Not getting it

A reviewer rips Forrest Gump:

I hate this film with a white-hot intensity because it endorses -- not implicitly, mind you, but with big fucking capital letters -- the reactionary idea that ‘tis better to coast through life without an education, the power of reason, or a social conscience, lest you get AIDS and die like the atheistic, egghead dog that you are.

Forrest Gump was annoying in that it inserted the title character into moments in history. But besides that, it teaches us a lesson--that simplicity is better. You can go far sticking with a few solid principles than flitting and floating with every new passing mode.

Forrest simply does what his Mama advises him to do. While this offends the sensibilities of the post-Boomer generation who have been taught to question all authority (ironically, the people who our generation this ARE authorities in their own right), one must realize that all human beings are born naked, weak, and unable to go through life without SOMEONE guiding us. Usually that someone is a parent, and usually parents have the child's best interest in mind. This isn't always the case, but for a child to follow the lead of his parent takes FAITH. And faith isn't always blind--but this is beside the point. A little faith (in the general, rather than the religious sense which seems to so incese our reviewer) can go a long way--it can carry you where reason seems to crumble. In all things, Forrest simply remembers the advice of his mother, and that's all he needs.

What seems to irk our reviewer is that the free-spirited, hippyish Jennie is "punished" with AIDS for being not-stupid unlike Forrest. I sincerely doubt the movie wished to "punish" her for her ways. The review conveniently forgets the fact that Jennie was frequently sexually abused by her father, and that may have (scratch that, it DEFINITELY had) a role in her development. But unlike Forrest, she doesn't live a life of simplism--she follows whatever new, stylish thing hits the social circuit. And that eventually kills her.

What really annoys me about that review is the accusation that Forrest does not have a social conscience. That's utter bullshit. From his upbringing, he knows that he should treat people with respect. Furthermore, Forrest is mentally handicapped yet is cognizant of his weaknesses. We see this in his line "I know I am not a smart man." Since he is aware of his own shortcomings as a person, it makes him less likely to look down on others based on their "inferiority" (the basis of all racism). I guess what I am saying is that with humility like Forrest's, you don't need a social conscience. (Usually, people with a "social conscience" (perhaps like this reviewer) tend to have massive Messiah complexes). The whole "social conscience" argument doesn't hold water when one remembers that Forrest used his wealth from the shrimping business to build hospitals and churches (and when he gave his would-be partner's share of the wealth to his poor, black family).

I don't know why I'm even talking about this. Liberals piss me off, I guess.