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Forrest Gump is a movie that will be around for ages. It takes the complexes of multiple disabilities and puts them into one movie. The disabilities, or disorders, cover all three of the spectrums: emotional, mental and physical. The main character in the movie starts off with a physical and mental disability, but he ends up only living with his mental disability for the rest of his life. One of the most memorable quotes from this movie is “Stupid is as stupid does”. This quote is the premise of the movie in one short sentence. In the beginning of the movie the audience knows that there is something wrong with Forrest Gump. He talks to strangers as if they were a friend, and had braces as a child. The audience also learns that he has an IQ …show more content…
It is obvious that Forrest suffers from a mental disability, and Lieutenant Dan ends up with a physical disability. The audience can blatantly see this throughout the movie. The only time that Forrest discusses how different he is is when he says that phrase, and in the end of the movie. When the audience finds out that Jenny is pregnant with his child, his first thought is whether the child is like him. Even though he was able to do many things with his life, he wouldn’t want anyone else to have to deal with it. This is when the audience truly understands that he is …show more content…
She has an emotional disorder that makes her choose the wrong people. She chooses to be with someone who doesn’t love her, and who will abuse her. She was abused as a child, and the audience can see that this created a downward spiral throughout her life. There are multiple times where she wishes to commit suicide, and allows herself to be brutalized by boyfriends. While there is no diagnosis I believe that she suffers from depression. While Forrest is choosing the right path, Jenny is choosing the wrong one. Some might believe that people with mental disabilities are always like this, and that they are able to live their life with their moral compass. They might see Forrest as an example of every single person who has a disability. Showing how wonderful they are, and that being intelligent is not as great as everyone says it is. It takes away from following your own internal compass, and creates ideas that should not be there. Society tells us what is right, or wrong, and intelligence tells us to follow those who are more intelligent instead of those who are more aware of their moral
Stupid, retarded, crazy, insane; throughout time, these words are used to explain the behaviors of the mentally ill. These are just words, right? Actually, these words can have hurtful connotations. Since the first individual with a mental illness walked this earth until now, hurtful labels have been assigned to them. But society does not stop with just words, there are also unfavorable mannerisms used to explain visually, stupid, retarded, crazy, or insane. These descriptive words and mannerisms used in jest amongst friends can cause distress to anyone who bears witnesses to include an individual who is intellectually disabled or mentally fragile. If we look at it from the perspective of the intellectually disabled, they have been
Harrison Bergeron’s mother, Hazel Bergeron, is the definition of the Handicapper General’s “normal” and model for enforced equality. Everyone must be leveled and thereby oppressed to her standards. Hazel’s husband, George Bergeron, is no exception. “‘I’d think it would be real interesting, hearing all the different sounds,’ said Hazel, a little envious. ‘All the things they think up.’” (Vonnegut 910). George suffers from his own comically ludicrous mental handicap. The fact that this incites jealousy in Hazel reaffirms the artificial equality Vonnegut ridicules. The author satirizes oppression in American society through his depictions of misery and restraint exhibited in his characters’ ordeals. “The different times that George is interrupted from thinking, and his inner monologue is cut, we have a sort of stopping his having dialogue with himself. So he can’t have a unique personality, which itself involves his worldviews” (Joodaki 71). Not being able to know oneself epitomizes
The movie starts off by introducing a little boy named Matt. We find out that Matt is completely deaf. His grandfather doesn’t take the new lightly and is slightly in denial on the fact that his grandson is deaf. The baby’s mother talks about deaf schools and teaching the boy sign language. The grandfather doesn’t believe in those kind of institutions and believes his grandson would learn how to communicate through Oral education; teaching him how to read lips. The movie fast-forwards into the little boy’s life in elementary school. He’s put into a special-education class, when he’s clearly fine; his only problem is that’s he’s deaf. After watching this scene in the movie, it had me thinking. Not only was this little boy being singled out for one small difference than others, but he was seen as dumber than others because of it. Although this happened years ago, this reminds me of society today. Often time’s people treat others that don’t blend in, differently. People also believe they’re much better than others who have a form of disability, when in fact this is not true. Throughout his childhood he’s often bullied by other kids for being deaf. His grandfather starts to teach him how to talk by making him feel his vocal cords as he speaks. He also encourages him to join the wrestling team. It was difficult for him to adjust to the team because he would hav...
