Tom Hanks on that Nepobaby Article

[therearewords]

Tom Hanks On Nepotism Controversy: “It’s A Family Business” https://t.co/7oX1MYibxp
- Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 6, 2023
- "This is what we’ve been doing forever. It’s what all of our kids grew up in. If we were a plumbing supply business or if we ran the florist shop down the street, the whole family would be putting in time at some

Comments

[evillemmons]

[zibbydoo324]

I agree with you but I also know that a known family name will generate more interest in you as a candidate than Joe Schmo. Plus there’s always that curiosity why someone chooses to not work for their family. I can see how name alone lands people opportunities.

[dodgingwork]

There recently was a nepo baby thread here on ONTD where like a hundred members confessed how they themselves benefited from nepotism. Mostly along the lines of “my dad knew somebody and they got me a job”. People are really acting new but the truth is that tons of people in all walks of life get a leg up from their parents relatives family friends and that’s how it’s always been. And I say this RESENTFULLY lol because I grew up poor, my parents didn’t know anybody and everything I got today I earned (eta: through effort, leveraging the privileges I DID have and luck. But nepotism was never one of those privileges). Idk the nepo baby conversation is both legit and totally tone deaf at the same time.

[evillemmons]

[nomoneyfun]

It's hard to have a serious and nuanced discussion about the problems of nepotism because everyone wants to benefit from it or raise children who benefit from it. What gets lost in the assertion that nepotism is just how things are done is how it entrenches a lot of racial and class disparities and eliminates avenues of mobility for people who grew up poor. It eliminates the ability to imagine a more fair world when people simply want to make sure they benefit from unfairness.

[dodgingwork]

You touch on a very important point. Believe me as a Poor TM who didn’t get to benefit from any connections I have no love for nepotism and I completely agree that we shouldn’t just accept that this is how things work. On the other hand, though, it truly is human nature to leverage our social network / tribe / in-group to get ahead ourselves or to help our children get ahead. I can’t imagine a more natural thing. I know that I would do my best to help my children and if they happened to choose to follow my footsteps in my profession, how could I deny them my support, that phone call that might get them their first job?

I don’t know how we solve this without either being completely ineffective or on the other hand, being unreasonable and draconian. In the case of entertainment, I think that for example, supporting/creating programs targeting middle and lower class artists and/or financially incentivising their hire may be a good first step, rather than asking for “the end of nepotism”. But it is definitely a really wicked problem.

[nomoneyfun]

I don't have children and it's highly unlikely that I will so it's hard for me to say what I would or wouldn't do in terms of connecting my children to opportunities. What I wouldn't want is for my kids to take things for granted and assume they get to learn on the job. However, I'm Black and that adds another layer to the discussion of mobility pathways because Black people in the U.S. seldom get first chances let alone second ones so in an unfair playing field, how could I not try to level it? At the end of the day, no one is really asking for the end of nepotism though! Even in posts here, people are simply asking people to "acknowledge" their privilege, as if acknowledgment absolves them of creating pipelines for working-class people to enter the arts!

[frickinawesome7]

[sweetwaterlane]

you can say that about a lot of things but it still is worth calling it out.

Yes nepotism happens in all aspects of life and should be called out, but it's easiest to call out the most glaringly offensive when it applies to the richest people getting the biggest promotions/acting and modeling gigs etc. By all means call people out in all walks of life for societal wrongs though. I just don't see the surprise or appall in celeb nepotism getting the most attention.

[tomelette]

Honestly, I could be the queen of toilet seats and door handles if I had chosen my dad's career route. LMAO He still knows a lot of people who would easily make me the head of a division even though I have no prior experience whatsoever. Also, the neighborhood where he had his office? If I decided to divert but only just a little, I could be the queen of chandeliers. Several of his colleagues and the people who knew him offered me jobs. That would be also nepotism.

So, a business like where you produce and sell toilet seats and door handles or a business where you produce and sell chandeliers. Nepotism. I would be rich too by the way.