The band Tom Hanks said “restored the joy” of America: “They removed from us that burden of sadness”
A cursory glance through the filmography of Tom Hanks paints the picture of somebody – ever since they first shot to superstardom, at least – who has developed a preference for two forms of storytelling above all others.
As an actor, writer, director, and producer, Hanks has pretty much seen and done everything the industry has to offer, but several recurring themes have developed nonetheless. Prime among them is his penchant for playing real people, with the two-time Academy Award winner having embodied close to a dozen real-life figures throughout his career.
The second, and arguably more obvious, is his fascination with World War II. Whether it’s headlining Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, writing and producing Greyhound, or collaborating with the aforementioned filmmaker on Band of Brothers, The Pacific, and Masters of the Air, Hanks has always maintained a keen interest in the inner workings of the conflict and how it affected those caught in the thick of it.
There is a third extracurricular obsession, though, which admittedly hasn’t gotten as much of a spotlight as the other two: humanity’s ability to travel beyond the stars and explore outer space. Sure, he played astronaut Jim Lovell in Apollo 13, but it’s always been a subject he’s immersed himself in during his spare time without exploring it to anywhere near the same extent as his fondness for the biographical drama or the immersive war story.
In fact, one of Hanks’ most recent ventures saw him co-write and narrate an immersive multimedia entertainment experience, which is premiering at London’s Lightroom as an eye-popping and educational experience. What does that have to do with a band that changed the face of America? As Hanks tells it, it has everything to do with the seismic cultural shifts he lived through in such a short space of time.
Appearing on the The Rest Is History podcast to promote the project, the lion’s share of the conversation inevitably revolved around the Moon landings. However, when the actor discussed the cultural events that changed the face of America immediately beforehand, he reflected on how the assassination of John F. Kennedy plunged an entire nation into sadness and mourning before The Beatles came along to inject a sorrowful nation with renewed joy.
“This is no joke, I was very much of the historical impact of four lads from Liverpool who came over not long after that,” he said. “Because they removed from us that burden of sadness that the assassination of John F. Kennedy had placed over us. We were literally reintroduced to joy when we needed it very badly.”
Of course, with the ‘Fab Four’ being his favourite band of all time, Hanks might be leaning a little into personal bias. On the other hand, it can’t be denied that ‘Beatlemania’ exploded into life when they first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, which came just three months after the JFK assassination. It was shot in the arm for American culture, and according to the long-time A-lister, it was the perfect antidote to a crushing blow dealt to the country in its very recent past.