Forrest Gump was a movie that was produced in the in the early 1990’s about a slow minded man who practically gets himself involved in every key historical event that had happened during the late twentieth century. The story spans from him as a young boy starting his first day of school to his thirties when he becomes a war hero. The story touches base with many historical events such as Elvis and the arise to Rock and Roll to as late as the development of personal computer companies such as Apple. The movie, based on historical accuracy is pinpoint on its references.
In the beginning of the movie, Forrest talks about his one of his ancestors, Nathaniel Bedford Forrest who was one of the prime leaders of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK is a white supremacy group who targeted mostly: Catholics, Jews, Blacks, and the foreign-born. The goal of the KKK was to establishing economic and political rights for blacks. By the year 1870 the KKK had almost spread to every white southern state. The KKK had originally started out as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee. The KKK had nationally spread and has been recruiting new members everyday.
As the movie progresses, it shows that Forrest’s mom starts renting out rooms in her house for a little extra money. As this happens one of the tenants is none other than Elvis Presley. Elvis was a big time Rock and Roll icon in the 1950’s. Rock and Roll started to arise during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Rock and Roll was a musical combination of: western style swing, blues, jumps blues, and gospel style music. In the movie Forrest was seen with Elvis in his room dancing to his musical interpretation of Hound Dog. Elvis notices that Forrest is doing a very unique and interesting dance that Elvis was interested in. A while later when Elvis moves out, Forrest sees Elvis on television doing his dance which Elvis made his own dance.
When Forrest grows up; he gets the opportunity to meet John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States up until the November of 1963 when JFK was assassinated. During John F. Kennedy’s presidency, he fought for the Civil Rights Act. Most people credit Lyndon Johnson for initially passing the act but it was JFK who had proposed the act. JFK was also the president who had established the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is a program in which teenagers are given the opportunity to go to different countries to try and promote world peace and friendship amongst the nations.
Later in the year of 1963 Forrest Gump gets the opportunity to play football at Alabama State University. Little did Forrest know that this was when the South was battling segregation, and the first African American students were enrolled in Alabama State University and were escorted in by Governor George Wallace. African Americans started to stand up for their rights by peacefully protesting. For the example: The Bus Boycott, The March on the capital where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his, “I Have A Dream” speech, The sit-in at lunch counter in Jacksonville in 1963 and so forth.
In 1967, Forrest is drafted into the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam War was one of the most gruesome wars that the U.S ever had to deal with. This war had lasted from 1955 to 1975. The northern Vietnamese tried to spread the communist regime and had succeeded. This led to the U.S’s withdrawal from the war in 1973. About 58,000 Americans were killed in this battle. The losing of this war caused communism to spread to China.
When Forrest returns from the war as a war veteran he is introduced into hippie counter culture and the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers are a group of people who had mostly practiced militant self-defense of minority communities. Their prime goal was to arm citizens’ patrols to check on the behavior of most police officers and to challenge police brutality. This is when the idea of black power gets tossed about.
In 1969, Forrest is on the television when he scrolls past a channel with a man on the moon. This was the first ever man on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the first person in human history to set foot on the moon with his famous quote, “This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil wasn’t alone; he was joined with Buzz Aldrin who had been the second man to step on the moon. He set foot on the moon 20 minutes later than Neil. In Neil’s quote he’s infers that that this is a giant stepping-stone in all of human history.
In 1976 Dan tells Forrest that he had invested all of their money into what they had though was a, “fruit company” was actually a multi-million dollar industry, Apple Computers. Apple Computers was the first company people were able to buy home computer and technology. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne developed one of the first computers ever open to the public. Apple computer has the largest amount of investors in the world because of its successfulness throughout the years as a company. Forrest Gump has lived through so many historical moments throughout his life and didn’t even know it.
The movie Forrest Gump was a very successful movie for its time and even now. Its shows almost perfect historical accuracy using real footage from some of the real events such as the interview with john Lennon and meeting JFK and his assassination. Overall the movie is a piece of history itself. I truly enjoyed watching and breaking down this movie because of its accuracy, the acting and the production itself.