The Myth of American History through Forrest Gump

The Myth of American History through Forrest Gump
By: Brandon Cundith

             In 1995, The Oscars held a strong group of candidates for the Best Picture award, an award that is highly recognized in American culture. The winner from the talented group was the film Forrest Gump, beating out Pulp Fiction and handful of other entertaining films. Forrest Gump tells an incredible story of a simple man on a 30-year odyssey through a turbulent era of American history. The main character, Forrest, helps us see the world through his own hopeful eyes of in search of happiness and his piece of the American dream. As the viewers follow Forrest through his lifelong journey, there are plenty of historical events that are presented and affect the track of Forrest’s life.

            History in films has ignited a new dimension to the way we understand and envision the past. Roland Barthes’ theory on mythologies can be applied to the movie Forrest Gump to express the connection between history and film. By applying the theory of mythologies, Forrest acts as a healing figure to America’s historical contradictions and pain experienced in the 1950’s all the way to the 1980’s and provides Americans with hope for a glowing future. The film depoliticizes and simplifies history, which aids in the healing process of America’s tragic moments, especially Vietnam. Rolland Barthes’ theory of mythologies helps the viewer understand how Forrest Gump modifies our view on specific subjects or events in history. Through Forrest’s eyes, viewers now no longer see history the same.

            First, it is best to explain Barthes’ theory on mythologies. Barthes begins the article Myth Today by stating, “myth is a type of speech”; where the type of speech we are dealing with is the presentation of the film. The myth is our interpretation of the subject, due to the way the subject is presented. An apple is an apple, but when an apple is seen as old and rotten, the viewer does not look at apples the same. With this understood, history then can be thought of as a myth. It is not possible to experience history in its true form, so the way it is presented, through text or in a movie, gives us only a representation of history, which creates a myth.

 Having an illustration (rather than only text) to present the subject increases the connection one may have with the specific myth they are dealing with. “The major way we experience – or imagine we experience – the past on screen is obviously through our eye.” (Rosenstone). This “say dog, see dog” helps to associate the picture to the myth. With a 142 minute running time, the viewer has an immense amount of visuals that they intake throughout the movie, ultimately enhancing the myths applied and impacting the viewer greatly.

            Before going any further, it is best to explain Forrest’s role within the film. Since Forrest acts as a message to heal America and present hope to Americans, “the movie has to be ambiguous about Forrest’s decision to go to Vietnam because he has to remain morally and politically neutral. If he commits to either wanting or not wanting to enlist, he becomes political” (dvschnake). Having Forrest in a neutral role helps the viewer see America’s history as a bystander and generates no emotional ties to one standpoint or another. Forrest is also just along for the ride as “Forrest floats like a feather in the wind through college football, Vietnam, political assassination, business success, and hilarious encounters with a succession of presidents.” (Siskel). The neutral and “along for the ride” personality Forrest possesses helps enhance the credibility of the myths of America’s history.

It is only fitting that Forrest has a feather land at his feet in the first clip of the film.

            Understanding Forrest’s role opens the doors to explain specific moments within the film that myths are created to make peace of America’s conflicts.  These conflicts are all of the scandals, assassinations, controversy and war within the thirty years Forrest lives through. There are no specific views Forrest has about certain groups or organizations, but rather, Forrest states the facts. Since he is “a bit on the slow side”, Forrest’s blunt explanations of history leave a taste of humor for the viewer. For example, when two African Americans are admitted to the University of Alabama, Forrest mistakes the word coons as “raccoons”, and was surprised to hear African Americans want to go to school with him. After helping to pick up one of the African American’s books, Forrest is seen as a welcoming student, which was far from the truth during the time that the first African Americans went to a Caucasian school. Through this example, the myth created is that there were students who found peace with the African Americans of the time. Viewers now have a more comfortable approach when thinking of the Civil Rights Movement due to the peace Forrest brings between African Americans and Caucasians. The divided nation seems to be sewed together when watching Forrest Gump. Forrest continues this act of peace between the two racial groups throughout his life. His first “best good friend” after college was Benjamin Buford Blue, or otherwise known as Bubba, who was an African American.

            Another division in America emerged around the time of the Vietnam War, as there were anti-war protesters against the war itself. These times were filled with a heavy amount of politics and debate on America’s participation in the war. Before the viewers are presented with an image of Vietnam in Forrest Gump, Forrest excerpts a line about Vietnam only saying, “It’s this whole other country.” Again, we see Forrest’s neutrality with his surroundings and the war in Vietnam.

            The myth of a healed America applies to the scenes of Vietnam in Forrest Gump strongly, as Forrest helps the viewers absorb a controversial topic to produce in entertainment: the experience of war. The beautiful cinematography of the Vietnam scenes is tied to our depiction of the war in Vietnam, and it helps viewers understand the alienation of a soldier. After the rain stops and the Vietnamese attack Forrest’s platoon, Forrest becomes a savior to a great amount of members from his platoon. Prior to the attack, Forrest says, “Now, I don’t know much about anything, but I think some of America’s best young men served in this war. There was Dallas, from Phoenix; Cleveland, he was from Detroit…And Tex, well, I don’t remember where Tex come from.” With the connection of Forrest complimenting the men who served in the war and his act of saving them, we arrive at a metaphor of Forrest saving America. Forrest heals America’s past depictions of a regretted war by revealing a group of well-rounded men who are saved by Forrest himself from the terrors of Vietnam. Even Lieutenant Dan, who will forever be tied to his rank and was saved by Forrest in Vietnam, eventually learns to forgive and move on. Our past depictions of the horrible stories from the Vietnam War are a myth of its own, but Forrest Gump creates an entirely new myth on the Vietnam War that is forgiving and healing.