One event in the movie that really stands out to me as a good example of sociological imagination is Forrest’s stay at the Watergate Hotel. While recovering from a wound received in the Vietnam War, Forrest discovered and developed an outstanding talent for playing table tennis. Due to his exceptional table tennis skills, Forrest was called to Washington, D.C., and recognized as the “Player of the Year.” He went to the White House to receive this award. As President Nixon presented the award to him, he asked where Forrest was staying. Forrest commented, in his very innocent way, that the hotel was not very nice or well kept. Nixon apparently thought Forrest deserved much better accommodations and told Forrest he would arrange for a better place. In the next scene of the movie, Forrest is on the phone with hotel security and is looking across the way into another wing of the hotel. Forrest suggests to the man on the phone that the hotel needs to send a maintenance person “to the room across the way.” He explains that there are some men with flashlights in that room, and he (Forrest) thinks that they are trying to locate a fuse box. In actuality, instead of locating a fuse box, the scene he described was the infamous break-in at the Watergate Hotel. Had Forrest never been shot in the Vietnam War, a major occurrence in society during Forrest’s lifetime, Forrest would never have started playing table tennis nor received the prestigious award from President Nixon. The War was the event in society that shaped Forrest’s pe...
This form of autism is a condition where the person demonstrates abilities in far in excess that would not be considered normal. “Savant syndrome is a condition in which a person with a mental disability, such as an autism spectrum disorder, demonstrates profound and prodigious capacities or abilities far in excess of what would be considered normal.” (Wikipedia) This condition is very rare in autistic patients. Savant syndrome occurs in developmental disabilities This condition is also caused from central nervous system injury or disease. There is one major skill with this syndrome and it is massive memory. I feel like the movie does represent this disability correctly. Raymond was very intelligent, he could remember what his dad would say to him word from word to word, when he would drive his dad’s car. Also Raymond could remember 6,000 books. He could name all the United States area codes and also remember how to get around from state to state, remembering all the roads. This shows his abilities that far exceed from normal. Raymond in the movie always read very quickly and understood every word like he was a scanning
From his role as a stubborn child who has to work for everything he gets, to a college athlete and then a soldier. Nothing seems to hold him back, especially his learning disability. There is certain calmness with Forrest as an individual. No matter what happens to him he always stays up beat and willing to work for what he believes in. he is often times at wits end due to his love for Jenny. He follows her all over the country, oblivious to her actions and what could happen to him. Seemingly an endless journey with many twists and turns. Forrest holds fast to his true love and makes every attempt possible to be with
Disabilities can come in many forms and can cause many attributes of a person to shift or change over the course of time. Webster’s Dictionary defines disability as “a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities,” as well as, “a disadvantage of handicap, especially one imposed or recognized by the law.” In the short story by Flannery O’Connor, “Good Country People,” we can see described one such person. Joy-Hulga shows both mental and physical conditions of her disability, but also the bravery to overcome her disability. Flannery O’Connor does a fine job showing the readers the difficulties of living with and overcoming a disability.
In Daniel Keyes’s Flowers for Algernon, the protagonist, Charlie Gordon, struggles with validation and the acceptance of others regardless of his various intelligence levels. This is one of the few instances in the novel where I can empathize with Charlie considering his situation parallels mine approximately three years ago. When I got accepted to the Collegiate School and started my preparations for the transfer, my friends believed that I viewed myself as superior to them. For fourteen months before that I had been growing and learning through Prep for Prep and the changes in my priorities caused my friends to become envious and nervous around me. Just as Charlie has I occasionally speculate about what would happen if I went back to my
The first character we meet with a disability is Lennie Small. Contradictory to his name Lennie Small isn’t really small at all. He is described as a large, lumbering, childlike person. Due to his mild mental disability, Lennie completely depends upon George, his friend and traveling companion, for guidance and protection. Lennie’s relationship with George is almost one similar to a person and their dog. When meeting the boss George states, "Oh! I ain't saying he's bright. He ain't. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four hundred pound bale"(22). Gentle and kind, Lennie nevertheless does not understand his own strength. Right from the beginning of the novel Lennie is illustrated as a character that is extremely strong physically yet is very “dumb” mentally. Often times this mental disability gets him into trouble because of is innocent intentions were misunderstood. According to George, Lennie “Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch everything he likes. Just wants to feel it” (41). An example being when Lennie went to feel the women’s red dress...
