The Concepts of Otherness and Identity in Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is a 1984 American comedy-drama film based on the novel published by Winston Groom in 1986. The film was written by Eric Roth and directed by Robert Zemeckis. It depicts a kind-hearted but slow-witted man named Forrest Gump (Hanks) from Alabama who influences unwittingly and witnesses several defining events in the United States in the 20th century. The novel is substantially different from the movie though. Released on July 6th, 1994, the movie was an enormous success and received favorable reviews for the script, the visual effects, Hanks' performance, and Zemeckis’ directing. It won many awards including Young Artist Award, People’s Choice Award, and Golden Globes (Paramount Pictures). The movie is aesthetically, historically, and culturally significant, and various interpretations can be made regarding its political symbolism and the protagonist. The movie is a light-hearted first-person account of how the simple-minded young man dealt with the elements of chance that he stumbles upon in life. This paper considers how these approaches help discuss the issues of identity and otherness as related to historical and socio-cultural context framing the plot.

Whereupon Forrest asks his mother, “What is my destiny?” Forrest’s mother, Mrs. Gump told him, shortly before dying “Well, I happen to believe you make your destiny. You have to do your best with what God gave you.' She answers that he can only figure it out for himself. Sally Field, who acted the role of Mrs. Gump, also describes destiny as the central issue in the movie, wondering whether our lives just flow by chance or, on the contrary, are planned in the ‘making-of’ (Paramount Pictures). Posed this way, the question appears to depart slightly from the human capacity to mold one's life path, that is, from her character's belief in free-will. However, it still confirms the relationship between uncontrollable circumstances and one's choices as central to both the protagonist's development and the plot. Through the Image of the floating feather, the idea is suggested in the opening credits sequence because of its unpredictable movement which might imply the arbitrariness of life. By stating that 'Our destiny is only defined by how we deal with the chance elements in our life,' Tom Hanks, starring actor wisely clarifies these opposing views thereby converging with Mrs. Gump's advice.

Mrs. Gump tells her son, early in the film, that he “was no different”. Paradoxically, this statement gives clues on how different Forrest was: he was born with an IQ under 75 apart from his leg and back deficiency. There is a need for such a clue to reflect how determined she was to make her son fit in. Not only through characterization does his difference come out clearly, but also through this presentation of the opening scene. The way he sits, his style of dress, his way of speaking, all evoke a child's common posture. He reveals an innocent, idiosyncratic childlike approach to people’s behavior and events through maintaining a conversation with a stranger at a bus stop, while the listeners change and his story continues in detail. Thus, the opening scene sets the film structure, the peculiarity and the weight of the main character, and the tone of the film. Consistently resorting to archival footage, a flash-back narrative supported by Hanks voice-over visually illustrates what Forrest narrates.

The storytelling process develops the whole movie. As Celestino Deleyto writes, going far beyond various media of expression such as video, television, and cinema, resorting to the issue of literary genre and subgenre, narrative texts entail different ways of presenting a story (Deleyto 217). By expanding the field, cinema in this context hugely contributes to making the narrative study theory “consistent and complete'. Several other elements in film such as technical devices, notwithstanding the relevance of narrative, help attain aesthetic effects and convey significance. James Monaco differentiates the 'denotative' from the 'connotative' given by the sound and image since cinematic recordings have a more accurate and a closer approximation to reality than the literature.

However, due to focalization, the combinations of all these fundamentals seem unified by the narrative itself in Forrest Gump. The story is told from the perspective of Forrest; it is his very tone and spirit that form the mainstay of the film according to the leading actor. The character cannot be analyzed separately from focalization in the movie. Therefore, the particular character of Forrest gives the framework to discuss otherness and identity in a given cross-section of history and time in America, thereby giving clues at the value of narrative in the film and raising two interrelated questions: how is it told? And what is told?

The condition of otherness can be described as the perception of being seen as an inferior being, thus being different in some way and losing the sense of belonging because of not fitting in the group of those that rule and have common, essential features (Vesey G). Even though and, because of their being different, geniuses and gifted people can also be categorized in the group of those that do not fit in, the concept can be traced back to the Greek culture and often applies to people with disabilities. Therefore, the issue of otherness substantially differs from specific identities with which it can only be discussed. The word identity originates from the Latin word 'idem' which means 'the same', implying the idea of coinciding and being identical in some aspects. Be it political, social or cultural, identity is the unifying, accepted, and common pattern of the group that sets up its identity and is against such a set of traits that the concept of otherness is described. One’s identity is also measured by its difference from others, whether at the collective or individual level.

