# Does "Forrest Gump" make fun of dumb people? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022 "2014-08-07T11:23:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/21 "2014-08-07T17:32:47Z")
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, but it seems to me that Forrest Gump (in the movie, at least) is a classical example of [The Fool](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheFool) character type (as described in the linked TVTropes page). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/22 "2014-08-07T17:37:35Z")
It is much like [Being There](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841/). It’s making fun of people who think they are smart. Forrest is almost a mannequin in the movie, it’s not really about him. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/23 "2014-08-07T17:52:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Forrest’s shrimp boat is the only one left afloat in the harbor after the storm, apparently just because Forrest has been going to church and making nice with God (none of the other shrimpers went to church?!). I thought it was because they were the only boat stupid/suicidal enough to go out in the middle of a hurricane, and so ride out the storm while all the boats in harbor got smashed by the storm surge. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/24 "2014-08-07T18:10:02Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I thought it was because they were the only boat stupid/suicidal enough to go out in the middle of a hurricane, and so ride out the storm while all the boats in harbor got smashed by the storm surge. Yup, that’s when Lt. Dan made his peace with God and in the morning thanked Forrest for saving his life. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/25 "2014-08-07T18:12:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I envision the movie as directed by, say, Martin Scorsese. Everything we see in the 'real ’ FG movie is filtered through Forrest’s ‘retarded’ understanding. At Alabama, he’s just one of the kids that everyone lets score a TD because they want to give him a good time, not a real star. The MoH is just a dime-store bauble given to him by his 'friends". When he goes to China to play ping pong, in reality, his buddies taken him down the road to a bar, and he plays against a local. He can barely hit the ball. All his ‘friends’ cheer him on, but are really patronizing and laughing at the “retard”. They tell him he won. What does Forrest know about how far China is? > > Since everyone pretends that Forrest is competent and popular, he gets a totally different view of the world. And since no one actually hurts him, he’ll never know. > > My version is a very depressing movie. Well, to each his own. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/26 "2014-08-07T19:49:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, _Forrest Gump_ makes fun of **smart** people. They’re all running around after kicks or causes – that’s what ultimately does for Jenny, she is a slut and is punished for it. Forrest is smarter than them all because he has a good heart and always does what society says he’s supposed to. > > That is what is so horribly pernicious about the film – it sends a clear and a false message that virtue is more important than intelligence, not in any abstract scale of values but in terms of material, financial success. Forrest’s shrimp boat is the only one left afloat in the harbor after the storm, apparently just because Forrest has been going to church and making nice with God (none of the other shrimpers went to church?!). And thus he grows rich. In real life, rich Forrest Gumps who did not inherit their money are perhaps not unknown, but they are very extremely rare. Lt. Dan becomes equally wealthy, and is far more intelligent and far less moral than Forrest. Lt. Dan also presumably gets more personal utility out of his wealth, as Forrest gives all his away, lives in his mother’s house, and cuts grass for the city. The fashion in which the pair became wealthy - the good fortune of being the only ship at sea - serves the film’s message that: > [@](#): > > Jenny, I don’t know if Momma was right or if, if it’s Lieutenant Dan. I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. That is, life is governed by random chance, but each of us can “do the best with what God gave [us]” through hard work and moral behavior. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/27 "2014-08-07T19:55:26Z")
… and you never know what you’re gonna get. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/28 "2014-08-07T20:00:40Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I envision the movie as directed by, say, Martin Scorsese. Everything we see in the 'real ’ FG movie is filtered through Forrest’s ‘retarded’ understanding. At Alabama, he’s just one of the kids that everyone lets score a TD because they want to give him a good time, not a real star. The MoH is just a dime-store bauble given to him by his 'friends". When he goes to China to play ping pong, in reality, his buddies taken him down the road to a bar, and he plays against a local. He can barely hit the ball. All his ‘friends’ cheer him on, but are really patronizing and laughing at the “retard”. They tell him he won. What does Forrest know about how far China is? > > Since everyone pretends that Forrest is competent and popular, he gets a totally different view of the world. And since no one actually hurts him, he’ll never know. > > My version is a very depressing movie. I actually like this take. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/29 "2014-08-07T20:06:30Z")
