While reading and discussing Libra, I thought that Lee had very similar characteristics to Forrest Gump. Primarily regarding Lee’s tendency to be on the sidelines of major historical occurrences. Whether intentionally or not, Lee is seemingly observing monumental moments in history similar to how Forrest Gump finds himself observing the critical historical moments of his time period.
We see Lee traveling to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and helping interrogate the downed U2 pilot during the international crisis. He positions himself in anti-castro organizations and hands out political leaflets. In many ways we see Lee’s desire to be remembered and align himself in the broader arc of his historical time period. Viewing his own detainment as signs that he is a political revolutionist, Lee is almost always attempting to merge his identity with that of the world around him.
We see Forrest Gump do this as well. He finds himself fighting in the Vietnam War, accidentally viewing the watergate scandal, and intertwining with the Black Panthers among other things. However, his convergence with the broader historical timeline is not one of intentional positioning but coincidence. This fundamentally separates Lee and Forest in their attempt to be remembered.
However, we see Forest and Lee both get manipulated throughout their life. It is a difficult comparison, as Forest struggles with his own mental challenges. However, Forest gets manipulated into joining the army and mowing the lawn for his university. Lee’s manipulations into killing President Kennedy are much different. It plays on Lee’s nature of desiring a legacy in history, and his thirst for individual attention.
Overall the two characters are very different, but both tread as a witness in major historical events. Both also do not have a father growing up, and spend time in the US military. In these ways I was reminded of Forrest Gump while reading Libra.
I definitely see the resemblance between Lee and Forrest Gump. I do think that Lee is a little more intentional in his placement in history, but like Forrest, he is also easily influenced. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting post! I've actually never seen Forrest Gump before (though it's on my watch list) and I don't think I ever could have imagined there being parallels between his character and the guy who killed Kennedy. You touch on themes of coincidence, which are also important in Libra, even if Lee is intentional in a lot of the things he does.
ReplyDeleteForrest Gump is one of my favorite movies, and I'm surprised I never thought about the parallels between Lee and Forrest while reading Libra. Despite these parallels, I think they are very different stories. I think Forrest Gump is about social and political issues in America during the 60s/70s, and Libra is about history and the human condition
ReplyDeleteI have never seen _Forrest Gump_ (I still think _Pulp Fiction_ was robbed for Best Picture in 1994!), but based on what I know of the character and the film's depiction of history, there may well be some parallels. It is incredible that this otherwise anonymous and inconsequential former Marine ends up present in the USSR for the interrogation of Francis Gary Powers--and that he would go on to be accused of assassinating the POTUS. But while Lee is easy to manipulate (as Ferrie memorably explains), the key is that he needs to THINK he's the one running things. As Mackey puts it, this guy needs to believe he's the lone gunman. In some ways, he doesn't actually want to "merge his life with the common struggle"--he wants to distinguish himself from the masses, be the hero who is welcomed in Havana. There's an odd tension between Lee's strong individualism and even narcissism and his alleged commitment to communism. And the historical Oswald did seem to have an unusual penchant for making himself go "undercover"--all the stuff in New Orleans with him pretending to be a pro-Castro guy who pretends to be an anti-Castro guy in order to pretend to be a pro-Castro guy so he can infiltrate anti-Castro groups, while also pretending to be a pro-Castro guy so he can also infiltrate pro-Castro groups. (I think I have that right! It took me like four drafts!). There's definitely some unique psychology going on there--this desire to shape his own life according to lies and fictions, presumably for his own amusement. And that smirk seems to fit the profile perfectly--he just LOOKS like a guy who is sure he knows more than you.
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly many similarities between the two, even down to their absent fathers and military experience. However, I think Lee is far more concerned with others’ perceptions of him in comparison to Gump. Lee tends to try to seek out history whereas Gump comes upon it by chance. This is a fun blog post, Taehan.
ReplyDeleteLee and Forest Gump truly are similar in terms of being on the sidelines of major historical events. The difference being Lee really wants to be significant and wants to be a historical figure and Forest Gump is kind of just there, like in the Vietnam War. They both are also manipulated, but Lee got manipulated through the pleasing of his desires. Now that I think about it, they are very similar.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! I never would have thought of this unique connection, but I certainly see the similarities. Forest Gump is a kind of mellowed down version of Lee. Both are easily manipulated, but Lee's selfish ways led him to specific extremes.
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