Invasion of the Brain Snatchers

Searching high and low for agreement on Gump.

Movies become like personal objects to us. We can buy them now of course, but long before the $15.99 DVD people esteemed certain movies to be about them. Not literally, but we identify with a character or a situation so closely it reminds us that we are not alone.

I attended an advance screening of Forrest Gump last month*. Like a lot of Hollywood fare lately, Gump struck me as methodical, false, safe and manipulative. If I was by myself I would have, as I do a lot these days, walked out.

By the end of the movie I was irritable. Suffocating on the film's schmaltz, I was the first one to the exit as the credits rolled. The theatre was packed that night, as the audience poured on to the street I was amazed to see tears being wiped away on many faces. Someone familiar actually called to me and asked why I wasn't crying too.

That night I predicted that Gump would be a huge hit**. It was a safe guess based on how poor this summer's movies are. What I couldn't foresee was the universal, single-minded enthusiasm for this film. I referred to it glibly as "Invasion of the Brain Snatchers." Like the sci-fi flick I was completely surrounded by humanoids, in this case Gump-lovers.

We all have times when we think we're on the wrong planet, and I began having mine. For days I searched vainly for even a peep of negative opinion about Gump. I went to parties where people were talking how they, ho-ho, really loved that Gump. Then the blurbs began…"delightful, heart-warming, bittersweet, oscar-calibre…" A cloud-burst of praise.

Then, buried on a mid-week entertainment page, Province reviewer Lee Bacchus commented how phoney Gump was. Lee is a complete stranger to me, but I was getting desperate for reassurance. Gump was wearing away at my normally confident view of the world. So I phoned him.

Bacchus was also uncomfortable with the glee for Gump. He, too, was mum while departing the screening. He, too, felt alone in his estimation of Gump. This had all the makings of a support group. Gump-haters.

The Internet brims with peoples' opinions on everything, so I scoured the Net for that kindred spirit. I found only two fellow Gump-grumps in cyberspace.

One was a part time hacker and film critic who gave a tepid review to the movie. He cleverly called it a "Horatio Alger story based on the life of Gomer Pyle."

The other was a hothead who belonged to a political-religious organization. He said Gump was "EVIL" (his caps), and appeared to be looking for an argument. I could use this guy on my side.

The Gump debate centres around the movie's meaning. One side argues passionately that Forrest Gump is about the triumph over adversity. That anyone can achieve greatness in spite of handicaps, etc. The other side believes that Gump is a con – a muddle of corporate doublethink and boomer flashback.

Here's what the hothead says:

"Gump is a man, mostly devoid of the ability to distinguish cause from effect, right from wrong; he floats randomly through the world (remember the symbol of the feather?), a world made deliberately familiar to us, the shared faux-world of "popular historical memory". Rather than being beaten down, locked-up or destroyed by a cruel world (as a person like Gump really would be), he is miraculously lifted to heights of greatness and brings wonderful happiness to everyone around him…

"The movie's message is not just that life is a series of unexplainable events, but that it is good that the world is so unfair, random and meaningless.

"That's why, beyond the stereotypes, the bad gags, the silly misuse of movie technology and the shameless corporate plugs, Forrest Gump is a tasteless, misguided piece of crap."

Here's a response to this guy's invective:

"I really took offense at what you said. I saw Forrest Gump as a man who concentrates on what he is doing when he is doing it. Not letting other things destract [ sic ] him. I thought that the movie showed that anyone can accomplish anything they want to, if they set thier [ sic ] mind to it. You are commiting [ sic ] the same wrongs as the people in the movie does…you are putting him down because he is slow. That because he is slow…he can't do anything for himself…"

This wet noodle opinion is much more widely held: probably a million to one.

Liking Gump doesn't necessarily classify you as an idiot. People I consider to be very sharp attended the movie with me, yet they loved it. So why do I, or Bacchus, or the chaps on the Internet, hold such vehemently different views on this summertime Hollywood fluff than the rest of the world?

I have no idea. I will say this though. Movies are infinitely more stupid now than they've ever been. And we pay out billions for them. I partly blame the critics. Movie criticism is a highly compromised side of journalism, and it's affected the way we judge movies. If skilled critics were communicating the shortcomings of movies freely and loudly, maybe we wouldn't fall so hard for flicks like Forrest Gump.

But maybe not. I e-mailed the hothead, just to let him know I appreciated his comments, and this was his reply:

"Thank God you agree. You know what's scary? You're the first person who has written anything to me in agreement. But I have received tons of hostile replies from angry Gump-lovers, I mean, ANGRY!

"My big question is: could a movie this sick have been dreamed up on purpose, or is it just an accident of poor writing, film-by-committee, Hollywood-idiocy that this weird message got through? Every single point that film made me feel sick…and people love it. It's a huge hit. The whole thing has been very revealing for me.

"I wonder if people are just responding to the images and sounds (pop memory, sentiment) or if they understand (maybe subconsciously) the message and love it. Is it kinda reassuring for some people to be told that, 'Hey, you don't have to be stupid and aimless to be happy, but it helps'?"

*Originally published 1994
**Well, perhaps not THAT huge