Cecily Primus
Ms. Gagne
American Literature
3 March 2023
Historical Fiction: Forrest Gump and Hepatitis C Zemeckis' film, “Forrest Gump”, won six Academy Awards against some of film history's greatest films (IMDb). Popular culture sometimes uses real world events to make the movie more realistic and Forrest Gump in one of those movies. Although this film is a work of fiction, the historical events that are portrayed are not accurate, for example the representation of the virus Hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is an infection that causes liver inflammation (Mayo Clinic). It is an infection caused by the Hepatitis C virus HCV (CDC). Symptoms of Hepatitis C include bleeding or bruising easily, fatigue, poor appetite, yellow discoloration of the skin and eyes, itchy skin, drowsiness, and spider-like blood vessels (Mayo Clinic). The common ways that Hepatitis C is contracted is injecting dirty needles, being exposed to infected blood, being in prison, and being born from a woman with Hepatitis C (Mayo Clinic). The best way to prevent Hepatitis C is to avoid bad behaviors like injecting drugs (CDC). People born between 1945-1965 are the most at risk for Hepatitis C, they are 5 times more
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All we heard is that Jenny is sick with a virus but not a specific virus. We can only suggest that it is Hepatitis C. When it was brought up that Jenny was sick they were sitting in the park after Forrest meets Forrest Jr.. I think major things that were missing is the explanation of what virus Jenny has, and or her symptoms. I think to better explain it they could’ve shown her being sick. I think the director chose to put this in because she had a kid and when a kid is born from a woman with the virus the child is very likely to get the virus as well. I think another reason why they incorporated it is because it showed how much Forrest cares about Jenny and if she was sick how he would take care of her and Forrest