Did 'The Simpsons Movie' Predict Tom Hanks's Commemorative Video?
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Since The Simpsons first hit the small screen as a part of The Tracey Ullman Show in 1989, Matt Groening and his apparently clairvoyant team of animators, actors, and showrunners have been famously heralded for their alleged psychic powers. Over the show's 30 odd seasons, The Simpsons has been credited with predicting several global events, but can the beloved cartoon actually foresee the future? Or does life merely keep imitating Matt Groening's art, a question that has been applied to Donald Trump's presidency, the Capitol insurrection, and as of recently, certified good guy Tom Hanks.
Last week, the actor took a break from his busy schedule of existing as a national treasure and doing his damndest to keep tabs on the absolute force of chaos that is his son Chet Hanks, to appear in a video commemorating Joe Biden's first year as President of the United States.
“We may be entering year three of a pandemic none of us wanted or expected, but we are moving,” the actor said in the two-minute video published to social media on Thursday, the one-year anniversary of Biden's inauguration. “We are strong. We are courageous. We are resilient. We are America, land of the brave,” he continued.
But as several critics have pointed out – including notable soup hoarder, Texas Senator Ted Cruz -- seems the Biden administration wasn't the first government entity to tap Hanks's loveable demeanor in hopes of boosting their public image. Long before Hanks appeared in the spot – and another special entitled Celebrating America that aired the night of Biden's inauguration – it seems the U.S. government's fictional, Simpson-ian officials had a similar idea. In 2007's The Simpsons Movie, Hanks appears as a spokesperson in a fictional PSA announcing a new Grand Canyon – a.k.a a very nuked (and still locationally ambiguous) Springfield.
“Hello, I’m Tom Hanks. The US government has lost its credibility so it’s borrowing some of mine" Hanks says, overlooking the monument. “Now, I'm pleased to tell you all about the New Grand Canyon,” he says, adding that although it may be east of Shelbyville and south of Capital City – Springfield's exact location, as Marge Simpson points out – it is “nowhere near where anything is or ever was.” Nice.
“This is Tom Hanks saying if you're going to pick a government to trust, why not this one?” he concludes.
So although his inclusion in the Biden administration's commemorative video may be far from an original idea, you can't blame 'em for trying – Tom Hanks can make everything – even a cratered town – sound like one hell of a time.
Top Image: Fox
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