The famous Hollywood actor and director, Tom Hanks, expressed his disagreement with the adaptations that are being made to some books so that they are not offensive to present-day audiences.
The "Forrest Gump" star was promoting his upcoming novel "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece," when he spoke about the woke censorship that is affecting some classic literary works.
The 66-year-old actor explained that he does not agree with reading books that have been "abridged due to modern sensitivities," because he does not think it is right for someone else to decide for him what he does or does not find offensive.
"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. Let me decide what I am offended by and what I’m not offended by," he said.
The actor's opinion comes in the wake of announcements of plans to rewrite some of Roald Dahl's classic works. The editor in charge of making the changes to the stories has already announced that certain adjectives used to describe the characters, such as "fat", "crazy" and "ugly", have been eliminated. It was also announced that gender-neutral terms have been added.
Tom Hanks discusses cancel culture: 'Let me decide what I am offended by' https://t.co/jvumwtrG0H
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 9, 2023
Other criticisms of the editions
After The Roald Dahl Story Company announced the revision of some classic works, several personalities spoke out, including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, who said that fiction books should be preserved and "not airbrushed."
British writer Philip Pullman also refused to remain silent about the announcement, saying that it would be better to let the books die out if new generations find them offensive.
"If Dahl offends us, let him go out of print," he said, inviting us to read other authors.
Writer Salman Rushdie also complained about the edits, accusing them of "absurd censorship."
