Forrest Gump & Tangled

FORREST GUMP

I am not a big movie person; I find it impossible to give my whole attention to a piece of work for more than an hour and a half, especially if it is one that I have already seen. But Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is a film that I have watched since my younger years with my dad a hundred times over. It takes a sort of different perspective to enjoy the movie and disregard much of its social and historical context. Robert Zemeckis creates an underlying message that the current generation will attain success in life because of their heart and utter benevolence rather than constantly progressing and advancing through experiences that would make a person become more adaptive and complex. It creates a tone that every individual is unique and despite his circumstances he has the potential to be great because the world will work out in way that will see his situation and provide him with magnificent opportunities. He seems to always have the same agenda--saving Jenny whenever he can-- and never really intentionally making monumental shifts in the history’s chain of events. He becomes a millionaire, receives a nice home, and becomes a successful entrepreneur by sheer luck.

The movie begins with a feather floating in the wind and carried by the breeze to its next destination. This is what I think the underlying plot was trying to convey. It is not hard work and talent that advance you through life’s obstacle, rather it is situational. Forrest Gump did not chose the circumstances he was placed under, but although the movie shines the light on the fact that mentally ill people can accomplish the same success as others who are born with different privileges, it also highlights and encourages that people could stay in their own comfortable state of living and never advance while still attaining success in life. I guess what the writers could have done is highlight more of Gump’s struggles and still show that he grew as a person from the constant ridicule and disadvantageous other’s placed on him. Maybe this would prove to show that it takes true hard work to accomplish monumental shifts.

TANGLED

One of my favorite Disney Movies is the recent “Tangled”--the damsel in distress locked away in a tower who is saved by her knight in shining armour and eventually live happily ever after. The very premise with what the movie is about is what is wrong with the film. The movie begins with a background story, telling the life of Rapunzel but narrated by Flynn--the previous night in shining armour. The main character never provided the voiceover for the story line ultimately about her for the rest of the movie. From a feminist perspective in the 21st century, this film contains many discrepancies that can easily be fixed by the writers of the film. This first example demonstrates to the younger audience that an individual can not write their own story. Whether this is because the main character is female is up to the viewer’s interpretation, but it can also be applied to the mass values of society and how an individual is not in full control of his life because of constant pressures and standards to live up to. The narrator could have easily been Rapunzel which could then demonstrate that individuality can lead to a person’s destiny. This leads to the next fundamental error in the film--the man in the story is the princess’ hero. Rapunzel could not have had the courage to leave the tower and defy her mother’s wishes without the help of Flynn rider. This further continues the cycle of thinking that a woman needs a man to help her achieve her dreams. I think that the character Flynn was completely unnecessary as he pressed the more conservative values that marriage is the ultimate endgame. Without him the young girls, whose message this is addressed to, can cultivate a stronger image of independence. Much of the problems of this film could have been easily fixed by the writers who could have made Rapunzel more self reliant.