I think it only means that you've made certain choices, not that it's necessarily a measure of your intelligence. I'm in, sort of, the same boat. I work with people all the time that have their Ph.D.s but that doesn't mean they're necessarily smarter than me (especially considering some of the things I'm asked to do). However, they were certainly willing to put in the work to achieve a certain goal. And to reach that goal, they had to be more intelligent than a sack of potatoes, and they had to work hard for it. They simply picked a different goal than I did and learned different things to achieve that goal.
Do some things happen by luck? Sure, but it's rare to really excel by luck in real life, and even then it's usually only financial, while Forrest Gump, as a fictional character, suggested that not only is luck is all you need but people who actually had aspirations and worked towards them would inevitably fail. At least that's the movie I saw. -Kevin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Small" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 10:53 AM Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > I would have to say that there are plenty of people less intelligent than I > who are more successful, at least in business. Do you not think this is > possible? If it isn't, what does that say about me? That I'm definitely > less intelligent than my boss? Intelligence certainly does not equal > success. Success takes much more than being able to figure out the value of > PHI or doing calculus, or figuring out how things work or liking culture and > arts more than everybody else. It also takes measures of courage, faith, > and luck, qualities that Gump had in abundance. > > Now, this is not an intelligent conversation. > > - Matt Small > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Kevin Graeme" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 11:13 AM > Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > > > > Yeah! > > > > I didn't like the movie either. But in addition to what you mention, I did > > come away with the "Dumb is Good" message. It presents as a hero a person > > who's an idiot, yet this idiot succeeds where intellegent people fail. > Some > > people have tried to explain it as a "God has a plan" or a "Zen" type > > message, but that's bunk. That argument is just a promotion of stupidity > > shrouded in an enticing package that leads to the people crafting the > > fictional message subjugating the people who believe it. > > > > </rant> > > > > -Kevin > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Jim Campbell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 9:57 AM > > Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > > > > > > > I think the most unforgivable aspect of the movie is the contempt with > > > which it treats its audience. There's nothing wrong with a simple plots > > > or characters - films like "Babe" or "The Straight Story" are wonderful, > > > with rich stories crafted around what are essentially one-sentence > > > synopses. > > > > > > "Gump", however, by trying to recreate itself as some sort of touchstone > > > for all of recent history (as opposed to Groom's novel, which was > > > genuinely funny - sort of like an alternate-universe "World According to > > > Garp"), comes across as a sort of emperor with no clothes. Its epic > > > feel and length beg for serious consideration, but the reactionary, > > > stupid and moralistic steamrolling of what are truly dynamic and complex > > > social events into digestible bits of nostalgic confections is > > infuriating. > > > > > > The movie's message isn't "Dumb is Good", it's "You're too stupid to > > > figure this out on your own, so we'll make it easy for you." > > > > > > What's even stranger is the principles behind the movie - Tom Hanks, > > > Robert Zemeckis, Gary Sinise - are extraordinarily talented, yet managed > > > to not only make this movie with a straight face, but convince the AMPAS > > > that it was somehow more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar than either > > > "Pulp Fiction" or "Shawshank Redemption", which is just amazing. > > > > > > - Jim > > > > > > Raymond Camden wrote: > > > > > > >I find it interesting you call Forrest Gump anti-intellectual, as I've > > > >heard others say that as well. I often wondered why though. The main > > > >character isn't intelligent, isn't even average, but I never saw the > > > >film as saying 'dumb is good'. > > > > > > > >-rc > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >>-----Original Message----- > > > >>From: Jim Campbell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >>Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 3:30 PM > > > >>To: CF-Community > > > >>Subject: Re: Bad choice of movies this weekend > > > >> > > > >> > > > >>Actually, there is no film that I despise more than "Forrest > > > >>Gump", and > > > >>I'm not even sure exactly why I hate it so much. Maybe > > > >>because it feels > > > >>disingenuous and anti-intellectual, and it's not in the same > > > >>league as > > > >>groaning at incredibly bad MST3K-fare movies like "Space > > > >>Mutiny" or "The > > > >>Head That Wouldn't Die" - this is an active hatred along the lines of > > > >>Roger Ebert's opinion of "North", my favorite review of his > > > >>of all time: > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1994/07/931635.html > > > > > > > >- Jim > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=t:5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm?link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 This list and all House of Fusion resources hosted by CFHosting.com. The place for dependable ColdFusion Hosting. http://www.cfhosting.com
