Forrest Gump Disability Essay

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The movie Forrest Gump is a film about a man with a low I.Q who is able to overcome his difference and still be successful He tell the story of his life while sitting at a bus stop in the present. Forrest Gump was born in Greenbow Alabama in the 50’s with a learning disability and leg problems which put him at a disadvantage amongst his peers and made him prone to being teased, his only friend is Jenny Curan the cute blonde haired girl that shared her seat with Forrest. Jenny had a dysfunctional childhood whereas Forrest had love consistently poured out to him at home. though he is seen as stupid by society his mom pours out nothing but unconditional love toward him and does not restrict him in anyway even though he has a disability. Forrest …show more content…

Forrest is different than the ths kids his age, his disability caused his development to slow. During middle childhood development children are seen to develop a sense of confidence and self esteem in how they see their self children of this age generally become self conscious and their emotions are governed by personal responsibility pride and guilt and they also become more empathetic. During this time period Forrest was pretty friendly to everyone because of the way he was raised with an Authoritative style he was more open and able to make decisions for himself. Due to Forrest disadvantage though he was slow to pick up on others feeling towards situations. In the movie when Forrest is bullied he doesn’t understand why, all he knows is he supposed to run away from the boys throwing things at him because Jenny tells him to. Forrest disadvantage leaves him clueless and unable to quickly put reasoning behind emotions.
Erikson's Theory can be applied to this film of Forrest Gump. Many events take place in Forrest life. As a child Forrest is shown unconditional love from his mother and supported in making his decisions in school and in life Erikson's theory of industry vs. inferiority can be applied to Forrest during this time in his life wheres as Jenny would have inferiority aspect of Erikson's theory applied to her life because she did not receive that same unconditional love and care from her