# Gump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2000, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800 "2000-03-14T00:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Wage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wage)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/1 "2000-03-14T00:10:00Z")
What exactly was wrong with Forrest Gump? Was he the victim of some horrible genetic disease? Was he inbred? Please, answer quickly! ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/2 "2000-03-14T00:47:00Z")
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 But, do not quote me on that.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. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/3 "2000-03-14T02:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Wage: > \*\* Was he inbred? Please, answer quickly!\*\* What’s the rush? Cute cousin coming for a visit? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/4 "2000-03-14T02:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Jeannie: > \*\* 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 But, do not quote me on that.\*\* Why not?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. ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/5 "2000-03-14T02:34:00Z")
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_. ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/6 "2000-03-14T04:11:00Z")
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” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/7 "2000-03-14T13:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. 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). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/8 "2000-03-14T14:19:00Z")
GUMP: **G** as - both, or fullest tank **U** undercarriage - down and locked **M** ixture - rich **P** ropeller - high RPM 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jeannie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@Jeannie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeannie)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/9 "2000-03-15T01:25:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/10 "2000-03-15T02:06:00Z")
There is also something called ‘idiot savant.’ IE Rainman. ---
**Author:** ![Wage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Wage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wage)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/11 "2000-03-15T02:37:00Z")
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!) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/12 "2000-03-15T09:50:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Michael0916](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Michael0916](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael0916)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/13 "2000-03-15T22:57:00Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2000, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/14 "2000-03-16T14:47:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Jeannie: > **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.** ``` 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. ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/15 "2000-03-17T02:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Michael0916: > \*\*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? > > \*\* 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. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/16 "2000-03-17T03:12:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2000, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/17 "2000-03-17T04:27:00Z")
How about Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover playing Michael J. Fox’s parents in “Back to the Future”? ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/18 "2000-03-18T06:44:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Wage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Wage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wage)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2000, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/19 "2000-03-19T03:23:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2000, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gump/8800/20 "2000-03-19T05:08:00Z")
++++++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.