Steven Lloyd Wilson's a regular contributor to Pajiba, an occasional reader and commenter here, and a damn fine writer all the way around.
And his take on what Forrest Gump might really have been saying about our old arch-nemesis the Baby Boomers -- the generation that so cherishes this movie and considers it a love-letter to them -- is brilliantly inspired.
Just a sample:
"The movie’s genius is in the way that it really does trivialize history. It trivializes all of the damned things that we’ve had to listen to the Boomers brag about for the last 30 years. Wow, you fought for civil rights? Wow, you realized a politician was corrupt? Wow, you figured out that war sucks? Guess what, any idiot could have figured out those things. By dropping the mantle of the Boomers’ accomplishments onto the broad shoulders beneath that mentally deficient head, Forrest Gump is in effect throwing down against the entire Boomer generation’s self-satisfied ego. So you did all those things, what do you want? A fucking medal? Forrest freaking Gump could have managed those things, so why are you so proud?"
Do yourself a favor and read the rest of it.
Pajiba: Stupid Is as Stupid Does/10.1.09
Related:
DXM: What a Long, Strange, Thoroughly Obnoxious Trip It's Been/9.1.09
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