Forrest Gump

TheIrishGrover · 01-03-2009 6:47pm #1

Just flicking through the Benjamin Button thread there and people mentioned the similarities to Forrest Gump except that many thought that Gump was better. My question is:

Am I the only one who thought that Forrest Gump was a load of rightwing tripe? It looked amazing admittedly but here you have the hero who does EVERYTHING that's he's told to do without question. Follows every order and becomes a millionaire and meets presidents and does all these wonderful things and becomes a hero etc etc. Meanwhile the girl rebels, does her own thing, ends up being a junkie and dying of AIDS (Except they don't have the balls to say it). It looked fantastic but I just remember coming out of the cinema feeling a little bit pissed at the message. Of course maybe I just did not get the satire. (I am a bit slow)

That_Guy · 01-03-2009 8:34pm

I personally saw no similarities between the two films at all. I liked Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button but didn't see any similar story in them.

Maybe I missed something.

indough · 01-03-2009 8:56pm

the character of forrest is more conservative than the girls but not right wing, sure his best friend for one of the portions of the movie is a black man and he attends a black panther meeting

Galvasean · 01-03-2009 9:40pm

I still find it hard to believe it got the best picture Oscar.

Ann22 · 01-03-2009 11:52pm

I loved it:o. Hanks captured the gormless expression and way of speaking perfectly. I was engrossed from start to finish. Great film imo.

grames_bond · 02-03-2009 12:54am

Galvasean wrote: »

I still find it hard to believe it got the best picture Oscar.

+1

especially as it was up against pulp fiction and shawshank redemption....2 FAR FAR superior movies!

Shryke · 02-03-2009 1:00am

Forest Gump was brilliant. It could have easily been terrible and farsicle but Hanks performance and that of everyone else were perfect. It was funny, sad and endearing rather than manipulative. Shawshank should have gotten the Oscar in my opinion but that doesn't write off the merits of this film.

Queen-Mise · 02-03-2009 3:03am

I remember when Forest Gump came out first. I rented out Reservoir Dogs and Forest Gump and decided to watch them at the same time. I decided I would watch the scary one first RD and then watch FG afterwards, which would be feel good and all happy.
A really fine plan except for the fact I laughed all through Reservoir Dogs (except for the ear scene) and Forest really affected me, I was all sad and depressed afterwards (duly went to pub and got plastered in commiseration). In hindsight they should have been watched the other way around.

irish_bob · 02-03-2009 11:17am

queen-mise wrote: »

I remember when Forest Gump came out first. I rented out Reservoir Dogs and Forest Gump and decided to watch them at the same time. I decided I would watch the scary one first RD and then watch FG afterwards, which would be feel good and all happy.
A really fine plan except for the fact I laughed all through Reservoir Dogs (except for the ear scene) and Forest really affected me, I was all sad and depressed afterwards (duly went to pub and got plastered in commiseration). In hindsight they should have been watched the other way around.

forrest gump always makes me feel warm inside

i know its shallow but im shallow , deep and meaningfull is highly over rated

TOPDAWG · 02-03-2009 4:24pm

I think its an amazing feelgood film. I always have a smile on my face come the end credits.

Mr. Frost · 02-03-2009 4:28pm

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Just flicking through the Benjamin Button thread there and people mentioned the similarities to Forrest Gump except that many thought that Gump was better. My question is:

Am I the only one who thought that Forrest Gump was a load of rightwing tripe? It looked amazing admittedly but here you have the hero who does EVERYTHING that's he's told to do without question. Follows every order and becomes a millionaire and meets presidents and does all these wonderful things and becomes a hero etc etc. Meanwhile the girl rebels, does her own thing, ends up being a junkie and dying of AIDS (Except they don't have the balls to say it). It looked fantastic but I just remember coming out of the cinema feeling a little bit pissed at the message. Of course maybe I just did not get the satire. (I am a bit slow)

Benjamin Button bored me to pieces. Of course there were similarities with Gump, that's obvious, I just though Forrest Gump excelled where BB failed - FG's adventures were far-fetched but, exciting nonetheless, and fun. BB was trying to be FG I thought and as soon as I saw that the movie was over for me.

