When it comes to trimming a Christmas tree, there's room for many different styles. Whether you prefer a pure wintery white or skew more toward a maximalist color extravaganza, it's hard to choose a losing combination. Unless, however, you ask Tom Hanks to judge. In an appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, the actor got into it with the host when discussing such matters as tinsel and lights. “If you don’t understand the beauty of a symmetrically designed and decorated Christmas tree,” Hanks proclaimed, “get off my show!" Hanks describes a so-called "Tinsel War" that he and wife Rita Wilson engage in every year. Hanks describes his childhood trees as the "more shiny objects, the better," which explains his lasting love for tinsel (though he bemoans the modern-day Mylar strands that "are susceptible to static electricity" and don't hang over the branches correctly), while Wilson is inclined to a much more refined, tinsel-less pine. Colbert and Hanks then get into it when debating the direction to hang lights (both agree on top to bottom, but Mrs. Colbert goes against the grain in a bottom-to-top formation), colored versus white lights (Hanks is firmly in the white light camp, noting that colored bulbs can throw off the carefully curated ornaments), and whether or not lights should flash ("that's insane," says Colbert. "We're not landing a plane."). The question remains: Would Tom Hanks ever dare try a colorful dyed Christmas tree? Seems like that would really throw his holidays for a loop.
See the hilarious exchange between Hanks and Colbert, below.
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