History Film / ForrestGump

''And that's all I have to say about that.''

* AbusiveParents: Jenny's father was sexually abusive. Forrest doesn't realize this, at least to begin with.

* AnAesop: The moral of the movie as stated by Forrest in the end is essentially, while people don't know the cards fate will deal them, they also choose what to do with them. They both have a hard start in life, but Forrest runs ''towards'' his challenges, while Jenny always runs ''away''. This is shown throughout the movie as Forrest often meets with success with the opportunities he's given through no action of his own but always makes the most of them by giving 100% of his effort and being a {{Determinator}}. Contrast with that is Jenny, who is smart, beautiful and creative while constantly putting herself in places to do some serious meaningful things (civil rights movement, protesting the Vietnam war, etc.) but never gets anywhere because she can't or won't work through her own emotional trauma at the abuse she suffered as a child. Forrest succeeds in spite of his mental handicap while Jenny fails because of her emotional handicap because Forrest always faces his trials, obstacles and jobs head-on while Jenny always runs when things get bad.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Cancer-stricken Mama and AIDS-stricken Jenny look as pretty and healthy on their deathbeds as they have throughout the entire film. However, when we see his Mama and Jenny, it is believed to be in the early stages as the doctor was just leaving his Mama's room after finding out she has cancer.

* CallingYourBathroomBreaks: Forrest announces this while meeting UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, of all people. The president asked "how he felt", as in, winning an award and meeting him, the president. Forrest, being Forrest, said "I have to pee" because he drank too much soda beforehand.

* CassandraTruth: Forrest's revelation that he's the owner of the wildly successful Bubba Gump Shrimp Company sends one listener off in unbelieving hysterics. The old woman was unbelieving at first, until he shows her a picture of him and Lieutenant Dan on the cover of ''Fortune''.

* ClusterFBomb: According to Forrest, Abbie Hoffman enjoyed dropping these at the Vietnam War protest rally, and that everyone at the rally enjoyed hearing him dropping them. Being a PG-13 movie, however, we only hear [[PrecisionFStrike one instant of the word]] if you don't count a preceding one that is [[SoundEffectBleep obscured by Hoffman's microphone feedback]].

** When one character uses the name of an animal as a slur to refer to an African-American, Forrest thinks he is talking about an animal rather than a person.

** He notices Jenny performing as a nude stripper and thinks her dream of becoming a singer has come true.

* DaylightHorror: Forrest's platoon was ambushed in broad daylight.

* TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed: Jenny is suffering from some sort of viral disease, which hasn't been identified, and for which there's no treatment. Justified, since the term "AIDS" would not be coined until several months after her death, although WordOfGod confirms that it was hepatitis C.

* DumbIsGood: Forrest is "stupid is as stupid does" which in practice means that he is polite to everyone he meets, and never considers sinister undertones in what he hears or sees.

* EngineeredPublicConfession: {{Inverted}}. During Forrest's stump speech during an anti-Vietnam rally that he was pulled into, a large percentage of the speech involving things he was going to admit to the people about his experiences in Vietnam during the speech actually ended up ''missed'' because a pro-Vietnam military man pulled the plug on the mike, and the mike's sound output was only restored right when Forrest finishes up the statements. According to Tom Hanks, the actual censored portion of the speech was "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don’t go home at all. That’s a bad thing. That's all I have to say about that." Arguably, seeing Abbie Hoffman (who was standing next to him and heard the whole thing) moved to tears by Gump's speech was effective enough.

* GunStripping: Forrest is shown to be able to strip and assemble an M-14 in record time to the amazement of his drill sergeant.

* LiteralMinded: Forrest has no concept of metaphor. For example, he thinks that "Recon plan Charlie" means looking for a guy named Charlie.

** Forrest meets Jenny on the bus, where nobody wants him to sit next to them. Later when he joins the Army by bus the same situation happens again, but this time it's Bubba who allows him to sit next to him. Later when Forrest's son goes to school by bus he also introduces himself to the bus driver first.
** Forrest being chased by bullies with Jenny defending him occurs both when he is a child, as well as when he is a teenager. The only difference is that they chase him by bike as child and by car as an adult.

** Forrest meets a President of the USA: Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
*** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Forrest: "So I went [to the White House] again. And I met the President of the United States again."

* IGaveMyWord: Lieutenant Dan was being sarcastic when he said that if Forrest ever became a shrimp boat captain, he'd be his first mate. But when Forrest ''does'' become a shrimp boat captain, Dan becomes his first mate.

** After Forrest became a millionaire from shrimping, since Hurricane Carmen destroyed the competition, and from Lt. Dan's investment in [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Apple Computers]], Forrest remembered the promise he made to his late friend, Bubba, to split their earnings down the middle. Thus, despite Lt. Dan telling him not to do so, Forrest gave half of his profits to Bubba's mother, making her a millionaire.