The movie resorts to the first-person narrative, as mentioned earlier, to tell Forrest's life as an autobiography, through the protagonist's voice over. Therefore, it is through his views that the audience understands him since he is present in all the scenes. However, the degree of subjectivity often applied in this type of narrative point of view is absent in events as narrated by Forrest. In most situations, his language tends to be simple and objective, and devoid of any non-literal, abstract meaning. Both in expression and understanding, such a use of language reflects his astounding, especially from his point of view. For example, he fails to grasp the underlying irony when Lieutenant Dan Taylor, his commanding officer in Vietnam asks him and Bubba if they are twins by answering simply 'No we are not relations'. Whether because of his limited comprehension or his uncorrupted state of innocence, Forrest does not make any judgments. For instance, other children would refuse to share with him a seat on the school bus because of his braced legs and he could not judge them even with such discrimination from a very early age. Probably, this plays a role in partly determining his choices and shaping his view of the world hence 'making his destiny', in his mother's words. Forrest's options result from his embedded values and inner nature even if he does not plan them. The key factor for his differentness is constituted by his state of innocence. He remains untouched by evil, unlike ordinary people.

Forrest's extraordinary physical capacities, seemingly against all odds, put him in circumstances illustrative of American society, history, and culture. Events and people mount up in the film at a rhythm that can be viewed as overdone. A synoptic narration of events unravels like a documentary or a historical catalog as Forrest interacts in such a natural way with them that Stephen Brockmann says Forrest's story is equal to America's history after the Second World War (Brockmann 341). However unlikely, such a plot relays all the more representative and comprehensive portrayal of the USA in the second half of the 20th century, where the starring actor represents the unifying factor. The events comprised of the sexual revolution of the sixties, peace demonstrations, the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, to cite a few. In a way that highlights the personal success attained consistently by Forrest, his peculiar way of interacting with events and people is not changed throughout various circumstances and in opposition to the path of characters who accept confirmed identity patterns.

With the valuable aid of the special effects, a version of history is depicted in the movie. The archival footage mentioned earlier reinforces Forrest's narration in the voice-over and allows fiction and fact to merge. The protagonist's intervention, in several scenes, is added to historical footage. For instance, it is a technical feat when Gump participates in a historic Ping-Pong match, or President Kennedy's and Forrest's hands meet in a real greeting. The Vietnam War assumes the particular relevance of all the events Forrest goes through. He becomes a hero when he saves his commanding officer and rescues some of his war mates because he was driven by his good nature. While Dan becomes severely injured and loses both legs, Forrest is slightly wounded and awarded the Medal of Honor by President Lyndon Johnson, clearly addressing the concept of heroism. A reversal of fortune is portrayed when Forrest’s childhood condition opposes Dan’s handicap. Dan resents Forrest for saving him because becoming crippled most completely denies Dan’s dream to be a hero of war. The developing storyline gets tones of Greek tragedy’s convention, which can be considered in this context as the embodiment of “the crippled part of America”, as a result of the war against Vietnam (Byers). The opposition of Dan to Forrest becomes striking, not only because of his restricted mental perception and personality, with regards to his principles and pure values but also in his bravery.

The most critical reception of the film, because of such a process, considered it conservative and focused on its political aspects. For instance, the conservative politician Patrick Buchanan in his work “Testament to Republican values and virtues” argues that the movie manages to rewrite the erased relevant aspects of history from a conservative perspective (Tibbetts). However, the political aspects of Forrest Gump deserve being mentioned as reading may, but does not constitute the focus of the present analysis, to a certain extent, on claims such as strict political perspectives. For instance, the friendship of Forrest and Bubba, a black war mate tends to deny any racial prejudice. Nonetheless, the fact that the actor does not fight against racial discrimination does not mean he recognizes differences in the race (Klinger). It is an attitude whose verisimilitude is supported by his mental retardation, and it belongs in his peculiar way of regarding society and people. More so, Forrest’s support to the family of Bubba after his passing surpasses racial concerns.

A certain degree of irony is disclosed through Forrest's oddity in most situations. It becomes irrelevant whether he does not reject or criticize them because of his frequent narrations and objective description pave the way for critical judgment. It triggers Forrest’s reaction when a peace activist beats Jenny to reveal the contradiction between actions and words, and being driven by chivalry and friendship instead of ideological beliefs. Moreover, he is repeatedly asked “Are you running for World peace?' when he becomes an icon in the marathon. This is depicted as an aspect is stereotypical and criticized (Klinger). The fact that he was followed by so many people in the marathon shows a cause to follow and the consequences of an ideological void in the quest for a leader. Concerning the film, it looks like satire though. Granting Forrest's actions are purposeless and original, it is successful and mobilizing. This again gives a fine illustration of how identity and otherness may, simultaneously oppose each other, and be questioned.

To conclude, the frailty of the conceptual opposition between otherness and identity is highlighted through Gump’s path of life. In human terms or in political, his being different was a special means that positioned him at the center of American identity, whose founding principle he helped enrich and reinforce. It is human potential in Forest Gump that prevails twenty-five years after being released. The films clearly illustrate the concepts of otherness and identity, that may easily interchange or merge either because 'we are all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze' or ' we each have a destiny' as Forrest wonders in the coda, or because of 'both'. Whatever the reason, it is personal learning and human growth that emerge as an ethical, ideological rationale for Forrest Gump.