Forrest gump

fulmer1984

Just watching it now! Have to say, what a classic!!

mikemac

Jenny was such a cruel bitch

He would have treated her like a princess

But she doesn't care and becomes a stripper and when they meet in Washington and Forrest a war hero, she has no interest and goes back to her nasty boyfriend

They meet years later and Jenny turns down his marriage proposal.
Later they spend a night together and she leaves him and never even told him about their son

But ah bless, she calls for Forrest as she is dieing. Oh she wants him now, I see

What a user!

Starscream25

jenny was a right old bitch alright.
funnyiest part i think is when. gump what is your purpose in life.TO DO WHATEVER YOU TELL ME TO DO DRILL STAFF SERGEANT.god damn it gump thats the best god damn answer.................................. brill

JohnFalstaff

The most insidious aspect of this ra ra ra paean to conservative values is the fact that free thinking liberal Jenny ends up dying of AIDS... Forrest loves his country, his mother and his bible and things don't work out too badly for him.
Don't get suckered by the cutsie down home moralising...this film has an agenda.

reera82

Favourite film ever. I love the part where he says "I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is". Makes me want to shake Jenny for hurting him again.

TheIrishGrover

JohnFalstaff wrote: »

The most insidious aspect of this ra ra ra paean to conservative values is the fact that free thinking liberal Jenny ends up dying of AIDS... Forrest loves his country, his mother and his bible and things don't work out too badly for him.
Don't get suckered by the cutsie down home moralising...this film has an agenda.

I remember coming out of the cinema after seeing it and thinking the exact same thing. Live free and die (They didn't even have the balls to call it AIDS). Question nothing and tow the line, follow orders and be hugely successful. I remember asking mates about it and it was all "Aw God, that was beautiful film. Loved it"

Sad Professor

It's an interesting film which has become unfairly maligned in recent years due to the perception that there's some political conservative subtext to its message. As already suggested, it goes something like this: Jenny and her generation tries to change the world, challenge authority, etc, but ends up a junkie, gets AIDS and dies; while Forrest is a retard and drifts aimlessly through life, accepting everything for what it is and lives happily in his ignorance. Therefore the message of the film must be accept the established order, don't challenge anything, etc, and you'll be happy. It's a tempting interpretation, but it's actually a complete misreading of the film.

The message of the film is philosophical, not political. The question posed by the film is why do things happen - is it destiny or chance? If it's destiny then everything has a meaning, if it's chance then everything is meaningless. But the film is actually mercilessly poking fun at the whole idea of destiny. Continually throughout the film we see how thing happen due to sheer randomness or luck. Jenny and Dan both experience meltdowns due to their realisation that there is no meaning. What separate Forrest from his friends he that he (a bit like a child) recognises the absurdity in the world around him. When things don't turn out as planned, he just accepts it and moves on. As a result, he is free in all the ways that his friends aren't.

Consider this quote::

Lt. Dan: Now, you listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just happens, it's all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men! But now, I'm nothing but a goddamned cripple! A legless freak. Look! Look! Look at me! Do you see that? Do you know what it's like not to be able to use your legs?

Forrest: Well... Yes, sir, I do.

Lt. Dan: Did you hear what I said? You cheated me. I had a destiny. I was supposed to die in the field! With honor! That was my destiny! And you cheated me out of it! You understand what I'm saying, Gump? This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to me. I had a destiny. I was Lieutenant Dan Tyler.

Forrest: Yo-You're still Lieutenant Dan.

Dan is wrong, there is no plan or meaning.. As Forrest's mother teaches him, you have to make your own destiny. It's actually an existentialist film. This what Forrest means when he says maybe both is happening at the same time. There is no destiny or meaning except what you create for yourself.

Anyway... tbh I'm not exactly a big fan of the film either, but the whole evil conservative propaganda take on it annoys me as I don't feel the film is really concerned with politics.

Minister Boyce

I have to commend you professor for such an insightful take on the films meaning at such a late hour

fulmer1984

Minister Boyce wrote: »

I have to commend you professor for such an insightful take on the films meaning at such a late hour

Very true, well done young man! And here was me taking it for what i thought it was, a retard making his way through life getting lucky all the way, damn you Hollywood, you have me on so many sub-conscience levels!

