¶ … Music in Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is a true epic of a film in that it spans several decades and numerous different stages in the life of its protagonist, Tom Hanks. Essentially, Hanks is in the process of recounting his life story to different people as he waits at a bus stop. He is both candid and surprisingly reflective -- the latter fact stems from the reality that he is mildly mentally retarded and has an IQ below that of most people. Ultimately, it is this facet of Gump's character that proves the most prominent in this movie, for the simple fact that Forrest is able to achieve myriad remarkable things: certainly more than most people with 'average' intelligences are able to do. Gump grows up in Alabama with his single mother, and has to walk with metal braces to correct some sort of debilitating condition. He is constantly bullied and teased because of his braces and his limited intellect, a fact which one day spurs him to take off running despite his braces. To his surprise he succeeds, and he becomes an extremely fast and longwinded runner for most of his life. This fact enables him to get on the football team at a collegiate university and to become very successful in college.
However, another important focal point of this tale is Gump's relationship with a young girl by the name of Jenny (who is his age), and who he first meets as he in grade school because she is one the few people who does not tease him (due to her own problems at home. Gump eventually comes to desire Jenny during college, yet is not able to pursue this endeavor fully as he is drafted to Vietnam. There he makes a lifelong friend in his lieutenant, Dan, whose life Forrest saves in Vietnam (although Dan would have preferred to die in battle because both of his legs were amputated due to his injuries).
Gump eventually makes his fortune in the shrimping business, an endeavor which he begat with the interests of some of his friends in the army. He is able to see Jenny and even has a sexual encounter with her, before she refuses to marry him and abandons him. Gump responds by running...
Gump eventually reunites with Jenny and finds that he had fathered a son with her, who she also names Forrest. Gump eventually marries Jenny and lives with her and her son. However, she dies unfortunately. The movie ends with Gump taking care of his son -- who shows none of the mental torpor of his father. Gump realizes that life is full of surprises and is living proof that one never knows how one's life is going to turn out.
Part Two
Music is an extremely vital means of enhancing the film Forrest Gump. It is able to do so in a couple of different ways. One of the most efficacious is to help to solidify the fact that in many ways, this film is a period time piece. Actually, it spans multiple time periods. Thus, music is one of the key ways in which the audience is able to discern that the film is depicting a particular era in American history. Granted, there are other ways -- such as interactions that Gump has with a famous football coach and the musician, producer, writer, and performer John Lennon, both of whom are no longer living and are associated with particular eras in history. Still, the usage of music is one of the most colorful ways of readily identifying to audiences that the film is depicting a certain historical time period. For instance, the film utilizes some classic Elvis Presley records that signify that the film is depicting scenes from the 1950's and 1960's. Similarly, there are a couple of different tunes from artists on Motown that punctuate this film sporadically, indicating that it is rendering the era of the 1960's. In such a way the film is able to portray numerous decades in the 20th century. Instead of merely featuring titles that tell the audience what year it is, the filmmakers instead are able to demonstrate to them what particular era they are depicting by bringing it back to life with the sounds and the music that were popular then. In this respect, the music utilized in this film is very effective and an immensely important part of it.
Additionally, there is another considerably worthy effect of…
