What exactly was wrong with Forrest Gump? Was he the victim of some horrible genetic disease? Was he inbred? Please, answer quickly!
According to a scene in the film (and keep in mind, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it), he was a few IQ points short of “normal.” I don’t know how the movie meant to portray it, but at my work, people with an IQ in that range, with no other diagnoses (autism, Down syndrome, etc.) would be diagnosed as “mentally retarded.” I think people in that range would have a “mild” or “moderate” disablity (as opposed to “severe” or “profound”). But, do not quote me on that. I’m going from recollection of case files.
What’s the rush? Cute cousin coming for a visit?
Why not? I’ve worked with mentally retarded ( sorry, but I could give a rat’s ass for P.C., we gave a lot of love to a lot of strangers, didn’t mean squat how they were referred to in the medical community) It seemed that he fit in the mild/moderate area…more towards mild. For one thing, I’d think that a moderately retarded young man would not have made it into the armed services ( NO, I am not being tongue-in-chique here, I mean it).
I found the entire experience very predictable, and overwrought. It was the simple-minded man's "Big Chill-Meets-Zelig". Aside from Gary Sinease's disappearing legs ( which at the time was a new digital benchmark ), I was let down by the movie.
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
I think his problem was that his mother was only ten years old when he was born. That had to be a tough delivery.
I’ve always found it amazing that Sally Field and Tom Hanks played the love interests in Punchline and five or six years later they’re playing mother and son in Forrest Gump.
I thought that his problem was he could not read. Whatever it was I love the Quote “And thats what I’ve got to say about that”
From The Book of Lists: The 90’s Edition, here’s some other improbable screen parent and child couples:
Weeds: Anne Ramsey (58) and Nick Nolte (46)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Sean Connery (58) and Harrison Ford (46)
The Graduate: Anne Bancroft (36) and Katharine Ross (25)
Family Business: Sean Connery (58) and Dustin Hoffman (51)
Beaches: Lainie Kazan (45) and Bette Midler (42)
Stealing Home: Blair Brown (39) and mark Harmon (36)
The Manchurian Candidate: Angela Lansbury (37) and laurence Harvey (34)
And the Grand Prize winner, North by Northwest, in which Jessie Royce Landis (54) played the mother of Cary Grant (55).
GUMP:
Gas - both, or fullest tank
Uundercarriage - down and locked
Mixture - rich
Propeller - high RPM
Cartooniverse–I said “Don’t quote me” meaning that I wasn’t sure of the distinctions. Clinically speaking, there’s a difference between “mild” and “moderate.” I didn’t have it on paper at the moment.
There is also something called ‘idiot savant.’ IE Rainman.
I love that in the quote, Cartooniverse included “But don’t quote me on that.”
I also knew that this topic would spur a few jokers, but I want to know in all seriousness. And no…no cousin I’m sorry to say. (j/K!)
Wage,
I don’t understand why you think there’s even any interesting question here. Forrest Gump is portrayed in the movie as being mildly retarded. Nothing is ever mentioned about him having any genetic disease or being inbred. (I haven’t read the book the movie is made from. Maybe something is mentioned there.) He’s supposed to have an I.Q. of about 70, which is (obviously) no rarer than having an I.Q. of 130 in the other direction. That means he’s in the bottom 2% of the population in intelligence. He’s the sort of person that in today’s society could make it through high school if he took special education classes.
Why do you think that Forrest Gump is supposed to be inbred or have a genetic disease? I.Q. falls on a normal curve. It’s expected that there will be very smart and very dumb people. If populations suddenly quit having individuals in the outer portions of the normal curve, it would mean the curve had quit being normal. Very smart or very dumb people are thus just as much a part of the normal distribution as people of average intelligence in the center of the curve.
A note (not to Wage, but to quibblers): Of course, it’s possible that intelligence doesn’t fall on a normal curve. Some people have even claimed as much. That would mean throwing out the idea of I.Q. and starting over. Some people have claimed that intelligence isn’t a coherent concept. Again, that would mean throwing out the idea and starting over. In any case, that’s irrelevant to Wage’s post.
Well I almost made my signature quote: and that’s all I have to say about that…but I like this one better for some reason (?) so of course I care about the answer to this question. Now I’ve never read the book but in the Song Gump by Weird Al, he asks the question is he inbred. Maybe Weird Al read the book and it gives justable cause to believe that. As far as the whole 10 year old age difference thing goes that’s all well and good but then how come when Tom Hanks still looks like he’s 30 his mom (sorry I don’t know who played her…I feel dumb now) looks like she’s 65? I mean what’s up with that?
–Michael
Or would you rather talk about monkeys?
I love it, my first Moebus Thread !!! A quote of a quote of a quote. Jeannie, I understand what you were saying all too well, and respect it. I just....had to laugh. And, since you are talking about evaluative data..well....having it on paper would all depend on WHOSE paper you were holding ! Still, made me smile.
Also, thanks Wage 
Cartooniverse
If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.
Well, don’t quote me on this but I’m going to have to go with…make-up (?) 
I have a hobby. I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on beaches all over the world. Maybe you’ve seen some of it.
Angela Landsbury was 37 when she made ‘Manchurian Canidate’???
In the novel, Forrest was dumb, but not at all like the niave child he was portrayed as in the film.
How about Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover playing Michael J. Fox’s parents in “Back to the Future”?
On “Friends” Monica (Courtney Cox Arquette) is Ross’s (David Schwimmer) younger sister. Yet Mrs. Arquette is 35, and Schwimmer is 33.
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
Ok, theories of age-differentiation notwithstanding…
Maybe someone out there has read the novel? I read the sequel, but that doesn’t help much, since in the sequel his son is about 17.
Yes there is a sequel, called “Gump & Co.”.
No problem Cartooniverse.
++++++SPOILER ALERT++++++
Yes, I read the novel, but I don’t remember what it said about the cause of Forrest’s low IQ.
The principle differences between the book and movie I do remember are that in the book, Forrest was an astronaut (along with his many other careers), Jenny did not marry Forrest, and neither Forrest’s mother or Jenny died.