Tom Joad

plural Tom Joads

1. A working class man seen as a voice for ordinary people.

   While he strove to remain what Peter Fonda called the "Tom Joad of our era," he was rivaled only by Arnold Schwarzenegger as the wealthiest man in showbiz.

   2008, Dennis McDougal, Five Easy Decades: How Jack Nicholson Became the Biggest Movie Star in Modern Times, Turner Publishing Company

   2 more examples

   Rand had become the Tom Joad of the right. One could almost hear her saying: "Wherever there's a fight where rich people can get richer, I'll be there. Wherever there's a regulator beating up on a banker, I'll be there."

   2012, Gary Weiss, Ayn Rand Nation: The Hidden Struggle for America's Soul, St. Martin's Press

   But rather than seeing Moore or Garafalo (or others) as empathetic modern-day Tom Joads, your typical middle American sees something akin to the face of Harry Dean Stanton in Repo Man, intoning the immortal words: "Ordinary fuckin' people... I hate 'em." It's the definition of disconnect.

   2005, Chris Willman, Rednecks & Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music, New PRess, page 110