Minister Boyce

fulmer1984 wrote: »

Very true, well done young man! And here was me taking it for what i thought it was, a retard making his way through life getting lucky all the way, damn you Hollywood, you have me on so many sub-conscience levels!

Amen to that brother, given my current state of tiredness, I watched the film very much in a Forrest Gump frame of mind hence perhaps enjoying the simple storyline of the slow boy doin fairly good for himself.

However, future films will be watched with a more synical or indeed forensic approach..them fecking film makers aren't gonna brain wash me again!:pac:

fulmer1984

I watch every film like i'm Forrest Gump, think i just found that out from this thread

Minister Boyce

Not a film buff myself but Forrest Gump and Philidelphia were two films that I always quote when Im asked about favourite films. Maybe its the Hanks factor.

mikemac

Gotta say it never once occurred to me there was a a conservative message to the film.

I just take everything at face value, it's an entertaining film and nothing more

Rooted out the DVD from my press, watching it now
We're just finished the Vietnam section

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Coincidentally Being There was on UTV earlier, a film with some very similar themes.

fulmer1984

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Coincidentally Being There was on UTV earlier, a film with some very similar themes.

Never heard of that! Any good ?

Whos in it? ( too lazy to look up imdb )

bonerm

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Coincidentally Being There was on UTV earlier, a film with some very similar themes.

Weird. Watched this just yesterday (tho not on UTV, was just in a mind to see it again). It's a story that defo shares some similarities with Gump. Anyway I didn't like it much first time around but got a bit more out of it this time around.

Interestingly I noticed the mansion where Ben Rand (the old man) lived is the same place Mason Verger lived in Hannibal. Talk about two extremes.

Handsome Bob

I watched it as well last night and really can't help but be endeared by it. Putting aside the alleged mental issues of Forrest, his relationship with Jenny is realistic in a lot of ways: two best friends of the opposite sex, one being the naive individual who thinks the best of everything. The other being a hardened individual who recognises how cruel life can be. It's funny though, we're always told that the people like Forrest in this relationship will be eaten up by life and that it'll be the people like Jenny who'll survive. The opposite is true here. I suppose that the message I take from this is that should never underestimate the inner strength of someone, regardless of how they seem to be on the outside.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

fulmer1984 wrote: »

Never heard of that! Any good ?

Whos in it? ( too lazy to look up imdb )

Peter Sellers last film. I only seen the start of it, it seems good and has a great reputation I must watch the whole thing some time.

krudler

I like it for what it is, its one guys journey through historic events, most of which go completely over his head. the Vietnam scenes are excellent as well, can't beat a bunch of Heweys flying over rice paddies to the sounds of Creedence, the soundtrack is fantastic the whole way through though.

Tipsy McSwagger

Forrest Gump is a good film but to win the Oscar for best film over Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty.

Phony Scott

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Forrest Gump is a good film but to win the Oscar for best film over Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty.

Don't forget Quiz Show.

johnny_ultimate

Forrest Gump - Zelig without a sense of humour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsjt-lNtSfg

It's been a good few years since I've seen it - certainly since I was a teenager anyway. Even then it stood out as good fun but almost shockingly sentimental and manipulative. It's a hard thing to get right - even David Fincher couldn't make it through the technically stunning but emotionally vapid Benjamin Button, which is the closest anyone's come to making a film directly comparable to FG. It's certainly a crowd pleaser with lots of good ideas though, and memorable sequences and characters. It's just every few minutes there's another mawkish plot development.

It is what it is, and it definitely has character.

Handsome Bob

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Forrest Gump is a good film but to win the Oscar for best film over Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty.

Phony Scott wrote: »

Don't forget Quiz Show.

Hey, it's the Academy, what do ya expect? As Forrest would say: stupid is stupid does.

Scanlas The 2nd

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Forrest Gump is a good film but to win the Oscar for best film over Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty.

