Forrest Gump

Released 1994. Director: Robert Zemeckis

TOM HANKS, ROBIN WRIGHT AND DIRECTOR ROBERT ZEMECKIS return for a new movie called Here, opening in cinemas this week. The last time they worked together was back in 1994 on a movie that’s still being referenced and talked about because Forrest Gump is one of those movies that people always remember. Their reunion has prompted me to revisit this classic on its 30th anniversary.

Now if somebody says name one movie starring Tom Hanks, my guess is most people will say Forrest Gump. From a prolific filmography spanning decades, Forrest Gump is undeniably Tom Hanks’s most famous role. An iconic character recognised the world over, copied, parodied, most of all, loved by everyone. Find me a person who has a bad word to say about the man.

The movie scored 13 Oscar nominations, winning six, including Best Picture. The last time I checked, it was also ranked No. 11 on IMDb’s Top 250 Movies of All Time. There’s still a lot of love out there for this movie.

Adapted from Winston Groom’s novel by Eric Roth and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the story cleverly places Gump in several key moments of 20th century American history, making him either an observer or a participant. As a child wearing leg braces, Gump gives Elvis Presley the inspiration for his signature dance moves. As a soldier in the Vietnam war he comes home a hero, having saved the lives of his platoon mates. He experiences the hippie era when he reunites with his childhood sweetheart Jenny. Gump also invests in the start-up days of Apple, thinking it’s a fruit farm. He shakes hands with President Kennedy, reports a break-in at the Watergate Hotel, and is apparently the rightful creator of the smiling face icon.

When I first saw the movie, I did not warm to the idea of a simpleton walking through pages of history and turning everything rosy. Although I didn’t think Forrest Gump was a bad movie, I thought looking at history with a simplistic gaze and varnishing everything in a light-hearted sheen was trivial.

That was 1994. Now I think how rare it was, and how rare it is, to view history without a cynical eye. It was something I did not grasp then, I see now Forrest Gump is a movie that is highly unlikely to be made today. A movie about someone like Forrest Gump is unlikely to be greenlit by a major Hollywood studio.

Here’s a man with only good will, never a mean thought. His innate goodness comes through his every word, every act and every thought. Here’s a man who will actually make the world around him a better place. He’s the epitome of respect, decency, honesty, devotion. Gump has simple wishes and is always looking out for others. He can be loquacious as well as taciturn. He might be slow in intellect, but the man has a piercing awareness. When his beloved Jenny (Robin Wright) gently turns down his proposal, Gump says what’s in his heart, and it’s the truest statement: “I might not be a smart man, but I know what love is.” Then he walks away.

We can see what kind of person Gump is by looking at his relationships with those closest to him. He learned his values from his single mother (Sally Field), who truly gives of herself for the education and well being of her son. When she passes away, the sudden void in Gump is so great he doesn’t know what to do. So he simply starts to run, and run, and run, across the country and amassing a legion of followers in the process. His friendship with his platoon mate Bubba (Mykelti Williamson) is genuine, unquestioning, and loyal to the point that Gump would lay down his life for his brother in arm. A man of his words, Gump establishes a shrimping business and names it Bubba-Gump, and personally hands Bubba’s share of the money to his mother, even though the man has long been dead.

Although Lieutenant Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise) berates Gump for saving his life when he feels he should have perished on the warfront, the double amputee’s bitter mindset does nothing to deter Gump from caring for him. In some ways Gump probably sees Lt Dan as a father figure, or as close to one as one could get, given that Lt Dan is an authority figure, the only man who issues Gump instructions. The push-pull relationship between the two men ultimately becomes a healing force for Lt Dan.

Gump’s dedication to Jenny is the fire that keeps him going. It wouldn’t be far fetched to say young Forrest gave his heart to Jenny the first time they sat next to each other on their school bus. Jenny is probably the only other person apart from his mother who showed Forrest, a shy boy with walking aid and a mind undervalued by everyone else, genuine affection. When they run into each other again at the anti-war march in front of the Lincoln Memorial, their reunion is the emotional highpoint of the movie. Sadly for Gump, Jenny is too much a free spirit and soon she is gone again.

Throughout his life we never see Gump showing any romantic interest in anybody else. In the long stretches of Jenny’s absence, Gump’s loyalty and his saintly patience never wavers. He simply waits. Even if he suspects Jenny might never return to his life the man would carry on as if she might. Such is Gump’s single-minded devotion.

This story of a ‘holy idiot’, a selfless, egoless human being is rare in mainstream 21st century movies, in a new world where self-obsession and self-promotion has become a norm, fuelled by the ever deepening influence of social media. 1994 already seems like a quaint place and time when a movie about a good man ruled the cinemas.

This is the legacy of Forrest Gump. A person of unblemished morality, a complete saint, a man so transparent, a man without a dark side. He’s an extinct species in the cinema – how many among us would flock to see a movie about a good person? Maybe not today, but once upon a time we all did.

Click image above to revisit moments from Forrest Gump. New box (no chocolate) will open.

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