* ImpliedRape: Although not outright stated, this is why when Forrest and Jenny were best friends in elementary school, she asked him to help her hide in the cornfield from her father, as Forrest mentions that her father was a loving man who was always "kissing and touching" Jenny and her sisters. He later gets arrested and has his children taken away. Later, when Jenny briefly comes back after giving up her hedonistic life, she throws rocks at her old abandoned house, and breaks down crying, and though Forrest doesn't know what exactly happened in that house, he knows it's bad. After Jenny dies, [[DestroyTheAbusiveHome he pays for her father's house to be bulldozed, as he only knows that it brought her bad memories]].

* JackhammeredConversation: During the March on the Pentagon, Forrest claims he only has one thing to say about the war. Then, an Army officer sabotages the speaker system and unplugs the microphones right as Forrest starts talking. By the time the speakers are back up, his speech is over. (Tom Hanks says that Forrest said, "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don't go home at all. That's a bad thing.") The only person who appears to have heard what Forrest said was Abbie Hoffman, who tearfully replies "That's so right-on Army man. You said it all."

** Defied in that Gump ignores Lt. Dan's order not to rescue him and [[ToBeLawfulOrGood chooses Good over Lawful]], which leads to him winning that Medal Of Honor.

** [[spoiler:Played straight to a small extent. In the final scene, when Forrest Jr. is getting on the bus to school, he is, like Forrest himself in several earlier scenes, wearing a blue and white plaid shirt. As well as, of course, the fact they both have the same first name.]]

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Nixon, in a PetTheDog moment, inquires what hotel Forrest is staying at and instead books him a room at a better one. Unfortunately for him however, he booked Forrest a stay at the ''Watergate Hotel'', and it is ''Forest'' who later reports the break-in (albeit unintentionally).

* StorefrontTelevisionDisplay: Not too long after young Forrest teaches Elvis what becomes the singer's signature hip-swinging moves, Forrest and his Momma are walking past an appliance store & see Elvis performing on one of the tv sets in the window. Momma covers Forrest's eyes with her hand, saying such a thing isn't fit for children to see.

* AdultFear: Forrest is concerned when he learns [[spoiler:young Forrest is his son]].

** Bubba's montage where [[LongList he talks about the many ways that shrimp can be cooked]] ends with him and Forrest [[ToothbrushFloorScrubbing scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes]], which is a punishment. '''Why'' Bubba and Forest were punished is never explained, although some think it was because Bubba was rambling too much to Forrest about shrimp, and it was distracting them from their duties.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Forrest meets various celebrities who were historically, culturally or sociologically important to the history between 1945 and 1981: Music/ElvisPresley, George Wallace, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, Abbie Hoffman, Music/JohnLennon and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon.

-->'''Lt. Dan:''' Well, I told you that if you actually got a shrimp boat I would be your first mate. And I am a man of my word. But if you think for a second that I am calling you "Sir," you got another think comin'.\\

* IdenticalGrandson: Lieutenant Dan's ancestors are all played by Creator/GarySinise and Forrest's namesake General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, is also played by Tom Hanks (despite not being related). Bubba's mother and her ancestrors are played by the same actress.

* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Forrest doesn't seem too impressed by the "fruit company" Lt. Dan suggested he invest in, which we see is really Apple Computers, now Apple Inc.
* JackhammeredConversation: During the March on the pentagon, Forrest claims he only has one thing to say about the war. Then, a man sabotaged the speaker system right as Forrest starts talking. By the time the speakers are back up, his speech is over. (Tom Hanks says that Forrest said, "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don't go home at all. That's a bad thing.") The only person who appears to have heard what Forrest said was Abbie Hoffman, who tearfully replies "That's so right-on Army man. You said it all."

** Lieutenant Dan in the movie is a rude hardass but also a patriot who wants to be the only casualty in his group.

** The "Run, Forrest, run" scene is repeated with Jenny and Forrest as teenagers. The first time saw Forrest over coming the issue with his legs in order to walk (or rather, run) properly. The second time saw just how fast Forrest could run. Rather appropriately, this got the attention of a football coach...

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Forrest runs back and forth in hostile territory and under fire to recover all the injured people from his unit.

** Bubba's montage talking about how shrimp can be cooked ends with him and Forrest scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes, which is a punishment. Why is never is explained. Although some think it was because Bubba was rambling too much to Forrest about shrimp, and it was distracting them from their duties.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Nixon, in a PetTheDog moment, inquires what hotel Forrest is staying at and instead books him a room at a better one. Unfortunately for him however, he booked Forrest a stay at the ''Watergate Hotel'', and it is ''Forest'' who later reports the break-in.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Forrest gets shot in the buttocks in Vietnam and suffers no long-lasting ill effects. In fact, he gets all the ice cream he can eat. [[DeconstructedTrope This is about the only part of the body where this can realistically happen]] (thus, why it's called a "million-dollar wound"). It also happens to infantrymen ''a lot'', as one's natural inclination when crawling is to stick your butt in the air. Army training tries to curtail this but not everyone remembers.

