Real Life Forrest Gump example essay topic

Forrest Gump might just be the quintessential American movie of the 1990's, summing up, in a technically brilliant package, the American dream (perhaps more accurately referred to as the 'American Myth') of an everyman, and not a particularly bright one at that, achieving greatness. This is a film that reduces people possessing a certain worldview, wishfully optimistic and perhaps more than a little na " ive, to tears with great regularity. This is an American hero? A teacher of mine, who taught psychology at a university for 30 yrs, used to drill me on the degrees of stupidity: "morons are smarter than imbeciles are smarter than idiots". (Collier) Forrest, with his I.Q. of 75, fits somewhere in the middle of this scale, yet breezes through life. He was a college football star, a war hero and a successful businessman, the quintessential American success story.

He got a college football scholarship when a coach saw him running across the football field. "Gump the football hero became Gump the Medal of Honor winner in Vietnam, and then Gump the Ping-Pong champion, Gump the shrimp boat captain, Gump the millionaire stockholder (he got shares in a new "fruit company" named Apple Computer), and Gump the man who ran across America and then retraced his steps", (Ebert) He fell in love with Jenny in grade school and never fell out of love with her. He visited The White House three times; he calls the police and begins the Watergate scandal. There are no doubts this movie represents the American Dream in the life of a dumb man.

What does it mean? One can assume that only a dumb man can impact the American society. One could also say that Forrest Gump and all idiots have especial skills or behaviors that common people don't have, and then they can easily succeed. However, it means that it does not matter how high your intelligence is, you can make an impact in the world. Forrest is so dumb that he obeys blindly, never questions authority and sometimes he ignores it. He does not know better, making people question just how he succeeds.

The movie shows that intelligence is not the main thing Americans need; that luck is more important. A sea storm destroys all boats over the region, except, of course, Forrest's boat. Forrest, with no competence, becomes a rich man. Other lucky events let him buy part of the Apple Computer Company; He doesn't know if it is a fruit company or something else, but who cares. Luck and blind obedience let Forrest get rich and become a war hero.

Jenny, Forrest's love, told him that if he were in troubles, he should run to get safe. In the movie Forrest is in a battle, he obeys Jenny and starts running. He goes too far away from the battle, but he returns for his friends. There is love in Forrest's actions, he saves the captain of his future shrimp boat but his best friend died and he gets shot in his hip. What is there to admire in Forrest?

He has decent values and common sense. He values above all his relationships with his friends and loved ones. Is he a "wise fool"? He utters the occasional gem such as "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you " re going to get", but this comes verbatim from his mother. If the film were made in Europe, It would be said that it was a wicked and excellent parody of American life and values. After all, America has real-life Forrest Gump, such as Ronald Reagan.

But the film is not a parody. The idea that common sense and decency are all it takes to succeed and do great things in life obviously appeals to many Americans. The strain of anti-intellectualism runs deep..