If you read the book its a bit more obviously silly. The guy ends up being an astronaut, for goodness sake.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Graeme" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 7:13 AM Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > Yeah! > > I didn't like the movie either. But in addition to what you mention, I did > come away with the "Dumb is Good" message. It presents as a hero a person > who's an idiot, yet this idiot succeeds where intellegent people fail. Some > people have tried to explain it as a "God has a plan" or a "Zen" type > message, but that's bunk. That argument is just a promotion of stupidity > shrouded in an enticing package that leads to the people crafting the > fictional message subjugating the people who believe it. > > </rant> > > -Kevin > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jim Campbell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 9:57 AM > Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > > > > I think the most unforgivable aspect of the movie is the contempt with > > which it treats its audience. There's nothing wrong with a simple plots > > or characters - films like "Babe" or "The Straight Story" are wonderful, > > with rich stories crafted around what are essentially one-sentence > > synopses. > > > > "Gump", however, by trying to recreate itself as some sort of touchstone > > for all of recent history (as opposed to Groom's novel, which was > > genuinely funny - sort of like an alternate-universe "World According to > > Garp"), comes across as a sort of emperor with no clothes. Its epic > > feel and length beg for serious consideration, but the reactionary, > > stupid and moralistic steamrolling of what are truly dynamic and complex > > social events into digestible bits of nostalgic confections is > infuriating. > > > > The movie's message isn't "Dumb is Good", it's "You're too stupid to > > figure this out on your own, so we'll make it easy for you." > > > > What's even stranger is the principles behind the movie - Tom Hanks, > > Robert Zemeckis, Gary Sinise - are extraordinarily talented, yet managed > > to not only make this movie with a straight face, but convince the AMPAS > > that it was somehow more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar than either > > "Pulp Fiction" or "Shawshank Redemption", which is just amazing. > > > > - Jim > > > > Raymond Camden wrote: > > > > >I find it interesting you call Forrest Gump anti-intellectual, as I've > > >heard others say that as well. I often wondered why though. The main > > >character isn't intelligent, isn't even average, but I never saw the > > >film as saying 'dumb is good'. > > > > > >-rc > > > > > > > > > > > >>-----Original Message----- > > >>From: Jim Campbell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >>Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 3:30 PM > > >>To: CF-Community > > >>Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > > >> > > >> > > >>Actually, there is no film that I despise more than "Forrest > > >>Gump", and > > >>I'm not even sure exactly why I hate it so much. Maybe > > >>because it feels > > >>disingenuous and anti-intellectual, and it's not in the same > > >>league as > > >>groaning at incredibly bad MST3K-fare movies like "Space > > >>Mutiny" or "The > > >>Head That Wouldn't Die" - this is an active hatred along the lines of > > >>Roger Ebert's opinion of "North", my favorite review of his > > >>of all time: > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/07/931635.html > > > > > >- Jim > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=t:5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm
