https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uN2pDSDO5I
30 years after its debut, it's a look at the making of, history, and impact of Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks' "Forrest Gump," a baby boomer historical fantasy creating 30 years of nostalgia. But how does it represent the turbulent 60s and 70s? Is it really as conservative as people say? And how does the original, cynical novel compare to this celebratory adaptation?share
I don't see it as conservative. I see it as a history of people with disabilities in America. This isn't well known so most people probably had difficulty figuring out why the characters act like they do.
Forrest is born with disabilities (his developmental/intellectual disability and the crooked back he had as a child) and so is Bubba (the lip) so they consider this normal. There is no special education in America back then, so Forrest's mom has to perform sexual favors on school personnel to ensure he can get enrolled. The personnel who leave the house tell forrest that his mom sure does care about your schooling, not that she liked having to do the action.
Jenny acquires emotional trauma and then later drug abuse and illness as a result of having attempted to cope with the abuse from her dad even if the coping were ineffective, illegal, and inappropriate. Her disabilities are all invisible so even though she is sent to live with her grandma, Jenny never fully heals from what her father did.
LT Dan acquires his disability too. He is a LT in the military, so obtaining a visible and physical disability is traumatic. He attempts to cope with it through drinking sleeping with women etc. He finally realizes how to properly cope with his disability, stops drinking etc and makes his peace with god. Because nobody will hire them they go into business together.