Forrest's final moments with Bubba. Forrest mentions he wish he would have thought of something better to say.

            Forrest loses his best friend Bubba in the Vietnam War while Forrest is holding him. Bubba and Forrest’s friendship aid in simplifying history throughout their time in Vietnam. Forrest tells more of his relationship to Bubba than he does of any politics of the Vietnam War. Due to Forrest explaining his relationship to Bubba, the explanation of the Vietnam War is unheard. This gives the viewers only a simple, straightforward depiction of what was occurring in Vietnam. When Forrest loses Bubba, the viewers understand that the war simply took the lives of loved ones, and Forrest did not have to say anymore or provide a number of casualties to the viewers. The myth is simplified, for it does not need to be extremely detailed to convey the history.

            When Forrest returns to America, and pays one of many of his visits to the White House, he is unintentionally thrown up to speak in front of the Lincoln Memorial at one of America’s largest protests in history. It is only fitting that the microphone is cut out when Forrest begins to tell what he experienced in Vietnam, because the myth that is depicted from the scene is not of the protest, but of the reuniting between Forrest and Jenny. The visual image of Forrest running to Jenny in the middle of the Reflecting Pool as the crowd erupts in happiness is instilled within the viewer to connect a moment of history to the story. The aesthetics of the scene emphasize how emotional the moment is for both Forrest and Jenny, giving the viewer the sense that the scene is an important pillar in the movie Forrest Gump. Jenny is seen in her hippie clothes and Forrest in his sharply dressed military uniform. The opposite wardrobes symbolize unification between war and peace. Forrest once again acts as a tool to heal conflicts in history, in this case, between the war and the hippies.  We remember this moment in history as the time that Forrest hugs Jenny, rather then what the people were actually lobbying for. Viewers are introduced to the myth of a healed nation post Vietnam War for the first time. At the end of the clip where Forrest is hugging Jenny, Forrest says, “it was the happiest moment of my life.”

The image that many viewers attach to their thought of war protests in Washington D.C.

Forrest Gump does not intend to inform the viewers how American History should be viewed, but only show one aspect of how it can have been viewed. Barthes explains that “form” is a term used to “represent an object, a concept, or an idea; it is a mode of signification”(Barthes). With Forrest Gump cooperating with history, the “forms” the two are working with are the actual historical events themselves. The history textbooks found in a classroom have the same “form” as to what is presented in Forrest Gump. We are given Forrest Gump as our guide through history, and Forrest’s view on the “forms” of history is what creates the myth of a cured nation. As Barthes says, “Myth is not defined by the object of its message, but by the way in which it utters this message.” Forrest is uttering the message of love, friendship and success to help cure America’s hardships.

Forrest Gump represents a conflicted America that becomes cured from its past and looks ahead at the future. Lieutenant Dan is a character to embrace the myth, as he moves on from his anger with the outcome of his life and the Vietnam War. Near the end of the film, Lieutenant Dan and Jenny, who had polar opposite perspectives of American politics, become acquaintances. The scene shows forgiveness to past differences in America. Dealing with the Future, Lieutenant Dan is already embracing what is ahead for America, as he is given new legs, created with the same material used for spaceships.

            Near the end of the movie, Forrest finds himself running thousands of miles for no particular reason. Other people begin to join him, because they find him as inspiration. What is the inspiration Forrest holds that have these Americans running behind him? The answer comes from a line Forrest says about the running: “My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on, and I think that’s what my running was all about.” Forrest here no longer is curing the past, but looking ahead towards the future. This is also why future entrepreneurs looking for ideas for the future are seen coming to him during his run. The slogan “shit happens” and the trademark smiley face t-shirt are invented as these entrepreneurs visit the futuristic Forrest. The myth here becomes one of hope for America. Even if you run to ocean, there is land you have not traveled. Forrest shows that America’s history has got us to where we are now, and there are signs of hope for a happy and successful future.

There are many aesthetically pleasing images throughout Forrest's run.

            Forrest Gump is a film that brings Americans back to our pastime in a fashion of celebration. Due to the myth Forrest Gump presents, Americans feel a healing of the past and bright hope for the future. Keep in mind; this is due to the myth Forrest Gump creates. The “forms” within Forrest Gump can, and have been, presented to provide a myth of just the opposite. Thankfully, Americans do not receive this message in Forrest Gump, and walk away from the movie receiving a message of a healed and hopeful America. Our view and depictions of history are no longer the same after watching Forrest Gump. There is a sense of comfort after watching the film, knowing there is light in even in the darkest times. To conclude, I can only say what the Alabama-born Forrest Gump once said, “that’s all I have to say about that.”

Works Cited

Barthes, Roland, and Annette Lavers. Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972. Print.

Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Perf. Tom Hanks. Paramount Pictures, 1994. DVD.

Rosenstone, Robert A.. History on film/Film on History. Harlow, England: Longman/Pearson, 2006. Print.

Siskel, Gene. "`Forrest Gump' Upholds A Great American Tradition." Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune, 8 July 1994. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-07-08/entertainment/9407080090_1_forrest-gump-winston-groom-water-tower>.