浅谈《阿甘正传》中所体现的美国精神

On the American Spirit in Forrest Gump

浅谈《阿甘正传》中所体现的美国精神

Abstract

In the late Nineties of last century, there is a film creating such a buzz upon release in the United States that not only reached 253 million U.S. Dollars at box office, but also won 6 Awards of the 67th Oscar including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor awards. The film is Forrest Gump. It is a movie telling the story of Forrest Gump, an unimportant person whose intelligence quotient is only 75. But he experienced many difficulties through the post-war period and eventually become a shrimp industry tycoon. Forrest Gump, the hero who was born before the screen, used the brush of his own experience to write a special history of human beings. He presents the American spirit which including optimism, tenacity, dedication and loyalty. These are just the virtues and values that the whole American society pursued for hundreds of years. The core of the American Spirit is to succeed through personal struggle. The miraculous luck and success of Forrest Gump was just the essence of “American Spirit”. The westerners, especially Americans, worship this kind of spirit of personal struggle. They think that personal values are the supremacy of all. In fact, individualism is the most respected temperament in the West and is also regarded as the substance of cultural values in Western societies. 

Key words: Forrest Gump；American spirit；individualism

摘  要

上世纪九十年代，有一部影片在美国一经上映就引起轰动，不仅票房收入高达2.53亿美元，而且还荣获第67届奥斯卡最佳影片、最佳导演、最佳男主角等六项大奖。这部电影就是阿甘正传。它讲述了阿甘，这样一个小人物，以其仅有的75的智商,独自穿越了战后美国的风风雨雨,最终成为捕虾业的大亨.他向人们展示了“美国精神”。阿甘这位诞生于银幕上的英雄形象,以永恒的笔触写下一部特殊的人类历史,也跑出一个普通人生命中一连串的生活奇迹,带给人们一种被希望和乐观所点燃的生命感悟。在片中，阿甘看似呆傻，但作为他性格内核的乐观向上，坚韧不拔，执着和忠诚的精神是数百年来美国社会主流所公认的美德和价值观。美国精神的核心即通过个人奋斗获得成功。阿甘那奇迹般的幸运和成功正是“美国精神”的精髓。当身带“残疾”的阿甘从低贱的生活中奋起，从一个普通人跑入大学，跑入橄榄明星的行列，跑进白宫……直至成为百万富翁，他用自己的经历谱写了一个奔跑的童话。西方人尤其是美国人崇拜个人奋斗，这种精神极力张扬个性，认为个人价值至上，实际上个人主义是西方人最为推崇的个人独立自主必备气质，也是西方社会文化价值的实质。

关键词：阿甘；美国精神；个人主义

CONTENTS

Introduction.........................................................................................................1

Chapter One   Key Concepts of American spirit………….………………..2

1.1Definition of American Spirit………………………………………………...3

1.2The Contents of American Spirit…………………………..…………………4

1.3 The American Spirit in Forrest Gump………………...…………….……….5

Chapter Two   American Spirits Presented in the Dialogues of Forrest Gump…………………………………………………………………………….6

2.1 Individualistic Culture - the Core of American Culture...….....…………..…7

2.2 Hierarchical Culture in American Culture......................................................8

2.3 Religious Culture............................................................................................9

Chapter Three Cultural Cause of the Different American Spirit between Americans and Chinese………………………………………….........………11

3.1 Different Religious Beliefs of America and China………………………....12

3.2 Individualism and Collectivism………………………………..…………...13

3.3 Differences Between the Attitudes of Euality in America and China……...14

Conclusion..........................................................................................................15

References………………………………………………………………......…16

Acknowledgements………………………………………………...………….17