Critical Analysis of Forrest Gump



Critical Analysis of Forrest Gump

Introduction

“Stupid is as Stupid does.” - Forest Gump 1994 a box office hit winning hearts and mind of people with achievements of many academy awards. This movie revolves around a low IQ person (Tom Hanks) walking through one of the hardest times in America during the 1960s to 1980s. This film shows the lifestyle during the period of 60s to 80s in America , and how people were influenced by a sense of patriotism and American Culture. This movie has inspired and changed lives of people who have watched it. It has shown how a mentally challenged man living a successful life showing memorable events of that time. Without having an idea of his doings Forrest reaches the most renowned people of that time and helps them for examples: He gets in the football league, gets a chance to serve the army in Vietnam and coaches Elvis Presley how to dance. He meets with John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He gives ideas at anti war rally in Washington and becomes a table tennis champion by defeating the Chinese team. He meets and lives with the hippies and Richard Nixon. He becomes a successful business man by selling shrimps and buys shares of Apple Computers. Despite, the disabilities Forrest never got discouraged by the situations in his life. He looked up to life and never gave up in the hardest situations. Forrest Gump charged up many people over many years because it shows if you are naturally disabled or not good at something, it is not the end of the world, it can be achieved through self commitment and dedication which Forrest has shown through out the movie.

Diagnosis

In this movie, the main actor Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) was born with disabilities, like genetically deformed spinal cord “Scoliosis” a Greek word which means curving or bending which made him wear braces for his crippled legs, mentally challenged due to low Intelligence Quotient (IQ) making him slower than the other normal people. His IQ was just 75 and as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) by American Psychiatric Association (APA) as autism related disorders, in which the main actor was classified having Asperger Disorder. This type of disorder is classified by stereotyped behavior, difficulties in communicating, repeating behaviors with interests, social issues with interaction and delay in the thinking processes or decision making. The main character of the movie is diagnosed with mild mental disorder having Asperberger's Disorder, Piaget's 4 stages and Kohlberg's morality theory helps us put light on the diagnosis.

The character according to the (DSM-5) has Asperberger Disorder which is named after Hans Asperger, which suggests children having non verbal issues, clumsiness and empathy towards the people. The movie shows the character having problems with non verbal quos like eye contact or eye gaze, posture or sitting style, gestures, facial expressions and repetitive behavior. Further disturbance could lead other impairments in the occupational, functional or social ...