Taylor Sheridan, the mastermind behind "Yellowstone," has been credited with reviving the Western—the most quintessentially American film genre—for a new generation of moviegoers and TV audiences. But the Oscar-nominated writer-director isn't a fan of one American classic: "Forrest Gump."
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In a Jan. 4 appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience," Sheridan revealed that he can't stand the 1994 biodrama from Robert Zemeckis, which follows an Alabama man with an IQ of 75 throughout major turning points in American history.
"Forrest Gump" won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Hanks — who actually made a cameo appearance in Sheridan's Paramount+ series "1883." But Sheridan can't get past the film's moralizing:
"For me, the holy grail as a storyteller is entertain, educate and enlighten. Don't give anybody answers, just lots of questions to think about. That's my job. 'Cause I can't stand to pay money and have somebody preach to me their ideas," he explained to Joe Rogan.
"That's the reason I hated 'Forrest Gump.' This tottering f***ing idiot is the only guy that can figure out the world? Everybody else around him, he's just gonna go on a f***ing run across America and everyone gonna follow him and that's gonna heal the country? I was just like, 'What is this sh**?'"
For his part, Joe Rogan agrees:
"I think back then ["Forrest Gump"] was novel. The idea was like, it could be so much simpler that a simple guy could figure it out and that we're all so disconnected," the podcast host and comedian said.
