Question: When Forrest is introducing the members of his Platoon in Vietnam all of the character names are the names of cities, he then tells where each solider is from but their hometown is different then their nick name. (for example "Dallas from Phoenix") why would each person have a name of a city as their name?
Answer: This is just a bit of incidental humor. For example: Dallas is the young man's real name. Why would his parents name him Dallas if he was from Phoenix? Same with Cleveland.
Theyre just nicknames aren't they? Like Bubba.
Tex seems to be an obvious nickname, but Dallas and Cleveland are more than likely their real names since many people have those names.
Answer: Forest is mistaking their nicknames for their actual names, and misremembering where they were from. The soldiers are given nicknames based on where they are from. Tex from Texas, Dallas from Dallas. Etc. The funny bit is that Forest isn't putting it together.
There's nothing to indicate Dallas and Cleveland aren't their real names, just like Dan is his real name. The joke being he's remembering where those two are from but when it comes to Tex, an obvious nickname, he can't remember where he's from. Plus, why would a guy from Texas get the nickname Dallas and another guy from Texas get the nickname Tex and not the city he's from?
Question: In the scene where Forrest is talking to Bubba's grave, he says, "for saying, "I just love playing ping pong with my Flexolite ping pong paddle" which everyone knows isn't true, but momma said it's just a little white lie so it wouldn't hurt nobody." He also told his mom that he only like using his paddle. What type of paddle did Forrest actually use?
Answer: His red paddle from the military - the brand is never specified.
Question: Does young Forrest start school a couple of years later than the other children shown on the bus? He appears to be older than five or six, the age when most kids go to kindergarten and first grade.
Answer: He starts some time later than the other children, since the principal won't let him in school until he sleeps with his mother. We're not told how much time passes before this happens, so it could be a year or more. Kindergarten is optional in the US. A school in the Deep South in the 1950s may not have even offered a Kindergarten, so Forrest would be going into 1st Grade, probably a bit older than the other kids.
Question: Would the army really take a guy with a low I.Q., much less one with a cleft lip?
Answer: The Army doesn't issue IQ tests upon enlistment. Given that Forrest had a college degree, and passed basic training with flying colors because of his amazing ability to follow orders, he would be allowed in just fine. And Bubba didn't have a cleft lip, just big gums.
Answer: I can't even guess why you think a cleft lip would disallow someone from being admitted into the Army, or anything/anywhere else for that matter.
Because an unrepaired cleft lip is a disqualifying disability. You can't join the US military if you have one.
Question: Is there any significant reason why Forrest Gump wears blue in almost every scene (when he's not in uniform)?
Answer: Maybe it was Forrest's favorite color? Or sometimes the director of a movie does that to set a mood throughout.
Answer: I believe that in addition to mild mental impairment Forrest also suffers from a degree of autism. Autistic individuals frequently have ingrained mannerisms, such as only wanting to wear a paricular type or color of clothing. Other examples that might point to autism are his mindless devotion to mowing and running.
Question: How old was Jenny when she died?
Answer: 36. (4 months shy of 37). Her date of birth was in July 1945 and she died in March 1982 according to her headstone shown in the film.
Question: Three questions here: Why does Jenny insist Forrest touch her chest, why does she go all the way with him then leave, and wouldn't this be considered a crime on her part as he's only got an IQ of 75?
Answer: Jenny loves Forrest and cares about him deeply. She knows he's in love with her, so she gives him that "gift" before leaving. They were both consenting adults, so unless there was a third party who insisted Forrest couldn't give consent there wouldn't be a legal issue.
Answer: As for the last part of your question, it's usually viewed that a person with a mental handicap can still legally give consent for sex so long as they display knowledge and voluntariness when it comes to the encounter. (Aka, they have a basic understanding what is happening, know the positives and negatives, and want to proceed.) Given that Forrest has been shown to be pretty high functioning (he's quirky and slow, but can do a lot of the things other people can, and has shown a lot of fields of talent), and would obviously consent because he loves her, Jenny shouldn't be in any legal trouble. If Forrest was more severely handicapped or showed a bigger lack of awareness, then that might be an issue. I actually read up about this years ago because I'm in the autism spectrum, and a previous (non-disabled) sexual partner I had expressed their concern about this very topic.