Worse than ridicule stupidity, it seems to glorify it. But it really is a fantastic movie, and the scene where Hanks realizes he has a son is among the best in cinematic memory. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/30 "2014-08-07T20:10:32Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > I definitely think they dumbed it down from the book. The way I remember the book, Forrest was rather unlikable - he was “slow,” he knew it, and he was bitter about it. And he wasn’t very innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/31 "2014-08-07T20:36:11Z")
- Forrest Gump: Stupid is as stupid does. Coach Bryant: He must be the stupidest son of a bitch alive, but he sure is fast! - I think they definitely hinted at it. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/32 "2014-08-07T20:49:40Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > The fashion in which the pair became wealthy - the good fortune of being the only ship at sea - serves the film’s message that […] life is governed by random chance, but each of us can “do the best with what God gave [us]” through hard work and moral behavior. Which is, of course, complete feel-good bullshitwhen \*most \*people get given hard rocks and razor blades. Which doesn’t foster moral behaviour, especially when the guy next door gets ice cream; gold bullion and no razor blade at all. Which makes one wonder as to the ultimate purpose of said razor blades. I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/33 "2014-08-08T03:33:25Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Which is, of course, complete feel-good bullshitwhen \*most \*people get given hard rocks and razor blades. Which doesn’t foster moral behaviour, especially when the guy next door gets ice cream; gold bullion and no razor blade at all. > Which makes one wonder as to the ultimate purpose of said razor blades. I’m just sayin’. I hear this kind of whining all the time. Is that what you want from a movie? I would prefer something that makes me feel good. Not some heavy social message disguised as entertainment ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/34 "2014-08-08T03:43:57Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Adreed 100%. It made you feel like the best way to go through life is not smart. It has a clear anti-intellectual message and it offended me greatly, and still does. I think we have enough of that in this country anyway, a country that somehow gets offended at the mention of arugula Interestingly, I usually have an absolute hair-trigger when it comes to anti-intellectualism… but I never really got it out of FG. It’s not like we saw a scene before the hurricane when a bunch of the other shrimp fisherman were listening to some “learned” guy who told them to do one thing, but FG ignored that their book learnin’ and followed his gut instinct and he succeeded because of it. I always just enjoyed the movie as a sweet story of random funny things happening, not an endorsement of Forrest’s obviously unique and random situation. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/35 "2014-08-08T13:41:58Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Which is, of course, complete feel-good bullshitwhen \*most \*people get given hard rocks and razor blades. Which doesn’t foster moral behaviour, especially when the guy next door gets ice cream; gold bullion and no razor blade at all. That aspect is represented in the film by Bubba, I’d say: good person, trying to start a shrimping business to help his family, drafted into a war he had nothing to do with, dies by a river in Vietnam. > [@](#): > > Which makes one wonder as to the ultimate purpose of said razor blades. I’m just sayin’. They have no purpose, they simply _are._ “We’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/36 "2014-08-08T13:53:01Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > They have no purpose, they simply _are._ “We’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze.” It’s Razornado! ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/37 "2014-08-08T15:06:13Z")
