How Does Forrest Gump Relate To Sociology

The movie Forrest Gump tells the story of one man’s extraordinary life as he also participates in many of the key historical points of the latter half of the 20th century. The theme of rationalization is seen throughout this movie, because it has become such a big part of the American culture. Forrest stands out from the world around him, so he doesn’t usually conform to the pattern of rationalization himself, but he experiences it none the less.

Forrest Gump is an All American, fan favorite, award-winning film directed by Robert Zemeckis that was released on July 6, 1994. Tom Hanks stars as the main character, Forrest Gump. The award-winning movie’s genre is best described as an epic romantic comedy drama. Many rhetorical appeals such as ethos, pathos, and logos are made throughout the entire movie. Pathos is used the most effecting the audiences’ emotions from beginning to end. The film is based on Forrest Gump’s life, in which he narrated as a historical story throughout the movie. Forrest Gump was born and raised in Greenbow, Alabama by his single mother. Forrest was mentally and physically handicapped. He had to wear medal braces on both of his legs. He also faced many

In the movie Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks portrays a character that was diagnosed with a low IQ score of 75 as a young child. Throughout the movie the character Forrest Gump is sought of as having a disadvantaged life because of his low IQ and his mild intellectual behavior disorder however, his actions proved that he is far from disadvantaged and was able to live not only a normal life but an adventurous one. Despite suffering from his mild form of intellectual behavior disorder Forrest Gump did not have many friends growing up however, he was able to have a few lifelong friends and was able to have an impact on not only his country but the community in which he grew up in. The disability was only addressed at the beginning of

The movie Forrest Gump played by Tom Hank is a story about Forest Gump a simple man and his journey through life. Gump was simple minded and lived his life by a set of values taught to him by his mother (Sally Field). While Forest sat down waiting for a bus, he tells his story. Forest takes part in several defining historical moments such as the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal and also had painful experiences. Despite his setbacks and naive nature, he struggles and triumphs in everything he did. Forrest developed a good self-esteem and self-concept with the help of his mother’s observation, love, and sincerity. With his mother and Jenny’s encouragements, he was able to overcome his physical handicap and become an outstanding runner among other things. This movie is an example of the how a child’s mind developed through series of stages. This paper shows the following key points; intellectual disability, Erickson’s intimacy vs isolation, low self-esteem, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Many individuals argue that Good Will Hunting is one of the most sociologically diverse movies out there. The amount of references that can be drawn back to concepts studied in sociology is incredible. Good Will hunting is about a 20-year-old, rambunctious male, Will, that tends to stick himself in positions that are not suitable for him. Wills tendency to get himself into trouble attributes to him ending up living on the south side of Boston as a janitor at MIT. His life suddenly takes a positive turn when will reveals his gift for others to see. A math professor posts a mathematical equation on a board outside of his room that had previously been unsolvable by a student in his class. That following day while will was cleaning the hallway

One of the black students dropped her notebook on the sidewalk and didn't notice that she had done so. Forrest jumps through the crowd, picks up her notebook without noticing the tension or significance of the moment, and returns it to the young woman. Because of Forrest's personal strife of always having to run from bullies in Greenbow, he was able to attend the U of A. Forrest innocently participated in one of our Nation's most significant moments in history. His simple, personal act of kindness, intersected with the struggle of society to de-segregate the schools. Once again, the attitude of society towards handicapped persons landed Forrest at the University of Alabama and in the middle of de-segregation, a major historical episode of our society. Because society was very racist in its behavior at this time, Forrest's kindness and caring for people of any race, shows a sharp contrast to his personal life and behavior and the ways of society at the time.

White privilege and stereotypes are two ways race can influence a person’s everyday life. White privilege can be defined simply as white people getting special privileges and rights because they are white. This can be seen when a white person gets a job opposed to a person of color or when white people are able to live in nicer neighborhoods while people of color live in crime-ridden ones because white people have more wealth. White privilege has become so normal that most people fail to see it in action. Furthermore, stereotypes can have many harmful effects as well. Stereotypes can be defined as distorted views or inaccurate beliefs about a group of people. Not all stereotypes are bad, but many of them are. An example could be saying that all African Americans are good at sports. However, this is not always the case. Stereotypes may sometimes seem harmless, but these beliefs can impact a person’s life. White privilege and stereotypes are two different concepts, but they both have similar effects that tend to hurt people of color more than they hurt white people. Both of these ideas appear in the 1994 film Forrest Gump, which was directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film depicts white privilege by showing only white people in positions of power, illustrates stereotypes about people of color by having a stereotypical black family, and changes black history by having a white person make achievements that people of color really made.

