History Film / ForrestGump

* EpicMovie: The film has an EnsembleCast that includes Creator/TomHanks, Creator/RobinWright, Creator/GarySinise, and Creator/SallyField. It also is set from the 1950s to the 1980s and shows Forest's experiences (and [[BeenThereShapedHistory accidental influence]]) on several major events of American History of the time. Such as: the start of [[Music/ElvisPresley Elvis Presley's]] Career, the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement, UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, the [[Main/TheSixties 60s]] Counter-Culture, the [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar Cold War & opening relations with Maoist China]], The Watergate Scandal, etc. He also meets and interacts with many famous figures from the time period, such as [[{{UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy}} Three]] [[{{UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson}} U.S.]] [[{{UsefulNotes/RichardNixon}} Presidents]], George Wallace, Legendary College Football Coach Bear Bryant, Music/JohnLennon, and many others.

** "My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump." The one time he introduces himself differently (to Bubba), he does so in a spectacular ShapedLikeItself fashion: "My name's Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump."

** Forrest ends up with a beard on his cross-country jogging spree. Shaving wasn't on his list of priorites at the time.

* PragmaticAdaptation: While the screenplay stays fairly close to the novel's structure (mostly as it relates to Forrest getting involved in life events), the character of Forrest is, in the novel, fairly smart; he just has extreme difficulty articulating his thoughts. The book is also rather dark and mean-spirited in several instances.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In an innuendo, the invalid Lt. Dan tells Forrest that since he doesn't have legs anymore, he spends much of his time "exercising his arms".

--->'''Forrest:''' Sometimes... I guess there's just not enough rocks.

** "My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump."
*** The one time he introduces himself differently (to Bubba), he does so in a spectacular ShapedLikeItself fashion: "My name's Forrest Gump. People call me Forrest Gump."

** Lt. Dan was furious that Forrest saved his life, rather than leave him to die. He eventually gets over his rage. Later in the film, when Lt. Dan fiercely defends Forrest after their female companions call him "stupid," the implication becomes that while Lt. Dan loses his legs, gets lost in his own misery, and spends decades watching the world fly apart, Forrest is his polar opposite -- innocent, kind, confused and, above all, ''happy''. Lt. Dan doesn't want ''anything'' to spoil that.

* NotHelpingYourCase: Jenny's abusive hippie boyfriend was not happy when she brings Forrest to the Black Panther meeting because he's a soldier, despite Jenny trying to reassure him he's not like the other soldiers. Then he nearly got in hot water with the Black Panthers because he beat up the boyfriend for slapping Jenny.

* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Forrest runs back and forth in hostile territory and under fire to recover all the injured people from his unit; played with, in that his main objective was to find Bubba.

* NonIdleRich: After Forrest finds success with the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., the city offers him "a fine job": cutting grass. Since he found success with Bubba Gump, and Lt. Dan successfully invested their profits in "[[Creator/{{Apple}} some kind of fruit company]]", he decides to cut the city's grass for free - just cause he enjoys doing it so much.

** Also, possibly, a ShoutOut to actor Lee Marvin, who served in USMC in the Pacific War and (by some accounts) was wounded in the buttocks, resulting in a severed sciatic nerve.

** After Forrest becomes a millionaire from shrimping, since Hurricane Carmen destroyed the competition, and from Lt. Dan's investment in [[Creator/{{Apple}} Apple Computers]], Forrest remembers 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 gives half of his profits to Bubba's mother, allowing her to retire.

* IdenticalGrandson:
** Lieutenant Dan's ancestors are all played by Creator/GarySinise.
** Forrest's namesake General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who founded the Ku Klux Klan and (according to Forrest's mother) is related "in some way" to Forrest, is played by Tom Hanks.
** Bubba's mother and her ancestors are played by the same actress.
* IdiotHero: Forrest Gump becomes, among other things, a war hero and a successful shrimp boat captain based on single minded determination and a lack of sense to know that what he's doing is stupid/crazy/dangerous etc.

