Gump - the American Dream

When one is to analyze a genre in film, many factors must be taken into consideration before a particular genre can be warranted. Such as, is this film a story or documentary? If the film qualifies as a story or narrative, what conventions can be drawn from the plot elements? How does this film touch that special place in my heart, in terms of the Reflectionist Theory? In today’s films, most do not fall into a specific genre, but rather a hybrid. How does one distinguish and critique genre in film? In fact, the answer lies in the questions themselves. In the sense that all of these elements aforementioned must be aligned properly in order to give an accurate and concise genre critique of a film. In the film Forrest Gump, all of these questions are answered in a manner in which the person witnessing the cinematic experience cannot help but to be in awe. The film Forrest Gump is not only a biographical film of the character Forrest Gump, but encompasses many characteristics that a citizen of the United States of America should be proud of.

At the beginning of film, there were three categories: Westerns, Horror, and Musicals. Today, there are many different genres that fall into a category that is outside the original three. In fact, genres tend to be subcategorized into hybrids that can only be distinguished by conventions. Conventions are connections and assumptions that are made by the person that is viewing the film. For example, a gangster film usually centers on the gangster’s rise to power, followed by its demise from death or imprisonment. However, conventions can be made using iconography as well. Iconography is a particular symbolic image that automatically connects the viewer to a particular meaning. In the film Forrest Gump, there is a plethora of iconographic conventions that follow Gump towards “The American Dream.” Or what some have dubbed, “Nationhood.”(Wang)

Cultural functions in genres are particularly effective in film because of the ability to...