...nd genuine kindness extend further than just treating the President of the United States like a normal person, even though Forrest Gump is ignorant of the ‘issues’ of different people. At the University of Alabama, two African American students are granted acceptance after an enormous ordeal on blacks going to colleges with whites because of the insane amount of racism the United States of America had. As the two African American students made their way up the staircase, one dropped a book and Forrest rushed through police officers and rioters to pick up the book and hand the book to the colored student who dropped it. Forrest’s ignorance definitely contributes to his selflessness and generosity towards people who are different (during the time period in American history the movie was based on), however, it is one of his traits that makes him a true unexpected hero.
Even if stigma were to be resolved, it would still be very difficult for those with mental disabilities to integrate back into society by themselves, but with the help of their community then the possibility should increase. The accounts of Elena Lindsay and Daniel Morris both display the importance of community outreach and how with it they both were able to become a part of society again and reduce some of their anxiety triggers associated with their conditions. Elena’s employment provided her stability and Daniel was able to find housing for himself in order to regain control of his life. I think it’s awful that a fifth of the homeless population, according to the documentary, have mental health conditions that go untreated and I believe
Forrest’s IQ is significantly lower than the average person’s and as a kid, it restricts him from going to a normal school. Even though it is not him who creates the opportunity to have a proper education, when he is given the chance he makes the most out of it by graduating high school, and going further to attain a college degree. Academics are not the only part of school that pose a challenge to him; Forrest has to put up with exclusion as well as verbal and physical abuse. Even though it is not easy for Forrest to get along with others, he is able to get through his social hindrances by finding someone special named Jenny. She loves him, looks out for him, and through the bullying Forrest ends up finding great happiness with his one special girl. After school, Forrest joins the military, which is one of the best solutions for him. As a result of his IQ, finding a long lasting career would be very difficult. The army is a respected job that Forrest excels at far past the ordinary person. Thus, joining the army creates many opportunities for Forrest, changing his life for the better. He wins a medal of honor and discovers ping pong which he goes on to play in the Olympics. Something far better than honor and fame that he finds in the military is friendship, and out of the friendship Forrest finds riches. There are
...ntally disabled people prevented Lennie from being trusted and be respected as a human being. In this novel, discrimination that Lennie had to face prevented him from showing his abilities.
...isability is a denial of reality or truth, not societal oppression but a denial or disregard to the truth that disabled people simply cannot access or be involved in all activities within society, due to their impairments. Conversely we could argue that a societal defence mechanism is a denial of its own weakness that makes it exploit the weaknesses of others by isolating people with differences from society. However, from a social model perspective we could hypothesise that defence mechanisms are socially constructed and a way of creating internal harmony by identifying cause and effect, again from the environment in which the person lives. Defence mechanisms are a form of self esteem promotion, similar to the social model of disability, as the aim is challenge oppression and isolation in a bid to improve the self esteem of those with disabilities. (Jackson 1984)
The character Jenny Curran from the movie Forrest Gump, had a tough life from the very beginning of the movie throughout to the end. During the movie, most parts were assumed and not actually said. For example, as a child she was physically abused as well as sexually abuse, however, it isn’t said, a scene of her with dirty ripped clothes and older Forrest narrating says “her father was always touching and kissing her and her sister” that implies that her father was sexually abusing her. Jenny’s father was not only abusive but an alcoholic and neglected the care of Jenny. Throughout the rest of the movie, Forrest is always there to support and love her, and the detrimental decisions she makes and the different paths she endeavors, inevitably catch up with her in the end. In this essay, one of the main points we see by Jenny’s character are all of the metaphors between what she says and the advice she gives to Forrest, for example, to run from danger and her own constant behavior to fun away from whatever she is afraid of. Jenny Curran will be the focus observation and personality study. Although the main character in this film is Forrest Gump, we are able to see the trials Jenny’s incurs and how it develops her personality. The main idea of this essay is to look at Jenny’s life and find the foundation for what her personality was build on and all of the influences of change throughout her life. Her various personality and life changes will be examined as well as the environmental and social influences.