Question: Forrest's mother doesn't want him at a "special school", where he would learn "how to re-tread tires." What does that mean? Would a school for mentally disabled children also be a vocational/trade school?
Answer: In the past, (perceived) "dumb" students were more likely to be placed into vocational rather than academic programs because it was assumed they had limited ability and would not "amount to much" in life (make much of themselves). Therefore, they could at least be trained to perform something almost anyone could do with little or no training. Once someone is trained how to re-tread tires, for example, he should be able to repeatedly do the same thing everyday for years and be "productive." A variation of re-treading tires was learning how to make "birdhouses and ashtrays" - non-essential products in society that some people still might want to buy.
More recently, the trend has been to "mainstream" such students - keep them in classes with their peers.
Question: Why did Jenny's grandmother take Jenny into her home, but not the sisters?
Answer: Some possibilities are: either the sisters' situations were discovered before Jenny's, and they are already there (or living with someone else), or the sisters are older and moved out on their own. We never hear of the sisters living at the house during the film so it's hard to pinpoint the actual situations with them.
Question: In regards to the Black Panthers meeting, why were Jenny and her boyfriend (at the time) hanging around with them? Also, why didn't they (the Black Panthers at the meeting) step in when she was getting hit and abused by him?
Answer: Jenny and her boyfriend were radical, anti-government activists, whose goals were aligned with the Panthers'. As to why they didn't intervene, Forrest reacted before anyone else could, and sadly, people tend to look away when they see a woman being abused.
Question: Unless he's carrying a lot of money how does Forrest get those different clothes while he's running those several years?
Answer: Or he bought them cheap from discount stores or charity shops, or they were given to him. There are lots of possibilities and this is in a movie deliberately loaded with coincidence and spectacle. It's speculation to go into more detail.
Answer: Forrest would not need to carry large amounts of cash with him, which would be dangerous. His business partner, Dan Taylor, could wire or transfer money to a bank wherever Forrest would be that would cover any expenses. Forrest could also be using a credit card, or a better option, a debit card that could have a small balance that Dan would add to as needed. If it was ever stolen, having a small amount on balance would protect Forest.
Question: If Jenny dies of AIDS or Hepatitis C then does her son Forrest have it?
Answer: In the sequel novel 'Gump and Company, ' it's revealed that Jenny died of Hepatitis C. The odds of passing that to a child are about 1 in 25, so Forrest, Jr, is likely in the clear (and it's possible she contracted it after he was born). Https://www.hepatitis.va.gov/hcv/patient/faqs/index.asp.
Question: In Vietnam when Forrest is introducing the other men in his group telling their names and where they are from, all the soldiers names are names of cities. This was obviously done on purpose but why?
Answer: When people from different places are put togther into groups they usually giver eachother nicknames, this is particularly true in the military, and a lot of times your nickmane would just be where you are from, if you do not have some other characteristic, or your name does not rhyme or sound like some other word.
Answer: The nicknames are given to Forrest's troop mates are given in a racial way or by how they act although they are not from that city. For example Dallas had a farmers tan and always had a pack of smokes referencing to chuck Norris in one of his films taking place in the same time period and same helmet that was filmed just outside of Dallas and was also filmed there.
Question: I thought I recognised the woman that pushes Forrest in line for the Vietnam veteran demonstration as a cameo of Sandra Bullock, and the woman Jenny as a hippie is playing guitar with (before the guy asks them to go to SF) as a cameo of Lisa Kudrow. Anyone knows whether this is correct?
Answer: The actress you think might be Sandra Bullock is listed as a actress named Hilary Chaplain.
Answer: They are not listed on IMDB as such. Also by 1994, Sandra Bullock's only memorable appearance was Demolition Man (her real popularity started with Speed in 1994), and Lisa Kudrow was only known for the waitress on "Mad About You" - a minor role. Neither would have been a likely choice for a "cameo" role, yet at the same time would probably have charged too much for an extra/walk-on.
