Forrest Gump radically subverts the historical epic by replacing the traditional, active Great Man of history with an entirely passive protagonist who acts as a human blank slate. In classic epics, characters drive historical events through ambition, political ideology, or military strategy. Forrest, however, has none of these; he is motivated entirely by immediate, personal concerns like love, friendship, and keeping his promises. By placing him at the center of major historical milestones—the desegregation of the University of Alabama, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal—the film shifts the focus of the epic from historical agency to historical witness. This approach aligns with a postmodern skepticism toward grand historical narratives that emerged in the late twentieth century. Instead of celebrating the political decisions of elites, the film views history through the eyes of the marginalized and the ordinary. Forrest's passivity allows the audience to experience these monumental events without the distorting lens of partisan ideology. The epic scale is thus collapsed into a series of intimate, personal encounters, suggesting that the true history of America is not found in the halls of power, but in the quiet, often unrecorded resilience of its ordinary citizens who simply try to do the right thing amidst the chaos.■