The portrayal of mental retardation in cinema. Forrest Gump: Rule or Exception?

This article approaches mental retardation, social representations and Hollywood cinema, in the movie Forrest Gump. The main goal is the analysis of individual elements that reveal either a new, more human-centered management of the subject or remnants of conventions and prejudices that remain in relation to mental retardation in works of artistic texture that have the potential to dialogue with almost the entire Western world. In the movie there is a clear tendency to escape from the medical view of mental retardation and a greater interest in its social ramifications. The protagonist is a real 'hero' of the society in which he lives and, despite any adversity, always emerges victorious.