Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mormon = Un-American?

If you're a big Tom Hanks fan, you might want to skip this. I am, was, or will still be on a limited basis. Ever since That Thing You Do! came out, Tom Hanks has had his little production company called Playtone. You may have heard of it. They produced small shows like Band of Brothers, John Adams, and Big Love (our favorite polygamy show).
Kicking off the new season of Big Love, Hanks had this to say about Prop 8 and the Mormon church:
“The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here's what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and people can see who's responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards. So let's have faith in not only the American, but Californian, constitutional process.”
 
To fully understand the ramifications of this slandering, you need to take into context the word un-American. That was the big word thrown around during and ever since the McCarthy era to say such or such a person was a communist or sought the downfall of America. Good choice of words, Mr. Hanks. I doubt any group of religious people are more patriotic, more serving ormilitary-supporting, vote more consistently, or in other words, more AMERICAN. But we're no experts. We're not the ones producing a show about polygamists. We're not the guy who won the Oscar for his portrayal of a homosexual with AIDS. We are, however, anxiously looking forward to your next production: How to Pull One's Head Out of One's Behind.
[Update:] Today Tom Hanks formally apologized for his comments, stating he should not have called members of the Mormon faith. While he stills believes our views are discriminatory, he believes nothing is more American than voting according to one's conscience. You're halfway there, Mr. Hanks. Thank you for the apology. I guess I'll watch Angels and Demons after all.

2 comments:

Ashley said...

You were at least kind enough to say "behind". Things like that bring sharper words to mind that shouldn't be there :)

Thanks for filling us in on such a bizzare and completely off-base statement! I have always been a big Tom Hanks fan, but now I too feel differently. It is so frustrating when a Star thinks he/she is completely and totally aware of what is going on, when they don't actually have a clue. grrr....

Rosalee said...

That is very eye opening. Tom Hanks has been a personal favorite of mine for years. It is too bad he feels that way. Sometimes, actually most of the time, I wish "stars" would just keep their mouths' shut.