* IWasJustJoking: It was strongly implied that LBJ's "desire" to see the wound on Gump's behind was actually intended to be a joke. Forrest, being Forrest, [[ExactWords interprets this literally]], and proceeds to [[{{Mooning}} oblige his "request"]] on live TV, causing Johnson to chuckle to himself and say "Goddamn, son!"
** This is actually a historical reference of sorts: LBJ once pulled his shirt up to display a scar from gallbladder surgery to the press, as a way of dispelling a rumor that he had had cancer. Furthermore, behind closed doors LBJ was also famous for such things as taking meetings -- in person -- while on the toilet, and flopping out his own Johnson.
** Also, possibly, a ShoutOut to actor Lee Marvin, who served in USMC in the Pacific War and (by some accounts) was wounded in the buttocks, resulting in a severed sciatic nerve.

* HippieVan: Jenny's radical friends pick her up in a van.

* HistoricalFiguresInArchivalMedia: Almost all of the historical figures and celebrities appear in the film as footage of themselves. [[note]] With the exception of Dick Cavette.[[/note]]

* ClusterFBomb: According to Forrest, Abbie Hoffman enjoyed using the f-word at the Vietnam War protest rally, and that everyone at the rally enjoyed hearing this. 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]].

* BrokenBird: Jenny. Engaged in a lot of self-destructive behavior and was very cynical due to her unhappy childhood.

* UngratefulBastard:
** Lieutenant Dan is initially mad at Gump for saving his life, in part because he had [[AnArmAndALeg his legs blown off]] and feels like life isn't worth living anymore. He eventually [[CharacterDevelopment gets better]].
** 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.

* 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 at the hospital. [[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. This might qualify as a ShoutOut to ''Literature/AllQuietOnTheWesternFront'' which includes a scene during which one of the experienced squad members places a panicked recruit’s helmet over the recruit’s raised buttocks, for this reason. This becomes a DeconstructedTrope when the recruit is last seen having sustained a serious wound there, which the more experienced soldiers regard as certainly crippling and probably fatal; one contemplates MercyKilling but is dissuaded on the grounds that the shelling is over and witnesses are starting to appear.

* PlayingGertrude: Sally Field, who plays Mrs. Gump, is just ten years older than Tom Hanks. And on top of that, they previously played love interests in the film ''Punch Line''.

** Lieutenant Dan is clearly a ShellShockedVeteran at first, spitefully hating Forrest for an UnwantedRescue as Dan thinks that he needed to die in a blaze of glory but was denied the chance. As time goes on, Dan finds someonthing to live for, and apologizes to Forrest for snapping at him.

* AnAesop: While people don't know the cards fate will deal them, they also choose what to do with the hand they're dealt. Forrest and Jenny both have a hard start in life, but Forrest runs towards his challenges while Jenny runs away. 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 full effort and being a {{Determinator}}. Contrast that with Jenny, who is smart, beautiful and creative while constantly putting herself in places to do some serious meaningful things, such as the Civil Rights Movement and protesting the Vietnam War. But Jenny consistently fails because she can't or won't work through the 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. Forrest always faces his trials, obstacles and jobs head-on; Jenny always runs away when things get bad.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Jenny tells Forrest that her dream is to "be up on a stage with just [her] guitar and [her] voice". She gets that dream, all right, but she neglected to mention whether she'd be wearing anything, and when the time comes, she isn't.

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

* MistakenForProfound: When Forrest's runs across America start attracting attention, members of the press assume he's running for a noble cause, even though he isn't.

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, 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) that prompts the Watergate Scandal and Nixon's resignation from the Presidency.

%%* CharacterDevelopment: Seen in both Forrest and Jenny. But even more clearly in Lt. Dan.

%%%* FlyAtTheCameraEnding: The feather.

%%* MisterSandmanSequence

%%* ObjectTrackingShot: The feather book-ending the film.

* 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 that with Jenny, who is smart, beautiful and creative while constantly putting herself in places to do some serious meaningful things (the 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.

* ArcWords: People are always telling Forrest to "Run".