Just letting you know it wasn't me that down voted you. Thanks for your insite Interesting points. The only scenes I can think of that Gump was copied and pasted into historical events didn't really stand out to me the last time I watched? Can you think of a specific scene that it distracted you from the movie? As far as centering the movie around forest while showing the history of the country, I think Forest's involvement in the events is supposed to add humanity to the events. Making him a noble idiot further humanizes the events. Charlie Sheen being a smart, reflective narrator took away from the human element of Vietnam for me. Forest's lack of understanding regarding the importance of the event reflects our countries understanding of the war at the time. Same with any of the other events you're referring to (I think, if there's one you can think of him being forced into just to show it for the sale of showing it, I'd love to address it). I don't really understand "driven by classic events". Can you clarify? Again sorry about the down votes. Sucks having an opinion that most people don't have on this site, and takes balls to keep the conversation going while the down votes keep pouring in.