History YMMV / ForrestGump

* HarsherInHindsight: The scene where Forrest Gump retrieves a dropped book for one of the black college students (while remaining oblivious to the controversy that ensues) becomes a bit weird after the fiasco where Gump's actor, Creator/TomHanks, got a bit of negative publicity regarding an incident where he acted along with a comedian in {{Blackface}} in a comedy act.

*** Cross Country and Track athletes everywhere HATE this meme because [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore people shout this at them when they go on runs.]]

** Forrest's time in [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam.]] Even with the funny moments seen there (Bubba's LongList of shrimp dishes, most of the interactions with Lt. Dan, etc.), the film doesn't skimp on the details ([[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome or the special effects]]) [[WarIsHell of the environment they're in.]] Upon saving fellow of his comrades, he sees the jungle littered with dead bodies and at one point it's displayed that even a "moron" like Forrest knows what the imminent danger of the air strike that's coming [[OhCrap if the look in his eyes is any indication.]] Then there's the moment that Lt. Dan's legs are graphically blown off.

--> ''"The most successful films of recent months - ''Film/Apollo13'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', ''Forrest Gump'' - have been restrained in their use of sex and violence and appealed powerfully to traditional values."''
:: However, watching the film & applying a little bit of FridgeLogic makes this film far more adult-themed than it looks (sexual content, beginning with Mrs. Gump's efforts to have Forrest enrolled at school; Jenny is seen on-camera smoking marijuana & taking acid; the Vietnam ambush scene is full of violence & graphic injury; and Forrest's low IQ causing him to do stupid things, such as diving off a trawler he is currently steering down an estuary, that impressionable kids might try to copy.)
* TheWoobie: Forrest [[spoiler:at Jenny’s grave telling her how he’s been doing following her death.]]

** Lieutenant Dan tells Forrest that the day Forrest works on a shrimp boat is the day he'd be an astronaut. While this is a reference to the book where Forrest ''does'' become an astronaut, Gary Sinise and Tom Hanks would star together as astronauts the very next year in ''{{Film/Apollo 13}}''.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: Many viewers come away with the Aesop of "Blind obedience is the path to success in life" because of how just about everything great that happens to Forrest does so after he follows advice he was given earlier in the story. However, it's not hard to notice that his good fortune is rarely the direct result of his following advice, but instead usually stems from Forrest's choice simply putting him in the right place at the right time when something beneficial to him fortuitously happens to come along (e.g. his shrimp boating venture was failing miserably until a hurricane just happened to blow in and destroy ''every'' other commercial shrimping trawler in the region except for his). With this in mind, it's easy to instead see the main lesson as the more realistic but far less practically applicable "Benefitting from dumb luck by being in the right place at the right time is really awesome."

** How much does Jenny hate herself due to her horrible childhood, and how much is she using Forrest? Does she only fall in love with Forrest at the end of her life, or [[https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/18lvwe/who_is_the_most_misunderstood_character_in_all_of/c8g4njy/ is she in love with him the whole time but feels like she isn't good enough for him]]? Similarly, does she keep running away from home (and Forrest) for truly hedonistic reasons, or is she so terrified of hurting Forrest the same way her father hurt her that putting space between them is her way of trying to keep him safe?
** Is Jenny just a {{Strawman}} for alternative lifestyles that embodied a lot of the 60s and beyond, getting unjustly punished for essentially not being a male, law-abiding square?
** Is Lt. Dan a DeathSeeker prior or just unable to cope with his loss, and how much does he manipulate Forrest?

** When Lt. Dan thanks Forrest for saving his life, is he referring to Forrest saving him from combat death in Vietnam, or from his suicidal depression afterward?

** Strangely enough, Forrest Gump himself. While some admire his determination and compassion throughout the movie and view him as an inspiration to those with mental problems, others view him as a one-note character with no real character flaws and someone who [[IdiotHoudini gets off way too easy with his often thoughtless decisions]], lack of mental faculties or no.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In the film, Forrest is awarded the Medal of Honor, America'a highest military decoration. 22 years later, Creator/TomHanks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

** Why did the Black Panther leader stop his subordinates from intervening in the fight between Forrest and one of Jenny's abusive boyfriends? Did he see the abuse too and believe the man deserved to be beaten up? Or did he see it as a problem between two white men that there was no need to get involved with?

** Mama always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Strangely enough, Forrest Gump himself. While some admire his determination and compassion throughout the movie and view him as an inspiration to those with mental problems, others view him as a one-note character with no real character flaws and someone who [[IdiotHoudini gets off way too easy with his often thoughtless decisions]], lack of mental faculties or no.

** A lot of people hate Jenny, and not necessarily for bad reasons. But it's hard not to feel sorry for her when you know she comes from a poor background with a sexually abusive alcoholic father, attracts mostly abusive boyfriends, starts experimenting with drugs, considers committing suicide at various points in her life and [[spoiler:ends up dying from an unknown disease (long-speculated to be AIDS, but was revealed to be Hepatitis C in the book). At least her final years were somewhat happy, as she had a son and Forrest to take care of her.]]

* CommonKnowledge: One common misconception, even among fans of the movie, is that [[spoiler:Jenny]] dies of AIDS. In the movie, it's left deliberately ambiguous what the disease is, while in the books, it's explicitly stated to be Hepatitis C, and there's nothing to contradict this in the film adaptation.

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: Many viewers come away with the Aesop of "Blind obedience is the path to success in life" because of how just about everything great that happens to Forrest does so after he follows advice he was given earlier in the story. However, it's not hard to notice that his good fortune is rarely the direct result of his following advice, but instead usually stems from Forrest's choice simply putting him in the right place at the right time when something beneficial to him fortuitously happens to come along (e.g. his shrimp boating venture was failing miserably until a hurricane just happened to blow in and destroy ''every'' other commercial shrimping trawler in the region except for his). With this in mind, it's easy to instead see the main lesson as the more realistic but far less practically applicable "Benefitting from dumb luck by being in the right place at the right time is really awesome".