Forrest Gump Intellectual Disability Analysis

Movie Project: Forrest Gump Forrest Gump, a southerner who suffers from an Intellectual Disability, is an excellent example of how perceptions do matter. Gump himself is actually telling his own story in this film. For over half of the movie, he is reflecting on the events of his life to strangers on a bus bench before he reunites with his childhood friend, Jenny. Throughout the film, Forrest Gump talked to four different strangers at this bus stop and he explained his life story to them all. Forrest’s disability is noticed early on in his childhood by his peers and teachers, but his mother always encouraged him by telling him he was no different than anyone else. At the beginning of the movie, Forrest starts off by telling his story up until he got braces put on his legs; he mentioned that his doctor had said “his legs were fine, but his back was as crooked as a question …show more content…
Forrest has an IQ of 75. However, to be in public school you must have a minimum IQ of 80. He was declared to have an intellectual disability. An Intellectual Disability is determined by IQ score; it affected his ability to learn, make wise decisions, solve problems, and he often had a childlike behavior. His mother demanded he be put back into public school no matter what his IQ was, but the principal went on and told her that only “normal” people get put in a public classroom setting and Gump did not fit those requirements. The principal continues to tell his mother that Forrest needs to be put in a special needs school, which was very heart-breaking to her. The judgement that he had to suffer not only from the attention-catching leg braces, but because of being slightly lower than the standard IQ level was agonizing. In my opinion, parents should have the right to choose where their child goes to school whether it be a public, private, or a special-needs