Was Forrest Gump an autisitic characters?

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The question is in the title.

ruveyn

Nope.

He was mildly to borderline MR IIRC.

No, mentally ret*d.

Forrest Gump was portrayed to be mildly MR, and autism was never mentioned explicitly or even suggested. However, his behaviour just about personifies autism - not necessarily to an extreme degree, à la Rain Man, but in quality. Clueless to the social context of the events going on around him, limited in his ability to express feelings, not prone to spontaneously share his accomplishments, and stimming up a storm at the bus stop with his briefcase full of must-have-it comfort items, Gump is a walking example of most versions of the diagnostic criteria. Add to it his literal interprtetation of things (think "raccoons", "we are not relations", etc) and intense, singularly-focused special interests (like three-year running spurts), and its hard to argue the "no he wasn't" position on any grounds other than "he's just a character." His friend Bubba showcased his own strong autistic tendencies, though the character wasn't ever developed enough to do quite as good a magical mystery layperson's assessment.

I also like that Gump was portrayed with elements of character that seem to be better represented on the autism spectrum than in the general population, particularly toward the more-impaired end - such as honour, loyalty, trust, tolerance, forgiveness and honesty. There's something to be said for not being able to "get" such concepts as hate.

I think I'm the only one on the planet that didn't like that movie. I think it was demeaning to people with MR who probably never even watched it, to have an intelligent person like Tom Hanks with, I'm sure, an above average IQ speaking like a dult.

Nope, did not like it a'tall.

: )

No, the character is mentally slow, but he does have some autistic tendiencies in his behavior.

Still, he did a lot for a person with a mental disablity even if he doesn't realize it.

The message of the movie was you can be imperfect and still make a huge success of yourself. Was Forrest autistic? I don't think he was. I can't remember for sure, but it seemed like the movie never really says what Forrest has and if it did, I must have missed that scene or forgot it. All I remember is the principal didn't want Forrest admitted in the school.
One thing for certain is he had trouble walking and had to wear leg braces but he eventually overcame that and went on to greater things.

No, he was just mentally slow. He had no social impairment, just intelligence impairment.

agreed

You're not alone. It's not a film I hate but it just bored me. The fact that it robbed "Shawshank Redemption" on oscar night doesn't exactly endear me to it either.

NOPE! There were NO autistic symptoms. There was NO disparity of intelligence. There were NO special talents. There was NO hypo/hyper sensitivity. Every problem he had stemmed from his mother and a lack of cognitive ability. I think tom hanks did a good job of playing a mentally ret*d person. I think he was probably mpre than mildly MR, but he was clearly MR.

He was considered to be MR. Back then IQ of 75 was in the MR range until 1992 they lowered it to 70. Now he be considered borderline, no longer MR.

I don't remember seeing any stimming, etc... There may have been a number of erasons for the running. Don't forget that he first ran to get away from bullies, and had that brace early on. Faced with all those problems, he would probably grasp for anything he could get. The other stuff is somewhat typical for someone that is not so bright, etc... Heck, my step brother, who is MR, acts the SAME way. That is certainly not meant as an insult to any here. If I forgot about any kind of honor, I could have ripped off people, and certainly had an easier time with bullies in school. I have been VERY loyal to many. I used to be too trusting, which is one reason why I am so cynical now. Heck, if I didn't get some tolerance, I probably couldn't live in this world. And I used to be too honest. I have learned that even the simplest question may be loaded, so I try to be careful. Granted, you don't see that so much here. As for forgiveness, I always had a problem with that. Frankly, it seems like MOST do. Perhaps everyone does. I am just more honest about that.

Some words are overused anyway. Some say fear is respect, and viceversa. Some call fealessness courage. Neither is the case. Respect is a quality that is akin to admiration of some trait, and has nothing to do with fear. Courage is knowing what could happen and facing it on in spite of that. So is forgiveness the same as not knowing a slight of some sort? Can loyalty stem from dependance? Is honesty the lack of an ability to lie?

As for the honesty, who knows? Has ANYONE, especially anyone that is MR, been in all the places/times he claimed to be? I say that more as a playful jab than anything, but DOES make one think.

WOW, and someone here said people are gettiing smarter!

One wonders why they went to so much effort to lower it 5 points.

I bet back before 1959, anyone below 100 was considered to be ret*d. Because that year, they lowered it to 80 to be MR.

WOW! Is that a special interest of yours or what? That was before you were even born! It's before *I* was even born! Oh well, maybe it is just the internet.