I finally read the book and Forrest is not mentally deficient at all in the book.
In the book, he’s a very aware, intelligent person who’s good at focusing on and solving problems but has a speech impediment.
Maybe the movie tried to do that, but I don’t think they tried to do that.
He also goes to space with a chimpanzee.
The book is pretty crazy.
You’re not wrong they literally have a scene talking about his test scores showing his mentally deficiency on a written test.
In the film he’s a diagnosed retard.
Which you could charitably read as them not understanding that a speech impediment doesn’t translate to lower intelligence, but reading the book is very jarring because it’s basically narrated by this almost hyper self-aware character who became famous for being portrayed as unthinking, literally mentally challenged and falling into all of these events.
Sounds like the movie made a change for the better.
It’s been some time since I’ve read the book, but I always say, Forrest Gump is an example of the movie being better than the book.
Another example of this is Fight Club. The movie has the big twist, which isn’t even hidden in the book.
Imagine interacting with strangers beyond “did the bus I need already stop here?”.
Signed, the Netherlands.
I can’t imagine interacting with strangers at all under any circumstances (as long as it’s on a bus).
Signed, Sweden
It’s so inconsiderate to interact with strangers in an environment they cannot escape.
Greetings from Norway