It seems to me that the idea here is that having an unintelligent protagonist means either he’s being made fun of, or it’s glorifying anti-intellectualism. I think this is a false dichotomy and misses what I see as the main theme of the film, that he’s making the most of what he can with his life. We clearly see that he’s not being glorified because he has a number of flaws and has bad things happen to him, observer his torrid relationship with Jenny through the film, but at the same time, he also shows that having a good heart and good intentions will take you far. In some cases, I think it might appear anti-intellectual, but I see it as more against over intellectualization instead. For instance, the scene where he picks up the books for the black students going into the college, everyone else is so busy making a big deal about it, and he just sees a person he can help. Or there’s the part where he talks about Vietnam in front of the crowd, not because he’s talking politics, democracy vs. communism or whatever, but he just tells it as he sees it. But ultimately, all the major characters are flawed. Jenny was abused, took years to get over that and took advantage of Forrest, perhaps even to her death, asking him to marry her to take care of her as she dies and the son she kept from him; hell, how sure can we be he’s even his son? I’d like to believe that her turn at the end was legitimate and she ultimately overcame her emotionally damaged life. Lt. Dan was intelligent, but ultimately became the foil to Forrest when he was physically crippled, flushed his life down the toilet, and blamed Forrest for it until he saw how it was mirrored. He ultimately overcame his disability too. So, I don’t see it as anti-intellectual, in anyway other than that where each major character had a disability, and all of them were on a journey to overcome it. That the main character’s was an intellectual one I think just shows that we can overcome all of these obstacles, not that it’s somehow either an inferior or superior way to live life. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/38 "2014-08-08T16:47:48Z")
I don’t think the movie was anti-intellectual at all. Forrest was a simple guy and simple people are happier people (in general). Highly-intelligent people tend to perceive more nuance and pay more attention to the world, which can make it harder to be happy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/39 "2014-08-08T17:14:22Z")
At the moment I’m not recalling a lot of intellectuals in the movie, perhaps I’ve forgotten since I only saw it once soon after its release. My impression from the movie was that Forrest was no dumber than the ordinary people who considered him to be a simpleton. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022/40 "2014-08-08T19:09:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > No, _Forrest Gump_ makes fun of **smart** people. They’re all running around after kicks or causes – that’s what ultimately does for Jenny, she is a slut and is punished for it. Jenny’s a slut for being an abused child? That’s a… creepy interpretation, to say the least. Really, Blaster Master has hit the nail on the head; if you think the movie is insulting or glorifying stupid people, you are sort of missing the film’s point. “Forrest Gump” is a retelling of the story of America after the Second World War. Forrest being a simpleton is used as a comic device from time to time but it serves a more subtle purpose, in that it allows Forrest to carry the audience though the events of his times without projecting intent onto them. Forrest’s character arc has to be relatively apolitical and neutral with respect to what happens around him, so his arc is finding meaning in his life - which he ultimately does, in becoming a father - while he is carried like a feather though a series of events that defined America; the civil rights movement, JFK, Vietnam, Watergate, the post-Vietnam recovery and a hundred other things. It is not just a throwaway line that Dan refers to his artificial legs as being made from the same stuff as the Space Shuttle. Forrest is merely the vehicle by which the tale is told. He is the film’s protagonist but he is not a traditional protagonist. The camera focuses on him while the real action is happening around him. His simplicity allows his to walk you through the period from 194? to 198? without projecting his opinions onto them. He triggers events sometimes, but unintentionally, and the implication is sort of that if it hadn’t been him it’d have been someone else anyway. Blaster Master’s point that the three main characters all face a disability is of course true, and is clearly a deliberate choice. [QUOTE=Rachellelogram] I don’t think the movie was anti-intellectual at all. Forrest was a simple guy and simple people are happier people (in general). Highly-intelligent people tend to perceive more nuance and pay more attention to the world, which can make it harder to be happy. [/QUOTE] Well, first of all I am unconvinced stupid people are happier than smart people. But more importantly, how is Forrest particularly happy? He quite clearly isn’t an unusually happy person at all. He is often miserable as a child. He’s heartsick throughout the movie about Jenny, and is utterly devastated when she dies. He’s deeply affected by what he went through in Vietnam. He knows he is stupid and he hates it (see his reaction of terror before he learns Forrest Jr. is smart.) He runs across the country twice because he is so depressed and lonely that he cannot think of anything else to do. His greatest success in life - his wealth - is the one thing in the world in which he has the least interest. (His second greatest success is that he is an accomplished athlete - another thing he doesn’t have a lot of interest in.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-forrest-gump-make-fun-of-dumb-people/695022.md?page=3)