Most Deserving/Least Deserving Film To Win The Best Picture Oscar?- Page 3

[Kringas]

Posted: 9/8/05 at 6:02pm

Yes! It's one of my favorites.

[jasonf]

Posted: 9/8/05 at 7:43pm

I'm surprised how many people hate American Beauty - I loved that movie - one of my all time favorites

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 9/9/05 at 12:19am

Titanic surely did not deserve it in 1997. Sooooooo many great films came out that year...

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 9/9/05 at 12:31am

If anyone is interested in the "right-wing crap that isn't there" , let me know.

... alright I'm interested... go ahead.

[lildogs]

Posted: 9/9/05 at 10:34am

Forrest Gump begins as a story about an only child, physically and mentally "disadvantaged" raised by a single mother in the rural South, thereby setting up the concept of "the noble savage" that runs throughout literature. Boo Radley and Tarzan immediately come to mind. He befriends an abused girl who encourages him to beat the odds against him..."Run, Forrest, Run"
As he grows, up he finds himself at the cusp of many historical events, usually by accident, and later finds himself in the middle of the Vietnam War.

Hree is where it becomes more political (intentional or not)...Forrest is hailed as a genius by his military superiors, his disability morphed into a advantage. He is able to focus and follow orders like a machine--the ultimate military ideal: a soldier in a highly divise war with complete allegiance to the government. On the flip side, we see Jenny embrace the Hippie peace movement, the polar opposite of Gump's lot. As we see Gump progress into a ping pong champ, cross-country runner, what have you, while we see Jenny fall victim to drugs, promiscuous sex, and eventually AIDS.

Now on the surface, one most likely would not see the underlying message (and this is a very dumbed-down analysis, but the best I can do without more research): the person who follows the rules, loves his mother and country, and is not too bad of an entrepreneur (Bubba Gump Shrimp) will be rewarded with riches, a family (his son), and a long and happy life. Those who defy the government, have sex and do drugs are punished with death and solitude.

You might not see these concepts, but I am hardly the only person who does...I recall reading an essay about it after it originally came out.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/9/05 at 11:04am

lildogs,

Thanks you for that. I wrote an essay shortly after the film came out that took a more expansive and detailed view of the points that you make here. And after doing some research into author Winston Groom's ultraconservative beliefs, it became clear that the disparity in Forrest and Jenny's stories were completely intentional. The book and film are ultraconservative allegories which critique from a right wing perspective the previous 30 years of American history (incidentally, Newt Gingrich went out of his way to praise the film at the time, calling it an ideal expression of all the values the conservative movement was espousing). It's not a coincidence that the anti-war protestors are depicted as bufoons, incompetents and egomaniacs, while all soldiers are heroic and noble.

Basically, Groom is saying that if you always listen to what your momma tells you and what your government tells you and never challenge authority, if you ignore, don't participate and don't even bother trying to understand any socially progressive movement that criticizes the powers that be (whether civil rights, anti-war etc .......) then in the end you will be rewarded by society (Forrest is independently wealthy and a family man at the end). However, if you break "the rules" and challenge authority, try to take on the powerful and condemn their corrupt policies toward race and war, and/or god forbid experiment with drugs or have sex before marriage, then you will punished and meet with a tragic end (Jenny dies of AIDS).

This is just a quick summary, but there's example after example throughout the text that proves without a doubt what Groom's intentions were. His allegory is so artfully crafted that many people don't fully grasp the overall message he's trying to impart, but make no mistake, the entire novel and film is a condemnation of every progressive movement from the 50s onward (civil rights, antiwar) and is ringing endorsement of a whole laundry list of basic ultraconservative values.

Updated On: 9/9/05 at 11:04 AM

[lildogs]

Posted: 9/9/05 at 11:09am

Thanks Margo--it could have easily been your essay i read--was it published?

I almost walked out. Same with Rain Man (a minstrel show) and Regarding Henry (2 hours of vain wallowing)...off topic i know...

I'm so glad Margo and I have all the answers...lol!