review by Ryan
Forrest Gump 1994
Reviewed Jun 15, 2012
Ryan’s review:
Move over, Battleship Potemkin. We've got a fresh new load of propaganda!
For a movie that acts almost like a travelogue for how awesome America is, don't you think it's odd that the story centers around your average American - some random, low-intelligence nobody?
The theme of this movie is simple: Do as you're told.
That's all Forrest does in the whole movie, and he ends up a famous millionaire entrepreneur war hero athlete and pop culture icon.
Jenny, on the other hand, does the exact opposite, questions the status-quo at every turn, stands up for what she believes in all throughout the movie...and ends up a depressed abuse victim with two broken homes and AIDS.
Subtle.
Yeah, so don't bother learning things or educating yourself. Your country has it all covered, and if you obey, you life will be grand.
As the late great Bill Hicks once said..."Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control."
Fuck that.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the movie stank regardless.
Forrest Gump is a story about a man who does things despite people telling him that he can't. There is not a single scene that corroborates your claim that the theme is "do as your told." In fact, just the opposite is true! When Gump is told that he will not be able to walk normally, he runs. When Gump is told that he's an idiot, he goes to college and becomes successful. When Gump is told to leave his commander in the field of battle to die, he ignores this command and saves his commander's life. It is a story about how success is brought about not by the mind, as many of us like to think, but by acts of soulful expression. I might add that the film is nothing but critical of the United States, contrary to your absurd review, including to show such specific catastrophes as the Vietnam war, the Watergate scandal, and racist George Wallace protesting desegregation.
You are also incorrect in regard to Jenny, who runs chooses to run from her problems until the very end of the film. As the line goes "Run Forrest. Run!" Does that sound like the advice of a person who believes in standing her ground? Of course not! That's fucking stupid!
Speaking of stupid, how big of a bitch was Jenny?!
I did not like her one bit. After living her youth as some sort of trashy tramp, she shows up at Forrest's house only when he's filthy rich and his mom is dead. She never attempts to explain why she just decided to show up, and any reason she could have given would be hard to believe. Therefore, I think it's reasonable to assume that is why she showed up: Forrest had cash and nobody to steer him in the right direction.
Before this point, there was never a moment in her adulthood where she showed that she actually cared about Forrest. So, after being treated like royalty for a while, what does she do? Bang him good (probably transferring the virus that ends up killing her) and then leave secretly in the morning without ever saying goodbye or giving an explanation. And that was after Forrest asked her to marry him!
And what's the last thing she does? Shows up with a kid that she claims is Forrest's. It may or may not be, but either way, she's a bitch. She's a bitch if it's not, and a bitch if it is for keeping him from Forrest for 6 years.
I actually started disliking Forrest because he wasted so much time and energy focusing on someone who clearly didn't care about him in return whatsoever. It would have been different if Jenny overcame her hardships and learned to be a good person and perhaps even care about Forrest for real. At least she could have been honest with him instead of wasting his time and money.
But this never happens. Jenny is defeated by the hardships of her life when she is a child and is never able to stand up on her own feet and transform herself into a good person.
I think I heard Lloyd Kaufman say basically the same thing somewhere.
Jenny is the antagonist, you're not supposed to like her. She is a paradox and a hypocrite; the hot mess. She goes around protesting the way other people live, calling them sellouts and morally bankrupt, while she herself cannot manage her own life and sells her body for money! I think she's a beautifully crafted character, and shows you what Robert Zemeckis thinks of the hippy movement.
I've always hated this film.
Rightly so. It's crap.
@I_Love_Lucy - I love you man... you smashed this idiot's opinion on one the best films ever made.
@Abner - Why thank you!
I'm sorry but I think you missed the whole point of the movie. Its not propaganda its a love story
So you hated Forrest gump as well? I loved Forrest gump, it's was such a great story, Forrest is seen a fool and dismissed by everyone who knows him, and he not only succeeds, his attitude to life changes their perspective, he inspires people in the film and makes them better people, I mean Lt Dan marries a Vietnamese lady, how beautiful is that?
An interesting look at it. I find my distaste for the film comes from its shameless emotional manipulation (and I'm good with schmaltz) and excessive pandering to the Baby Boomers.
I was coming in here to correct your misinformed opinion but @I_Love_Lucy already did it far more eloquently than I ever could.
Ryan, I agree 100%. I genuinely think this is one of the worst movies ever - not only terrible in every conceivable way artistically, but despicable in its ideology. The only thing I'll add is the patronising, insulting American Dream thread running through the film. It's saying "look, literally anyone can become a billionaire in the good ol' USA", this guy just walks (or runs) into good fortune - I don't think a happy ending has ever been more dishonest and culturally harmful. If you genuinely think this is one of the best movies ever made, you need to watch a lot more films and switch off Fox News.