Forest Gump as a Source for Studying History

‘ Life is like a box a chocolate, you never know what you are going to get ‘ as said in the novel Of Forest Gump I say would be as I would like to think the statement to portray the film from start to finish. In this exposition, I will expound on Forrest’s life venture as a tyke to a grown-up and how his life can be contrasted with a container of chocolates. Right off the bat, the film ‘ Forrest Gump’ is a tale about a man called Forrest Gump who has an IQ of a rationally crippled individual and in addition experiences, feeble legs have muscle issues in his spine.

Be that as it may, despite the fact that Forrest Gump has numerous detriments it is sheltered to state that he has accomplished numerous unbelievable triumphs throughout his life. Forrest Gump is a 1986 novel by Winston Groom. The title character retells undertakings running from shrimp sculling and ping pong titles to pondering his youth love, as he blunders his way through American history, including the Vietnam War to school football winding up some portion of the story. The movie Forest Gump is a good source for studying history and can be used to gain historical knowledge because Forest unfolds the truth about the Vietnam war and the Watergate scandal. The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. In the movie Forest Gump, Forest enrolls in the army and is sent off to the Vietnam war with his buddy Bubba. Forrest Gump enlists in the army where he is sent to the front line in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was one of the most controversial armed conflicts during the 20th century. Many people were against the war as they believed that the soldiers were only being sent to their deaths and that the war was not very productive for the United States. Many of the soldiers returned home only to be called by protesters as ‘baby killers.’ The war first started towards the end of the Cold War when the United States attempted at eliminating any Communist Presence in Vietnam. The main presidents during this war were President Lyndon B. Johnson and President Nixon who were known for authorizing hundreds of thousands of troops to be sent to Vietnam. President Nixon was known for his idea of ‘Vietnamization’ where he would gradually bring troops from Vietnam home and end the war soon. Though much of the movie was true a few flaws were able to be pointed out. During the film, During Forrest’s first football game, he is standing staring off into space when they receive the kickoff, his teammate runs over to him, hands him the ball, and tells him to run. Forrest says, ‘Okay’.

The camera cuts to the coach on the sideline who is yelling for him to ‘run! run!’, while at the same time his head is turning as if he is watching Forrest run past him. The next camera shot shows Forrest running, but he has not yet gotten to the point on the sideline where the coach and the team are standing. Historical movies are one of the sources used to gain information for general people. In my opinion, the general population should spend more time watching historical movies not just for entertainment but also to learn about American history. Even though many historical movies inform you with false information. They are still beneficial and provide you with somewhat close information about American History. For example, In the movie, Forrest Gump witnesses the Watergate Scandal from the Watergate hotel. The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s which involved a break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Complex in Washington D.C.

After the investigation, it was found out that President Nixon was aware of this and that several members of the Committee to Re-elect the President had participated in this break-in. Further, in the Investigation it was revealed that every conversation in the oval office was taped and that Nixon was supposed to hand over those tapes. Nixon did hand them over but it was found that there were huge gaps in the tapes and that Nixon had not provided the full evidence. Soon after the investigation, Nixon resigned as president of the United States. With all the information given you can conclude that by watching forest gump you don’t just learn about a poor guys who became successful having faced problems that many people have never faced. You are also educated on the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Their fore in the movie Forest Gump is a good source for studying history and can be used to gain historical knowledge because Forest unfolds the truth about the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. 

Did you like this example?

1191

50