MovieChat Forums > Forrest Gump (1994) Discussion > Wouldn't he have been VERY famous?

Wouldn't he have been VERY famous?

posted 4 years ago by WrepDrep (322)
8 replies | jump to latest

Ok, some of the things he did he didn't get credit for, such as the Elvis dance or the smiley face.
And if he only did one or two of the things he got credited for then he could've easily been forgotten.

But a notable war hero, a football champion, a ping-pong champion who was so big he became a Cold War era star, a person who got to meet several Presidents, appeared on The Dick Cavett Show next to John Lennon, held a speech at the March on the Pentagon rally next to Abbie Hoffman, was all over the news during the long period when he was running and running, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company & Apple Computers owner and millionaire.............would've been fcuking famous!
The press loves an overachiever, and this guy had achieved more than anyone else even if we ignore his 75 IQ. If he tells his life story to random people on a bench, then he would share it with reporters as well. He would be bigger than Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder combined.

But no one recognized him, except for the guy who laughed at the thought that Gump would be the owner of Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Now, of course, Gump's life story and achievements in itself are extremely unrealistic, but they follow the rules set by the movie.
No explanation is given to why he isn't more famous. The bench scene is supposed to be in '79 or '80, so you can't use the time excuse.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

It’s a fictional story MORON

[–] WrepDrep (322) 4 years ago

If you can't read then it's okay, just admit it.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

The whole film is flawed in my opinion. A retard basically flukes his way through life, somehow.

I agree it seems no one knows who he is and from memory I think when Gump gets up to board the bus he puts the magazine he is reading down which has his face on the cover.

Even someone who has no interest in anything Gump did would still see magazine covers in newsagents and grocery stores etc. Not to mention Gump has been on TV, with John Lennon no less.

My memory might be fuzzy but didn't the running thing happen after the bus thing we are talking about? I always saw the running thing to be a metaphor for "Hands across America" which happened in 1986.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

My own take on the film is that Forrest is actually a window into the world. As one of the trailers said, "You've never seen the world, until you've seen it through the eyes of Forrest Gump."

[–] uridon2 (184) 4 years ago

the whole thing is just a fairy tale. her not knowing him is just part of the silly charm

[–] Sandman81 (1501) 4 years ago

He would have been a legend in the state of Alabama just from being an All-American for the the Crimson Tide. Then add in being a war hero, and all the rest, and he would have been royalty in that state.

He would have had some notoriety across the rest of the country for going to China to play Ping Pong at that time, as well as being the running man. But I don't think he would have been super famous. When he walked down the street in New York, maybe some people would recognize him, but he wouldn't get mobbed like a movie star.

[–] strntz (10779) 4 years ago

But no one recognized him, except for the guy who laughed at the thought that Gump would be the owner of Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.

Not everyone would know Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, etc. if they sat next to him at a bus stop either.

It's not like Forrest saved the planet. He did a lot of things that went unnoticed: taught Elvis the hip swivel, gave the bumper sticker guy the "shit happens" idea, the t-shirt guy the smiley face idea.

I wouldn't know a single Congressional Honor Medal winner ever. Forrest made a lot of money with Apple stock, but other than the shrimp company, was otherwise under the radar.

Bubba Gump Shrimp was nowhere as big as Google, Facebook, or Amazon.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7393) 4 years ago

Don't take this the wrong way, but can you tell me who the CEO of Kroger is without looking it up? Or who owns the clothing chain Adedus? Or who owns Nike? Cause I sure can't.