Essay, Research Paper: Gump Ashistory

The film Forrest Gump was out on the big screen in 1994, it was directed by RobertZemeckis. In the movie Tom Hanks stars as Forrest Gump. The movie is based on thebook written by Winston Groom. Forrest is faced with a challenge; the normal IQ s startat 80 and Forrest s is 75. This borderline intelligence quotient places Forrest in thedeficient range. Forrest doesn t look too far into things. John Twyning wrote an editorialon the film, which explains that the movie doesn t present history in a real way. Hebelieves that the film uses specific scenes from historic events that in the movieoversimplify and shorn their social an political significance. Twyning states that themovie makes fun of significant events in such a way that it demeans our US history. The movie begins with Forrest at the bus stop sitting on a bench, and tells hisstories to the people waiting for the bus. The first historical was about one of hisrelatives who founded the klu klux klan. Forest couldn t understand why they d werebed sheets on their heads as well as on their horses. These simple statements that Forrestmakes show how simple minded of a person he is. Forrest is not trying to diminish thisevent in history he simply just doesn t understand the importance of it. He also tells youabout his best friend Jenny and explains how him and Jenny are like peas and carrots. The next story Forrest tells is how his mother rents out rooms to travelers for income. Forrest explains how one day a young man sang and played the guitar him. He loved themusic and since he had leg braces it made it harder for him to dance, but he loved themusic and danced anyway. The young man loved his dancing and asked him to showhim some of his moves. Some time later Forrest and his mother saw him on TV in thewindow of a department store. The man s name was Elvis Presley. Forrest goes to University of Alabama on a football scholarship; they wanted himbecause of his ability to run. One day on the way to school he sees Governor Wallaceand the National Guard integrating the school making it a school not only for whites but,for blacks as well. When he s going into the school a black girl dropped her book andForrest picks it up for her, showing the audience that he doesn t see a difference betweenblack or white. Since Forrest was such a good football player he was placed on the all American team. The team was invited to the White House and Forrest met PresidentKennedy. He explains that a short time after he met the President he was shot and killedin Dallas, Texas while riding in his car. The movie shows a brief clip of theassassination. After college Forrest enlists in the Army and is sent to Vietnam. Forrest is an

















 







excellent soldier. In the Army he meet two people that play a significant role in his life,Lieutenant Dan and Bubba. Vietnam was a difficult time for Forrest. He was shot in therear end while rescuing some of the injured men in his platoon. He saved many livesincluding Lieutenant Dan. Unfortunately Bubba died shortly after Forrest saved him. Forrest received the metal of honor for his bravery in Vietnam. President LindenJohnson presented him with the metal of honor at the White House. Although Forrest doesn t discuss Neil Armstrong walking on the moon thefootage is shown in the movie. Forrest is invited on the Dick Caveat show. There hemeets John Lennon, and John asks Forrest what it was like in Vietnam. He says it s hardto imagine. Which gave John the idea for his famous song Imagine.Since Forrest is on the US ping pong team which defeated China, he gets to meetPresident Nixon. Nixon asks what hotel he is staying at and Forrest replies not a verygood one. Nixon s staff makes arrangements for Forrest in a different hotel. IronicallyForrest s room is directly across the street from the Watergate Hotel. Forrest sees somepeople with flashlights and it s bothering because he s trying to sleep so he calls the frontdesk. This becomes the known as the Watergate burglary which forces Nixon to resign. That scene was an example of parody, because it puts a humorous spin on the WatergateScandal. Although Forrest isn t involved in the assassination attempt on Ford or theshooting of Reagan these events are included in the film with footage.Twyning is correct in many of his statements. I have highlighted the scenes thatprove his points. The historic events are instantly recognizable and the imagessoftened. The movie doesn t provide any in depth information on those historic events. Twyning says that bite sized pieces of history are removed from their context, this is anaccurate statement. Twyning is convincing and his statements are only accurate to a point. WhatTwyning doesn t seem to understand is that the movie Forrest Gump is not a historicaldocumentary. It is a movie that is meant to entertain an audience not to educate them. Twyning most not forget that the movie is told through Forrest s eyes, since he has alimited IQ he doesn t fully understand the importance of all of the events. It is my beliefthat Twyning fails to see that all of the historical events that take place provide Forrest sstory with a time frame. The historic events are not the focus in the movie. ForrestGump is a simple man that did extraordinary things, and he sees the world in very simpleways. Even though I was able to support Twyning s statements with scenes from themovie that are documented in this paper, I believe he missed the whole point of themovie.