Maybe Pulp Fiction, but Shawshank Remption has to be one of the most overrated films I've ever seen. Packed full of cliches to appeal to the masses. Watch "Midnight Express" then watch "The Shawshank Redemption" and see what you think of it afterwards.

irishh_bob

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Forrest Gump is a good film but to win the Oscar for best film over Shawshank and Pulp Fiction was a travesty.

the academy never reward movies with the level of violence and profanity as pulp fiction , plus pulp fiction is without a single moral charechter and american doesnt reward that kind of thing

Sad Professor

Pulp Fiction still won best original screenplay. Shawshank didn't win a thing.

irishh_bob

Sad Professor wrote: »

Pulp Fiction still won best original screenplay. Shawshank didn't win a thing.

pulp fiction is a far better film than shawshank , 1994 was indeed an incredibly strong year at the movies though

Tipsy McSwagger

irishh_bob wrote: »

the academy never reward movies with the level of violence and profanity as pulp fiction , plus pulp fiction is without a single moral charechter and american doesnt reward that kind of thing

Good point but FG won because the main character was retarded. If Vincent Vega had autism then Pulp Fiction would have cleaned up.

irishh_bob

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Good point but FG won because the main character was retarded. If Vincent Vega had autism then Pulp Fiction would have cleaned up.

i dont think it won because gump was a slow coach , it won be cause it was such a quintesentially american movie

MagicMarker

Scanlas The 2nd wrote: »

Maybe Pulp Fiction, but Shawshank Remption has to be one of the most overrated films I've ever seen. Packed full of cliches to appeal to the masses. Watch "Midnight Express" then watch "The Shawshank Redemption" and see what you think of it afterwards.

Midnight Express is mediocre at best.

cosmicfart

Its the most epic handicapped film ever, only My Left Foot beats it hands down!

Scanlas The 2nd

MagicMarker wrote: »

Midnight Express is mediocre at best.

Well for me anyway, "The Shawshank Redemption" moved me in a "hollywood emotion" kind of way. With "Midnight Express" it made me feel more real, raw emotions that hit the bone if that makes sense.

don ramo

i just like the film, im irish so what do care about republican or democratic sub plots, why do irish people even read into this stuff will baffle me to my grave,

i think its an interesting story of two friends who grow up together but end up living very different lives, and in the end forrest lived a better life, jenny had some horrible moments in her life that she probably regretted a lot, and lucky for her forrest was still there for her in the end, it may take more effort to watch it than other films but it will reward you every time,

while shawshank is a universally appealing film and pulp fiction is also a great film, i think forrest gump deserved the oscar, pulp was never going to win due to the level of violance, and shawshank was relatively unknown in 94, it did bomb at the box office big time $25m production $28m domestic (i dunno international figures), there very well known films now (more known that FG probably) no doubth, but back then they were new and probably unknown to the mass public, they got nominated which probably drew more attention on them helping them carve there way into the public forefront,

irishh_bob

don ramo wrote: »

i just like the film, im irish so what do care about republican or democratic sub plots, why do irish people even read into this stuff will baffle me to my grave,

i think its an interesting story of two friends who grow up together but end up living very different lives, and in the end forrest lived a better life, jenny had some horrible moments in her life that she probably regretted a lot, and lucky for her forrest was still there for her in the end, it may take more effort to watch it than other films but it will reward you every time,

while shawshank is a universally appealing film and pulp fiction is also a great film, i think forrest gump deserved the oscar, pulp was never going to win due to the level of violance, and shawshank was relatively unknown in 94, it did bomb at the box office big time $25m production $28m domestic (i dunno international figures), there very well known films now (more known that FG probably) no doubth, but back then they were new and probably unknown to the mass public, they got nominated which probably drew more attention on them helping them carve there way into the public forefront,

forrest and jenny while lifelong friends , came from different backrounds , jennys dad was a paedophile where as forrest had a mom comparable to christy brown , forrest despite being more or less special needs , was an incredibly lucky individual , like with a lot of movies , thier are many lessons you can take from gump , one is that luck plays a huge role in peoples lives

don ramo

irishh_bob wrote: »

forrest and jenny while lifelong friends , came from different backrounds , jennys dad was a paedophile where as forrest had a mom comparable to christy brown , forrest despite being more or less special needs , was an incredibly lucky individual , like with a lot of movies , thier are many lessons you can take from gump , one is that luck plays a huge role in peoples lives

yeah true, i was just sayin that they grew up together, but lead different lives due to that, suppose i should have included that also,

cosmicfart

just reading the evenin herald FG is on tonight at 9