Forrest Gump Essay

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What is sociological imagination? The textbook describes sociological imagination as the ability to see our private experiences, personal issues, and accomplishments as a reflection of the structural arrangements of society and the times in we live. The movie Forrest Gump is a wonderful example of sociological imagination. I will cite examples from the movie and tell how they correlate with sociological imagination in this paper. Sociological imagination allows us examine the events of our lives and see how they decussate with the wider context of history and tradition of the society in which we live now. One event in the movie that really stands out to me as a good example of sociological imagination is Forrest when he stayed at the Watergate Hotel. He was recovering from a wound he got in the Vietnam War, Forrest learned and realized he had outstanding talent for playing table tennis. Due to his excellent table tennis skills, Forrest was sent to Washington, D.C., and recognized as the "Player of the Year." He received his award at the White House. President Nixon give him the award, he asked where Forrest was staying. Forrest replied, in his very innocent way, that the hotel was not very well kept. Nixon must have thought Forrest deserved much better accommodations and told Forrest he would make sure he stayed in a better place. The next scene of the movie, Forrest is on the phone with the hotel security and is looking across the way into another part of the hotel. He suggests to security that the hotel needs to send a maintenance person "to the room across the way." He tells them that there are some men with flashlights in the room across the way, and he (Forrest) thinks that they are trying to locate the fuse box. In, instead of locating a fuse box, the scene he described was the famous break-in at the Watergate Hotel. If Forrest was never shot in Vietnam,

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