Letter To Fellow 'Simpletons' Of The World:“Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates”

My Dear(est) Fellow 'Simpletons':

Allow me to begin with a brief summation of a brilliant movie starring the fascinating actor Tom Hanks. In the movie, a floating feather, symbolic of cross-cutting themes such as destiny, fate, and human limitations and potential, is key.

Now, regarding the content of the movie: Forrest Gump, played brilliantly by Tom Hanks, is a 'simple-minded,' 'intellectually impaired,' good-hearted American guy.

Gump, dealt a whammy by fate, loses his mother, who before dying tells him:“Gump, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” To the question,“Why are you dying, Mama?” asked by Gump, an adult man, his mother replies:“It's my time. It's just my time.”

With tears in her eyes, Gump's mother offers him parting advice:“You have to do the best with what God gave you.”

Gump, bullied at school for his 'dim-wittedness' and physical disabilities, breaks his leg in a schoolyard fight. Apparently a debility, this reveals Gump to be a fast runner. He lands in the U.S. Army, befriends a man, 'Bubba Blue,' and saves his life and that of other soldiers.

While he loses his friend 'Bubba,' who had wanted Gump to be a partner in the shrimp business, Gump also loses his beloved (presumably because he is too 'dim-witted').

The prelude is filled with Gump becoming a sports celebrity, feted by U.S. President John F. Kennedy at the White House. For his heroism, he is awarded a Medal of Honor by Lyndon B. Johnson. His post-war endeavors include endorsing a sports company in his native Alabama and running a successful shrimp business in honor of his deceased friend, Bubba Blue.

Gump is reunited with his beloved Jenny, who has been living a hippie lifestyle. Jenny deserts Gump again, but she bears him a son. That fatherhood, Gump believes, is his destiny. The film ends with Gump narrating the story to a group of strangers at a bus stop, as the feather wafts past.

(Obiter dictum, a modern-day Forrest Gump may be the closest approximation or rendition of Percival, the“fool” with the intellectual and moral perspective of the Western literary tradition.)

Whether the movie Forrest Gump was a critique of counterculture extreme liberalism and rooted in family values and tradition, or whether at a deeper level it was about the interplay of fate, destiny, free will, and so on, may be beside the point here.

What is relevant and pertinent, cutting across cultures and boundaries, is that the 'simpleminded' or 'simpletons' are looked down upon by society, excluded and marginalized, lampooned, caricatured, and laughed at.

In this schemata, 'intelligence' is prized and valued, the ability to advance (usually at the expense of others) is seen as a virtue, 'simplicity' is regarded as naïve, ostentatiousness and material possession are seen as reflecting the gumption of people, and good looks, beautiful bodies, and stylish clothes are viewed as 'taste and refinement.'

Anything contrary to these values is demeaned, looked down upon, and scorned.

This is the world of Ayn Rand, where power, and the quest for power, narrowly defined, is the apogee of the human endeavor.

In this world, the weak have no place. Caught in the warp and woof of social Darwinism, the weak can only redeem themselves in the persona of Howard Roark, the hero of Atlas Shrugged. If they don't, they wilt, wither, and die.

This bleak world is gradually becoming the default condition of societies across the globe, in varying permutations, combinations, and avatars.

In this world, the 'simpletons' have no place.

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