Question: I don't understand why Jenny left Forrest's house after having sex with him and saying that she loved him. Could someone please offer thoughts on this?
Answer: It seems more like Jenny realises that she is a screw up and doesn't deserve the love of Forrest. She left to get herself together in order to be worthy of him.
Answer: Forrest had mental issues. Jenny slept with him because she thought she loved him (and she realises later that she did), but didn't think that Forrest loved her back because he wasn't capable of understanding that kind of love (and she realises later that he did). She then remembered that her dad sexually abused her when she didn't understand what was going on, and she felt like she was behaving the way her dad did (remember Forrest's look of fear and discomfort?). Jenny then felt guilty and ran away because she didn't know how to deal with the guilt.
Answer: People who were abused often have issues with trust, and they can have difficulty forming healthy, stable relationships. They are often drawn to problematic relationships - for example, Jenny's boyfriend, Wesley - because these situations are familiar to them.
Question: Is there a way to know what was going on in the TV footage that Forest is in? For example when He shows Johnson his wound and Johnson walks away laughing, or when he has the confrontation with Kennedy, what was going on with the actual footage they used?
Chosen answer: (1) The effects artists involved in "Forrest Gump" used footage of President Lyndon Johnson giving an award to Sammy Davis Jr., and superimposed Hanks over Davis to make it look like the president was giving Gump a medal. (2) Forrest appears with John Lennon on "The Dick Cavett Show." This was morphed with footage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s first appearance with Mr. Cavett, which aired September 11, 1971. They were the only guests on the show that evening. But In the film, Forrest Gump's image is superimposed over Yoko Ono’s (original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78L_v3_ufQ0). In the "Forrest Gump" film, Cavett plays himself, made up to look younger. (3) I believe the archival footage of President John F. Kennedy is actual footage of Kennedy honoring a championship football team, with Tom Hanks digitally inserted. But I do not know which team nor the year. In all instances, when Forrest Gump is digitally composited into historic events, the special effects team recreated that archival footage with actor Tom Hanks. They combined their new work with the actual clip via CGI and clever editing. Finally, in post-production, they modified mouth movements of the historical figures so that they appear to be saying the new dialogue.
Question: Forrest reveals (in the voice over) that Jenny was taken from her father's home and sent to live with her grandmother. He indirectly indicates that Jenny was sexually abused by her father. My question is who would have reported the abuse to the police so that Jenny could be removed from the situation? And where would her sisters have gone assuming they were also sent away and, like Jenny, were minors?
Answer: It's never explained. Perhaps the grandmother or a teacher reported the abuse. It's possible the abuse was never reported, maybe Jenny simply asked her grandmother if she could move in with her. Maybe there was no proof that the other girls were being abused, or they didn't want to leave, or they were moved to foster families or other relatives.
I think this is accurate. I have in-laws whose children have been taken away, and the children went to households of different relatives. It's also possible that Jenny's sisters were older and left home on their own. During this time, it would have been easier for teenagers to leave town and not be discovered.
Answer: I think you're reading things into it. He was certainly talking about real life sisters.
Answer: It doesn't matter who reported it to the policeman. It doesn't have to happen on the same day. And regarding Jenny's sister, there was never a sister. When the policeman send the kid to her grandmother, it was only Jenny. The 'sister' word was from the voiceover of Forrest who didn't really understand what kind of misery happened. The 'sister' was Jenny's privates. Her father touched them improperly.
I'm approaching middle age and have lived in the southern USA for my entire life. I have never heard of "sisters" being slang for a person's private parts. At least not around here. Also, Jenny understands that Forrest is mentally slower than than the other kids at their school. I don't think she would use such a term when speaking to him. And I can't imagine him choosing to use it.
Answer: Tom Hanks was inserted into actual footage of the presidents, replacing real persons who were there at the time. Computer editing was then used to modify the presidents' mouth movements to match dialog that was recorded by voice doubles for the film.