senses here instead of letting someone decide what we can or cannot be offended by.
He said, “Let me choose what offends me and what doesn’t.” “I wouldn’t read any book, from any period, that said ‘abridged to accommodate modern sensibilities’.”
Hanks’ reaction was to a publishing movement to revise books with language and ideas that were once considered acceptable but are now offensive to modern progressive sensibilities. In the last few months, so called sensitivity readers have updated books by Ian Fleming and Roald Dahl. They’ve also updated R.L. Stine.
What else is there?
Hanks’ debut novel “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece” is being promoted.
The book has received mixed reactions. The Sunday Times described it as “clunky.” The New York Times stated that it “sags beneath a deluge detail.” These are not resounding praises.
Hanks, however, told the BBC he was not fazed because he believed he would be “stronger” if he were torn to pieces. Hanks still said that his book would ultimately “live or die based on the ability of its own to entertain and educate an audience.”
The book was released on Tuesday.
