Tom Hanks, Truth, and the American Way at Harvard University

Harvard University

Truth seems to be a graduation theme in 2023. In his May 25, 2023 commencement speech at Harvard University, movie star Tom Hanks cited a pop-culture character to remind his audience that truth is a basic American value. Ceremonial speeches remind the audience about their values, and Hanks made the point that, not only is truth a great value, but it is a fundamental value of American tradition. Nothing, he showed, could be more patriotic or more traditional than to speak the truth. And what could be more American, more traditional, than Superman’s flowing red cape?

In an era when liars proudly call themselves patriots, Hanks asked us to return to values that we once treasured. Instead of quoting Thomas Jefferson, however, Hanks cited that heroic cultural icon, Superman, to bring his audience back to our traditional American values. No, in real life, truth did not always rule in Superman’s heyday.  Instead, Superman’s values were ideals to strive for. Still, Hanks reminded us of that perhaps-forgotten ideal. What better goal can a speech serve? Hanks reminded us about honor and self-respect. He reminded us that it is we, ourselves, who must stand for truth. No one else will do it for us. Hanks taught a lesson we needed to hear: a lesson that has disappeared in a blizzard of conspiracy theories, news cycles, and the endless scratching for temporary advantage. 

While Liz Cheney’s commencement address at Colorado College defended truth by citing a biblical quotation, movie star Tom Hanks reminded the students about Superman:

“Some of us here can recite by repetition the preamble for a television show we might have seen 5 days a week about a strange being from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.”

That preamble, Hanks then cleverly reminded us, cited the three values for which Superman fought:

“Superman, you see, and his prox[ies], Wonder Woman, Captain America, Black Panther and Black Widow and the Fantastic (Four) … are all enmeshed in that never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way. And in such a struggle, being a Superman is a plus.” [Italics added]

As Hanks cleverly noted, truth ranked first among Superman’s red, white, and blue values. Generations of boys and girls grew up hearing on television that “truth, justice, and the American way,” above all others, gave the United States of America its moral focus. Truth was the American way. 

Yes, people often want supernatural heroes like Superman to solve their problems and put the world right. Superman, however, does not exist. As Hanks next said, it is we, ordinary people, who must fight for what is right:

“But, hey, there ain’t no Superman or anyone else in his Justice League, there’s just us on this planet.”

If not Superman, who is going to stand for truth, justice, and the American way? Hanks pounded on the theme that it must be us, all of us, who work for what is right:

“Even though, yes, we are all but human. Still, we’d like to look up in the sky and see not a bird, not a plane, but, well someone who is young and strong and super, who will fight the never-ending battle, for truth, for justice and for the American way, someone who will take on that work.” [Italics added]

There is nothing new, of course, about people who talk about justice, while pretending that lies are truth or that the truth is a lie. The United States of America has reached a terrible point where falsehood dominates large chunks of American culture. Hanks continued:

“Truth is mined at the intersections of our chosen behaviors and our fixed habits and our personal boundaries. Truth has synonyms such as honesty, honor, transparency.” [Italics added]

Anyone who follows cable news or talk radio, or devours conspiracy theories on the Internet, can see at a glance that truth does not always reach forward toward us. We need to look for it. 

Furthermore, telling lies is not the only way to oppose truth. For instance, we can distract people’s attention from the truth. We can say something that is factual, but leave out crucial information, without which the listener will miss the full truth. Indeed, as Hanks wisely noted, the word “truth” means much more than simply misrepresenting facts:

“Likewise, truth has opposites. Omission. ‘You don’t need to know that.’ Distraction. ‘That’s not the real story, this is.’ Opinion masquerading as clairvoyance. ‘Oh, here is what is going to happen.’ And influence-peddling. ‘You know, a lot of people are saying …’”

The Nunes Memo: Why Does Context Matter?

In a thinly veiled reference to Kellyanne Conway’s concept of “alternative facts,” Hanks explained how the entire idea of the American way can twist around to support grifters and abusers:

“Someone will report the world to you exactly as you wish it were, full of alternative facts.… The American way can be demonstrated without ceasing as a perpetual prayer by every bigshot and any plain Jane or Joe Blow.” [italics added]

To Hanks, however, neither lies nor “alternative facts” are truth’s main enemy. The destructive force that gives truth its greatest challenge is indifference. The biggest problems arise when we don’t care. The tragedy is when we stop worrying about what is true or false, much less what is good or bad:

“Truth, too, has a nemesis, equal to any colored kryptonite. That, like a feral hound is never too far off the path in the weeds and in the shadows, lying in wait for the lethal opportunity to bring truth down. And that beast is indifference, which will make moot all the permanence found in truth. [italics added]

He had a point. We live in a nation where 70% of Republican voters believe Donald Trump’s ludicrous claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Fully 46% of Trump voters think there could be some truth to the bizarre accusation that Hillary Clinton ran a pedophile ring in the basement of a tiny pizza place that has no basement. Noble fact-checking websites like FactCheck.org have had too little effect, as liars simply accuse the fact-checkers of bias. The real problem, of course, is that it is the liars themselves who are biased: they are biased against facts. 

People try to ban books, Hanks implied in another part of his speech, not because books are bad, but because books often teach true things. Too often, we struggle for advantage, too rarely do we think about what is true or honorable. A speech reaches its highest level when the speaker reminds us about the values we treasure. Tom Hanks implicitly directed his speech against conservatives who twist truth and censor schools, but he conveyed a profoundly conservative message: he called for us to remember Superman’s American values. 

Image: David Adam Kress, Creative Commons License

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Here are some more of my posts about commencement speeches over the years:

Kamala Harris' Speech at West Point: Tradition and Innovation

The Themes of Savannah Guthrie's Commencement Speech at George Washington University

Joe Biden's 2022 University of Delaware Commencement Speech Reminds Americans that Our Nation Was Founded on an Idea

Oprah Winfrey at Skidmore College, May 20, 2017

Dolly Parton's Commencement Speech: Lively, Extemporaneous, Specific, Detailed

Tim Cook's Commencement Speech at Duke University - "Be the Last to Accept It"

For more, type "commencement" in the search box above and right.