Historical References in Forrest Gump

Many of us have seen or at least heard of the movie Forrest Gump. If you haven't, it is about a man, named Forrest Gump, that has a below average IQ, growing up in the fictional town of Greenbow Alabama. Being born in 1944, he lives through much of the Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, and many other historical events we have studied this year.

First, a man named Elvis Presley goes to stay at Forrest's childhood house for a few days and his mom finds him in a room with Elvis, dancing to the guitar. A later in the movie, he sees Elvis on TV doing the same dance Forrest did at his house. Elvis Presley was a very influential singer in the genre of Rock n' Roll which captivated young audiences for his radical style during the 1950s. He introduced many common topics in this genre like sex and drugs.  

Forrest's mother mentions that she named him after the Civil war hero, Nathan Bedford Forrest who founded the Klu Klux Klan during the 1800's. The movie shows a clip from the controversial film The Birth of a Nation with Tom Hanks' face in place of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the movie. This movie was an extremely racist film and showed some of the worst stereotypes of African Americans in the US. However, this movie was popular when it was released which reflects the country's racist views on African Americans.
 

One major event seen in the movie is the Vietnam War, when Forrest enlists in the army. After graduating from college, making the All American Football team and meeting president Kennedy, Forrest goes through training and flies out to Vietnam. In this part of the movie you can see the Guerrilla Warfare tactics used by the Viet kong against the American soldiers, when Lieutenant Dan warns forrest about snipers everywhere but you can never see them.  The Vietnam War was supported at first but after the war went on, people wanted to be finished with it. There were too many casualties and the people felt it wasn't worth it. When Nixon became president, he instated a policy of Vietnamization which eventually lead to the end of the war.

After being injured in battle, Forrest returns to the US injured with an gunshot to his butt. In the hospital, Forrest learns of ping pong and instantly becomes interested in the sport. He eventually gets so good at it that he was sent to China in Ping Pong Diplomacy in hopes of reducing tension between China and the US during the Cold War.


Other parts of the movie reference hippies, the Black Panther Party, and John Lennon. Jenny Curran, a childhood friend of forrest, is supposed to be a hippie in this movie. They were people that advocated for peace in the world, along with experimenting with lots of drugs, as seen in the movie. Forrest and Jenny end up going to a Black Panther meeting, where one of the leaders explains to Forrest that they are opposed to the war in Vietnam because black soldiers were giving their lives to a country that wasn't treating them very well. Forrest wasn't listening to him very much though.


Some of my favorite parts of the movie are just of Forrest being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Governor Wallace was the racist governor of Alabama at the time and in 1963 refused to let two black students in at the University of Alabama. In the movie, Forrest is seen in the background just looking around. The Watergate scandal is also seen in this movie when Forrest stayed at a hotel right next to the Watergate and sees the break in happen before his eyes. However, Forrest doesn't see this as a break in and tells security that the people must be lost and the power must have been out. It's assumed that this was how the burglars were caught.



Source:
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