* RealEventFictionalCause: Forrest is an AccidentalHero who routinely [[BeenThereShapedHistory shapes history]] by being at exactly the right place at the precise time. Who discovered the Watergate burglary? Gump. Who sparked the T-shirt phrase "shit happens?" Gump. Who designed TheSixties Smiley Face? Gump. If it's a critical juncture in American history, Forrest Gump went jogging through it.

* BuffySpeak: Forrest's general VerbalTic. This leads to a nice HistoricalInJoke when he ends up being a shareholder in "some sort of fruit company" (Apple Computers).

* CallingYourBathroomBreaks: Forrest announces this while meeting [=JFK=] of all people. The president asked "how he felt", as in, winning an award and meeting him, the president. Forrest, being Forrest, said "I have to pee" because he drank too much soda before hand.

** He assumes ''Apple'' is "some kind of fruit company."

* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: Lieutenant Dan is mad when Gump saves him and says he [[DeathSeeker wishes he died with honor instead]]

* DeathMontage: Forrest explains Lt. Dan was from a long military tradition. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9c8Rba5NVE Then we see a montage]] of Creator/GarySinise (the actor playing Lt. Dan) playing a different ancestor just at the moment of his death, in a different battleground and a different uniform each time, specifically, during [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution the American War of Independence]], UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: After Forrest runs through dog crap we see several of his followers jump out of the way of it.

** Bubba's mother. Rather than being happy that a member of her late son's Platoon cared enough for him to come pay his respects and make an effort to live out Bubba's shrimping dream for him, she simply calls Forrest an idiot with a contemptuous look on her face. Nor is there any indication that she showed him any gratitude for the share of the Bubba Gump Shrimp fortune that she received.

* AmbiguousEnding: The novel concludes with the familiar image of Forrest sitting on a park bench in Savannah, GA, not long after an encounter with a passerby with whom he has just shared much of his life story. In a scene very similar to one in the film, in which a man scoffs at Forrest's claim to own the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Forrest's story is regarded as simply unbelievable, leaving the reader to wonder whether the story is true or if Forrest is an UnreliableNarrator who likes to sit a park bench and tell tall tales to strangers.

* KidsAreCruel: None of the kids, except Jenny, would let Forrest sit next to them on the school bus. A few in particular made a hobby of chasing Forrest around after school and throwing rocks at him.

** A staple of Gump's character, and why he sits at the core of a reactionary fantasy:

** Forrest remembers where everyone in his platoon was from. Except Tex. He can't remember what state Tex was from.

** After Forrest became a millionaire from shrimping, since Hurricane Carmen destroyed the competition, and from Lt. Dan's investment in [[UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh Apple Computers]], Forrest remebered the promise he made to his late friend, Bubba, to split their earning's down the middle. Thus, depsite Lt. Dan telling him not to do so, Forrest gave half of his profits to Bubba's mother, making her a nillionaire.

** During his time in the Vietnam War he notices they were looking for "somebody named Charlie" and assumes that the money of his so-called "million dollar wound" was kept by the army.

--->'''Forrest:''' They called it a "million dollar wound" but the army must keep that money 'cos I still haven't seen a nickel of that million dollars.

** Forrest meets Jenny on the bus, where nobody wants him to sit next to them. Later when he joins the army by bus the same situation happens again, but this time its Bubba who allows him to sit next to him. Later when Forrest's son goes to school by bus he also introduces himself to the bus driver first.

* ItBeganWithATwistOfFate: In the original book version, most of Forrest's adventures start with some variation of the following: "So I was just sitting there minding my own business and a guy comes up to me and says 'Do you want to [join the army/be in a play/play college football/get shot into space/star in a movie/etc.]?' Well, I had nothing else to do that day so I said OK."

* JackhammeredConversation: During the March on the pentagon, Forrest claims he only has one thing to say about the war. Then, a man sabotaged the speaker system right as Forrest starts talking. By the time the speakers are back up, his speech is over. (Tom Hanks says that Forrest said, "Sometimes when people go to Vietnam, they go home to their mommas without any legs. Sometimes they don't go home at all. That's a bad thing.") The only person who appears to have heard what Forrest said was Abbie Hoffman, who tearfully replies "That's so right-on army man. You said it all."

** Forrest and his mother too are shown to be close with their long-time housemaid Louise, who happily exchanges greetings with Forrest when he returns home from the army, mourns over his mama getting sick, and has a front row seat to his and Jenny's wedding.