Stupid is as stupid does

Tom Hanks as the title role in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump. Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Paul Kennedy

Next year marks 30 years since the movie Forrest Gump was released. 30 years, wow, it seems like only yesterday I saw the film for the first time.

It’s stood the test of time, and today remains a ‘remote-drop’ movie if ever I’m flicking channels. Only the other day, with nothing to do, I found the movie on a search and tuned in.

There’s many a great line in it by screenwriter Eric Roth, but probably my all-time favourite is: “Stupid is as stupid does”.

It’s actually used twice in the movie. First, when Forrest is a child and meets Jenny on the school bus. It pops up later on as well, like when he blows a wad of cash on a shrimp boat.

The line is used by Tom Hank’s character whenever he rebukes the question: “Are you stupid?”

Without the need to dissect the true meaning of this quote, simply put, Forrest is trying to say a person should be judged by his actions, not his appearance.

And who can argue with him? Certainly not me.

Now I know Forrest Gump is nothing more than a feel-good flick, albeit a really good one. And I know it is pure make-believe, but this week I’ve seen some really stupid people doing really stupid things.

For instance, the Manchester United supporters, who after their team had earned a hard-fought point against Liverpool on Sunday, decided to serenade their rival fans with the chant: “Always the victims, never your fault.”

A song so out-of-touch, old fashioned and antiquated, it should come wearing flares and a knitted tank-top.

And for that matter, the Liverpool supporter who, before the above-mentioned match, took it upon him or herself to throw a glass at United’s team bus, smashing a window.

But the absolute gonk of the week has to be the Chelsea fan who, seconds after Mykhailo Mudryk’s injury-time equaliser in the Carabao Cup, thought it would be clever to run onto the pitch and confront Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Stupid is as stupid does? You bet.

The police in the UK, and Chelsea Football Club, have launched an investigation and both the Chelsea and Newcastle United managers have condemned the incident.

Remember, it wasn’t that long ago Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was assaulted by a pitch-invading moron when his team played at Leeds.

I can’t for the life of me understand the buffoon’s mindset. What was he thinking?

Did he really believe in his wildest dreams he would get away with it? Invading the pitch during a match where, on average, there are 30 television cameras?

To quote Mrs Gump, Forrest’s mother superbly played by Sally Fields three decades ago: “You have to do the best with what God gave you.”

Sadly, it seems when God was dishing out brains and common sense, those mentioned above were clearly at the very, very back of the queue.

Stupid is as stupid does. VNS