History Headscratchers / ForrestGump

** Probably more odd is how the news story we ''do'' hear describes him as "Forrest Gump, a gardener from Greenbow, Alabama," instead of "Forrest Gump, former All-American running back, Medal of Honor recipient, international Table Tennis champion, and commercial shrimping magnate...from Greenbow, Alabama." The man was on ''[[Series/TheDickCavettShow The Dick Cavett Show]]'' with [[Music/JohnLennon John Lennon]], for god's sake -- how is the most interesting fact about Forrest's life they ever give is that he's a ''volunteer'' gardener?

** Probably more odd is why the news story we ''do'' hear describes him as "Forrest Gump, a gardener from Greenbow Alabama," instead of "Forrest Gump, former All-American running back, Medal of Honor recipient, international Table Tennis champion, and commercial shrimping magnate." The man was on ''[[Series/TheDickCavettShow The Dick Cavett Show]]'' with [[Music/JohnLennon John Lennon]], for god's sake -- how is "gardener" the most interesting thing that they can think to say about him?

** This is a crucial difference between the book, and the film. “Book Gump”s various misadventures are more-or-less well documented, or so bizarre (like the “astronaut” sequence), or both that they HAVE to be taken at face value, because who the Devil would make such things up? “Film Gump” is treated at times, as though he is simply a half-wit recounting fantasies to strangers at a bus stop, unable to tell truth from delusion; and with the notable exception of Jenny’s failed suicide attempt, which Forrest plays no role in, there is virtually no supporting evidence.

** Noel Murray offers a good explanation in the Website/AVClub review: "Zemeckis also slyly introduces a recurring motif of people and objects getting hit at the end of shots, illustrating the idea of a generation getting pummelled by one life-changing event after another. (The same idea is evoked by Roth’s recurring motif of having nobody remember Forrest Gump, in spite of the many times he’s been on TV over the years; some see that as a continuity flaw, but it’s more reflective of the collective amnesia that seems to hit society in the wake of lurching change.) "

* How does Forrest Gump gain national news coverage for running? He just started doing it on a whim and never went to the media or did anything to draw attention to himself. Did some reporter just see him running and think "Hey that guy looks interesting! I think i'll get his story!"

** Not only that, but Lt. Dan is pretty clearly AFatherToHisMen, and no matter how mad he might be at Forrest, you don't fuck with one of his men in front of him. They have a very complicated relationship at this point, and while Dan believes Forrest ruined his life, he also knows that Forrest ''saved'' his life and the lives of several members of his unit in a profoundly heroic act; earning himself a Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor in the process. Lt. Taylor is a soldier descended from an extremely long line of soldiers. He might hate Forrest right now, but there's no doubt that Lt. Dan respects the hell out of him.

** There is a clear difference between holding a grudge and actively wanting to see someone come to malicious harm. Plus, its a part of Dan's current state of JerkWithAHeartOfGold mentality. He's still coming to terms with who he is.

* Why did Lieutenant Dan bother to protect Forrest's honor against the hookers? He's still plenty mad at Forrest and had at that time no reason to do so.

*** Who expects a All-American football player and veteran turned millionaire to be sitting on a bench next to you waiting for a bus?

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* About the famous scene where young Forrest's leg braces come apart and he discovers he is a very fast runner...was this intended to be perceived as some kind of miracle by the audience.. or did Forrest's doctor just misdiagnose him in the first place?

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* Where's Forrest's Medal of Honor? If you look closely at the ribbon bar on Forrest's uniform, you'll notice that the Medal of Honor ribbon is conspicuously absent. Even though it ''should'' be the very fist ribbon on that bar, the highest award he ever displays is his Purple Heart. What's the deal?

* Why is Forrest always labeled as "simple-minded"? I mean, yeah, I get it when he's called that in the film, it's the 70s and he comes from the Deep South. But every single synopsis or review or discussion of this film ends up just referring to Forrest as stupid over and over. I mean, it's pretty goddam apparent that the character has a genuine mental disability- developmental, autism, whatever. Not to mention the fact that he had a physical one during his childhood as well (mental and physical disabilities don't always go hand in hand, but it's still not uncommon). Is anybody going to acknowledge this? An actual disability is very different from being a foolish person.

* How is Dorothy Harris still driving the bus, unaged, over 40 years later?

** Plus, usually the charts are inside the box or on the other side of the lid, so you wouldn't know which is which until you opened the box.

*** Two more possibilities, not necessarily mutually exclusive: (1) Forrest doesn't seem the type to give folksy sayings like that a lot of thought, especially if they come from his mother. Remember that, as far as he's concerned, Momma's a font of wisdom. (2) Even if you know what's in the box after you open it, what about ''before?'' Sure, you can argue that all Whitman's Samplers are the same; but imagine if you only got one of them to last you the rest of your life. Would you know what was in it before you opened it? It's sort of the same idea. It doesn't hold up under close scrutiny, but again, Forrest doesn't seem the type to worry about it too much.

** I think it's important to remember that once upon a time those boxes of chocolates didn't come with handy little charts to tell you which chocolates had what in them. He was saying Life is Life, but every experience is different. Chocolate is chocolate, but you don't know what flavour is inside when the box won't tell you.

** Well she was quite old when she died. Generally speaking, it's a lot easier to get over the loss of a friend or a loved one if they lived a full life before dying. Mrs Gump was also religious, and probably reconciled herself to death that way, which Forrest would probably also have found consoling.