Pigman II · 02-03-2009 9:14pm

This movie is an examination of the notion of determinism. The two sides of the debate personified by the two supporting characters Forrests Mother and Lieutentant Dan.

On one side you have the mother character who believes that "life is like a box of chocolates" that you "just don't know what you're gonna get" ie that stuff is gonna get thrown at you day to day and that life is just a matter of dealing with events as the come rather than being concerned about how well or otherwise these events influences the outcome of an indivudals life.

Opposing this pov you have Lieutenant Dan who has been raised to believe that his destiny is to die on the field of battle and that the chain of events in his life (both fate and free-will) will lead up to this 'inevitable' conclusion.

The events of the movie serve to help Gump examine these polar attitudes and to form his own conclusion regarding determinism. By the end of the movie he has decided that the true nature of life is probably somewhere in between the two extremes.

So in my opinion it's not right-wing propaganda and is not meant to simply imply that "life will work out if you just do what you're told."

JP Liz · 02-03-2009 9:48pm

Top class film with great performances from Hanks, Wright Penn and Sinise

TheIrishGrover · 02-03-2009 10:36pm

Pigman II wrote: »

This movie is an examination of the notion of determinism. The two sides of the debate personified by the two supporting characters Forrests Mother and Lieutentant Dan.

On one side you have the mother character who believes that "life is like a box of chocolates" that you "just don't know what you're gonna get" ie that stuff is gonna get thrown at you day to day and that life is just a matter of dealing with events as the come rather than being concerned about how well or otherwise these events influences the outcome of an indivudals life.

Opposing this pov you have Lieutenant Dan who has been raised to believe that his destiny is to die on the field of battle and that the chain of events in his life (both fate and free-will) will lead up to this 'inevitable' conclusion.

The events of the movie serve to help Gump examine these polar attitudes and to form his own conclusion regarding determinism. By the end of the movie he has decided that the true nature of life is probably somewhere in between the two extremes.

So in my opinion it's not right-wing propaganda and is not meant to simply imply that "life will work out if you just do what you're told."

Pigman.... You're not talking in 3rd person!!!! And... articulate

TheIrishGrover · 02-03-2009 10:40pm

Well, it seems it's just me then. I don't know, maybe I was just pissed off when I saw it first. As I said, I thought it looked fantastic (Esp the running section and the montage at the end) but it just rubbed me up the wrong way is all. BTW I said this to me mates before and they all give me looks like I just stood on their new puppy

irish_bob · 02-03-2009 11:18pm

JP Liz wrote: »

Top class film with great performances from Hanks, Wright Penn and Sinise

man i love robin wright penn , shes sexy in a completly clean un angelina jolie kinda way , u know what i mean

Xavi6 · 03-03-2009 7:23am

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Pigman.... You're not talking in 3rd person!!!! And... articulate

Emmmm I think you have him confused with Pighead...

Anyway, I hate Forrest Gump, mainly because I worked in a Forrest Gump themed restaurant in the States and the feckin thing was on repeat all day every day.

TheIrishGrover · 03-03-2009 1:00pm

Xavi6 wrote: »

Emmmm I think you have him confused with Pighead...

Anyway, I hate Forrest Gump, mainly because I worked in a Forrest Gump themed restaurant in the States and the feckin thing was on repeat all day every day.

Yer right man, I was. Apologies. I saw one of those gump restaurants in the US alright. Look like a nightmare to work in.

Average-Ro · 04-03-2009 3:23pm

That_Guy wrote: »

I personally saw no similarities between the two films at all. I liked Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button but didn't see any similar story in them.

Maybe I missed something.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/35b0167b17/the-curious-case-of-forrest-gump

:cool:

Forrest Gump

Comments