Racism, Society and the Vietnam War in the 1960’s in Forrest Gump Essay Example

Memories can be formed in many different ways. Often times they are images and sensations that one can associate with a time or event in the past. A certain smell can have the effect if transporting you to a special place that you remember dearly. The creation and retention of memory is both conscious and unconscious, with the end result being a stored piece of information that can be dug up at any given time. More intriguing are the memories an individual can have about a time or place they have never experienced in their lives. In this case, it could be said that these are more the work of preconceptions and assumptions. Through word of mouth someone born in the 1990’s can overtime develop an image of what they believe the 1920’s to have been like. Pictures, printed works and live recordings from the time itself, further support the stories that are passed down through the generations. A picture of 19th century European soldier may allow us to perceive what life may have been like at that time by visualizing his clothes and expressions. Beyond this mostly factual depiction of the past is something far more powerful. Cinema. The modern movie screen is a medium that recreates all sorts of era’s, landscapes and scenarios, from the daily life of an ant, to the farthest reaches of the universe. In Robert Zemeckis’s Forrest Gump, we are given a look into America during a time of radical change. Through the eyes of a simpleton, Forrest Gump, Zemeckis guides us through the social and political goings on of the 1960’s. Within his depiction of the 1960’s, we are able to form opinions of the time. Forrest is a symbol of the struggle to hold onto 50’s America, during an era marked with race riots, distrust of the government and the Vietnam War. In this essay I will attempt to connect the events of Forrest’s life as we see then in the film, to the collective memory that many American’s have regarding the 1960’s. By encompassing crooked political action, aggressive anti-war