All of that respect (20 years plus!) I held suddenly got gut punched, square in the center when my hero, of sorts, Tom Hanks said this:
Tom Hanks is an executive producer of the HBO series "Big Love" which is good soap opera drama if that's what you're into, but FARRRRRRRR from accurate portrayal of any of those offshoots from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, of which polygamy practicing groups are in NO WAY WHATSOEVER tied to. Nor do the members of these groups or compounds just mingle among mainstream society in Utah any more than they do in Arizona, Colorado, or Texas. So, in short, Tom... first and foremost, I think you have a pretty tainted or maybe even twisted view of the truth about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
For the next part of the punch in the stomach, I'd like to clear up that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints did not give money to the church "to make Prop 8 happen" members gave a lot of money to the cause itself. Just like other churches such as the Catholic, Baptist, African American denominations, etc. etc. etc. did. (I find it so interesting how the mormons are singled out in this whole Prop 8 issue... how many churches were involved? with how many dollars raised aside from what LDS members raised? ... look into it.) So, as for the "people can see who's responsible," you might want to go fact check that one, too, Tommy boy.
And for me, no curse word can sting worse than the slur "un-American." GAH!!! What is more American than exercising the right to vote? Why is it "un-American" for anyone to believe differently than another fellow American?
Ahhh... Tom, Tom, Tom... *shakes head* I'm so disappointed. I adored you from the beginning. From the cross dressing comedy Bosom Buddies, to your guest star appearance on Family Ties as the alcoholic uncle, to The Man With One Red Shoe, Money Pit, That Thing You Do, Philadelphia and on and on and on, I loved them all. And then you go and spout mindless political blame-throwing statements like that. UGHHH!!!
I don't care what political ideals you subscribe to, if you're an entertainer your job is to entertain. If you're gonna publicly run your mouth and politically finger point, you run the risk of alienating those who otherwise would continue to enthusiastically praise your talent. The line between Hollywood and Washington DC is far too blurred in my opinion. And the guys on the Hollywood side are ruining all the fun and enjoyment of going to a movie, watching a good TV show or even watching an awards ceremony, which are common forms of escape from all the exhausting political back and forth bantering.
Man, what a bummer... Tom Hanks was really cool. *sigh*
9 comments:
You said it, Tom Hanks WAS really cool! I also heard his mom is LDS. What's worse is that most people in Hollywood claim they are so open minded and fight so much for equality, yeah right!
Wow Lisa! You go! I am so sick of the Prop 8 blame throwing and bashing! All the kicking a screaming is coming from the side that lost. If the vote had gone in favor of No, you wouldn't hear this kind of slop coming from the Yes people. Well said. Oh, and I loathe that there is a show glorifying polygamy. Blech!
I totally agree Lisa, what a crock. I know I often get disappointed by Hollywood-types when their true-selves are revealed and this time is no different. BOOO Tom.
Too bad people can't get all the facts before they shot thier mouth off.
Big Tom Hanks Sigh myself
I think you should send this to him.
Before I wrote this I actually went to his myspace page to send him a personal, respectful message about it but he doesn't accept any messages or comments. And knowing that he would likely never get my letter or message in his hands considering the mass amounts of fan mail he must get on a daily basis, I just opted to send this out into cyber space in the hopes that maybe someone of some significance in his life comes across it randomly and feels the need to bring it to his attention... but I'm sure that's as much a shot in the dark as anything.
I heard he apologized, but still...maybe a lot of those emails did reach him. Regardless, I agree...Hollywood has gotten out of control. It seems they think we cannot think for ourselves, but rather need THEM to think for us. Yeah, right.
Well written and said Lisa! I completely agree with everything you said. He sounds like a complete idiot as he has no idea about he's talking about. Un-American would be sitting by and letting people run their mouths about things they know nothing about and then believing everything they said because they're some famous actor who once had a lot of fans, but has since lost a lot of them from the nice comments he made about us. Which again, were all wrong to begin with. I guess he knows all about the church as he's one fronting the money for Big Love and that automatically makes him educated with mormonism. Sorry, but his remarks really haven't sat pretty with me and from being a fan of is, I won't be supporting him anymore.
I would be happy to never hear about any of the churches. Yeah, Tom probably messed up with his explanation, but I think all the denominations are bunk.
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