His historical films are not nostalgic

Tom Hanks films include a lot of reflections on historical times. There are war movies like Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13the history of NASA or A league apart, inspired by real women’s league baseball. One comment Hanks takes umbrage at is calling his films nostalgic.

Hanks spoke to The New York Times in an interview published June 15. After discussing his role as Colonel Tom Parker in Elvis, Hanks went even further. Here’s why he doesn’t consider Tom Hanks movies nostalgic.

Tom Hanks movies show history as it was

Hanks has made it clear that he is not nostalgic for the past. He sees great historical movements from the past and wants to illuminate them for modern audiences.

“‘There’s Hanks, he’s nostalgic for the way America used to be’: No,” Hanks told the New York Times. “I’m fascinated by the progress America has made in all of these incremental moments. It’s an American sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. What I’m not doing, if I can go on, I am not cynical. Cynicism is a default position in a lot of entertainment. How many counterfeit versions of Chinese district have you seen? Eight millions. The conflict of cynicism is glamorous, magnificent. The violence is glamorous and beautiful. But that’s cynical, and I’m not cynical.

Tom Hanks’ movies show his faith in America

Hanks has also made fiction films about the story. Forrest Gump went through historical events, and cloud atlas moved from the distant past to the distant future. These also reflect Hanks’ historical hope.

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“I was in a movie called cloud atlas it went over everybody’s head,” Hanks said. “He said, ‘What’s the point of trying to do the right thing when it’s just a drop in the ocean? But what is an ocean but a multitude of drops? Things get better when a multitude of drops form an ocean and carry things away WWII: The Nazis were defeated and so was a Japanese empire because enough good people said no Civil rights appeared in because, I think, of an American belief that our responsibility as citizens is to work toward a more perfect union.

Nostalgia is not welcome here

Hanks takes umbrage at nostalgia for the past. He acknowledges that the past has been difficult for many people and that there is nothing to be nostalgic about.

“It’s such a repugnant argument: in my time,” Hanks said. “Those days were [expletive] at the top! ‘Oh, the 50s was that carefree time.’ Excuse me, no, they weren’t. How come things aren’t the way they used to be? You mean when you were comfortable? The institutions played with the system in order to maintain the status quo! It has always been the case, except when a redefinition of our institutions stems from public outcry that the status quo is not fair.

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