Forrest Gump is a movie that was produced in the year 1994. The main character in this movie is Forrest Gump who is depicted as suffering from cognitive disability. Indeed, Forrest is said to have a score of 75 on the IQ scale. However, despite having been born with an intellectual disability, Forrest manages to live a successful life. In fact, he makes major achievements in life, which some normal individuals have failed to achieve. Essentially, Forrest had difficulties with his legs and wore leg braces. However, he managed to play football in school, was recruited into the army, and established a successful business. This film can be regarded as a fantasy in which the character has limited mental capabilities but positive things happen to him. Indeed, Forrest seems to be followed by fame and fortune in everything he does. His success is epitomised by winning the love of his life, Jenny. In this film, Forrest is depicted as being friendly, kind, and generous. Despite his disability, Forrest falls in love and achieves great success both in the social and financial realms. Apart from Forrest, there are other characters that have been featured in the movie. They include Jenny, who is experimenting and rebellious in life. Nonetheless, she is able to prove her love for Forrest whom she bore a child and married towards the end of the movie. The other characters include Lt. Dan Taylor and Benjamin Buford, also known as “Bubba.” These two were friends with Forrest. In fact, Forrest established long standing association with the two friends. He partnered with Lt. Dan in his business. On the other hand, although Bubba died in the war, Forrest lived to fulfil his dream of establishing a shrimp business.Forrest Gump has been hailed as one of the best fantasy movies. However, a close analysis of the movie reveals various flaws. What stands out clearly is how cognitive disability has been depicted in the movie using the IQ test. Forrest has been depicted as being cognitively disable based on his score of 75 on the IQ scale. This is a generalised assumption that individuals who have a below average score in IQ test are cognitively impaired. The values of IQ score in measuring intricate aspects such as intelligence is questionable. Such tests are formulated to make an average score to be about 100. In this regard, many individuals are found to have below average scores. Nevertheless, though such individuals cannot become successful in technical fields, they may have normal achievements in the other aspects of life. In the movie, Forrest is depicted as having limited intelligence. He wears short pants, he has abnormal feet, a witty hair cut, and missing teeth among other aspects. These features are meant to indicate that Forrest is lacking in the mental capacity. Forrest has been given characteristics that indicate that something is not right with him. With an IQ of 75, Forrest cannot be regarded as someone who is intellectually disabled. Nonetheless, in the movie, Forrest is depicted as a mentally disabled person. In a general sense, individuals with mental disabilities are negatively perceived in the society. In most cases, such individuals are often regarded as children, they become objects of mockery, and are regarded as non-humans. These elements are profound in this movie where Forrest behaves in a childish manner, he is often referred to as an idiot on numerous occasions, and he makes use of physical attributes that are beyond human capacity in making up for the lack of cognitive ability. In essence, the movie depicts Forrest as someone who is having a limited intellectual capacity due to his score of 75 on the IQ scale. This leads to the question as to whether all individuals with below average IQ scores should be regarded as having cognitive disability.From his work on “Civilization and its Discontents,” Sigmund Freud may agree with the general assumption presented in the movie. Sigmund Freud argued that the inclination of a human being towards aggression is an innate, original instinctual temperament of human nature. This is the greatest barrier to civilization. Civilization is a struggle between death and Eros. This is a struggle between the impulse of life and the impulse of destruction (Freud, 1929). Freud (1929) noted “I may now add that civilization is a process in the service of Eros, whose purpose is to combine single human individuals, and after that families, then races, peoples and nations into one great unity, the unity of mankind” (p. 396). In this regard, individuals with less than average IQ scores are generalised as suffering from cognitive disability. However, Forrest has been seen as suffering from mental retardation since childhood, but he struggles throughout his life to overcome his inabilities. In his struggles, Forrest is able to achieve significant successes as depicted in the movie.