Forrest Gump is a character who is intellectually disabled or as said in the movie “Retarded.” One of the first signs of his disability was in the scene when Forrest’s mother and he were in the principal’s office talking about Forrest IQ test scores (Zemeckis and Roth, 1994). He was below the average range and was suggested to go into special classes or into a special school itself. Forrest’s mother refused to let forest get the easy way out. He was unable to reach the expected goals at school just as one of the symptoms was recognized. Another example of his disability was his unstable legs. Forrest was put into leg supports to help him walk because of his condition he had trouble with some motor abilities. As well as being below the IQ range, Forrest lacked in language development and speech. He also lacked in social skills. Throughout the movie, Forrest didn’t have many friends. The girl he loved believed he/7 was unable to understand the feeling of love because of his disability. In another scene, Forrest was sent to Vietnam to serve his country in the war. While there, a bombing attack occurred. Forrest ran straight into a bombed forest to rescue other soldier’s (Zemeckis and Roth, 1994). His disability made him impulsive solider and lacked the acknowledgement of danger. Forrest was shot in the butt while doing so and thought it was a bug that bit him. Also in the movie, Forrest was recognized for his duty in the war he met the president and pulled down his pants on television, in the white house (Zemeckis and Roth, 1994). Because his Intellectual disability made it difficult for him to understand social roles and norms in

Forrest Gump is an exceptional movie that includes a wide range variety of character diversity. Upon my examination of the movie, the first aspect I’d like to deliberate on is the developmental psychology of early adulthood. In the early adulthood life stage, individuals are typically between the ages of 20 and 35. Individuals in the early adulthood life stage are more than likely to possess good health, live a healthy active life, and are career oriented. Early adulthood life stage focuses on the formal cognitive stage, though there is much deliberation among many developmentalists.

People see movies to get a momentary escape from reality and be engaged in a fictional perfect world or other genres that may snatch their emotions. The emotions seen in the audience are created by using ethos, logos, and pathos throughout the movie. Ethos is what portrays the credibility throughout the film such as using famous actors or placing historically accurate scenes in the film. Logos is represented by the logical scenes throughout the film such as the fame of the film including its rating and awards or the historically accurate scenes representing the time the film was set in. Finally, pathos is what grabs the emotions of the audience from the dramatic scenes throughout the movie. In the movie Forrest Gump, Robert Zemeckis portrays ethos, logos, and pathos several times throughout the film to pull the audience in and leave them as if they were living in the film.

People tend to find meaning in all aspects of life, and they rely and examine symbols to gain further insight into their life. Symbolism is prevalent in numerous films, however, in the 1994 film “Forrest Gump” by Robert Zemeckis intertwines symbolism to introduce the general themes of the film. In the film “Forrest Gump” the filmmaker focuses on the interesting life of Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is an innocent honest man, who like many, has overcome adversity to achieve success. This same adversity helps Forrest and his general outlook on life. Through all these obstacles, he is an all star football, receives an honorary medal in the Vietnam war and sets up a successful shrimp business. As the film progresses, Robert Zemeckis, does an excellent job of adding important symbols that help the audience gain a better understanding of the characters and the film itself. This adversity and perspective on life is personified through objects such as the box of chocolates which represent uncertainty, the feather which appears at the beginning and the end and furthermore, the concept of running is a repetitious symbol in the film, all have important roles in shaping the lives of characters portrayed in the film.

Despite his low IQ, Forrest Gump leads a truly charmed life, taking part in many of the most memorable events in his lifetime. Without trying, Forrest teaches Elvis Presley to dance, becomes a football star, meets John F. Kennedy, serves with honor in Vietnam, meets Lyndon Johnson, speaks at an anti-war rally at the Washington Monument, hangs out with the Yippies, defeats the Chinese national team in table tennis, meets Richard Nixon, discovers the break-in at the Watergate, opens a profitable shrimping business, becomes an original investor in Apple Computers, and decides to run back and forth across the country for several years. Meanwhile, as his life goes by, Forrest never forgets about Jenny, the girl he loved since a

“Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you’re going to get” (Hanks). Many times when books are changed into movies they are done incorrectly. Forrest Gump is one of these examples. Forrest Gump, the novel, was written in 1986 by the author Winston Groom. The movie Forrest Gump was created by Paramount Pictures in 1994. Tom Hanks stars as the main character Forrest Gump. The movie portrayed Forrest Gump in a different way and as sometimes more innocent than his character in the book. This is shown in three different ways: Jenny and Forrest’s relationship, Characters’ drug use, and in the book Forrest is involved in more activities and adventures.

Forrest Gump is a complex and interesting lead character and provides a unique contrast to typical early adulthood behavior. In the film, from the time he attends college, towards the end of the film where he begins his role as a father, Forrest goes through normal events that occur in the lives of many young adults. His reaction and development is different from most however, and he goes through interesting events and experiences. This contrast between typical life events and a slower than normal development shows that some expectations about cognitive abilities may not be as important. Even those who are considered "slow" by the mainstream population can be successful and live a life full of typical life events that fall within a typical

This is a story of a man who is highly naïve, some would say slightly mentally challenged, who travels the world and is involved with many political events that occurred from the 1960’s to 1990’s. He faces hardships and overcomes adversity. In the final scenes devastating news is given to Forrest; the conclusion in this movie really pulls the whole movie together and makes it very satisfying. The exposition of this movie is right out the box with this film. It starts with a feather floating high in the shy aimlessly, drifting down towards the ground. At first the audience thinks nothing of it, however, as we later on see, this feather floating and landing on the ground in front of a dingy, worn pair of running shoes, is a symbol of the story. It is a symbol of the life of Forrest Gump, a man who drifts everywhere and becomes a part of many cultural events. We then come to realize that Forrest is a little slow and does not perceive the world as the majority of people do; with this we find a lot of verbal irony on Forrest’s behalf. The set-up is that Forrest is pushed away by his peers except a little girl named Jenny. Forrest is the protagonist in this film and his friend Jenny is the antagonist. Goodykoontz and Jacobs describe a protagonist as the main character in a movie; they also describe the antagonist as the character in conflict with the main character