Forrest Gump and Elvis Presley

I watched Forrest Gump for the first time yesterday, and it was a really good. The movie depicts the life of Forrest, a boy trapped in a man's body as he struggles to find his only true love of life, Jenny. Right off the bat, let me say that I'm not a big movie guy. I watch whatever I can get my hands on, and unlike music, I don't have any preferences one way or the other. But I have to confess I really like Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as actors. I like their action and adventure movies like Scareface, Goodfells and the best, Godfather Part II.

There's a certain scene in the movie that a rock n' roll fan cannot ignore. It's the appearance of Elvis Presley. Among many things Elvis is known for, his leg-movement stands out as of the memorable. And according to the movie, he got the idea from Forrest!

Taking place in Alabama in 1950s, the movie is embedded in southern culture, where, in fact, Elvis was born and raised. A lot can be learned from his scene about America's perception of racial tensions through rock n roll. Elvis is, to this date, known as the White kid who sang like a Black guy. He was the beginning of a movement in which Blacks and Whites were integrated. However the southern adults were overwhelmingly against this idea. This is accurately highlighted in the movie. As seen in the movie, when Forrest was watching Hound  Dog performed by Elvis with his hipster leg movements, his mom wasn't too happy with it, stating "this is not for children's eyes."

In some TV appearances, Elvis' legs were purposely cut off from the screen in order to avoid criticism. Such leg movements were seen as too-Black-like for a White person. However Elvis's neglected neglected the critics, suggesting there were"childish." Nevertheless, because of his particular way of dancing, he would soon be known as Elvis the Pelvis.