Oscar bait Reader" (2008). In the film "Tropic Thunder" (2008), characters Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) and Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) discuss the concept regarding Speedman's former role in the fictional film "Simple Jack", in which Lazarus notes that "you never go full retard", contrasting the Oscar successes of Dustin Hoffman ("Rain Man", 1988) and Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump", 1994) with Sean Penn's failure to win an award for his role in "I Am Sam" (2001). "Tropic Thunder" received protests from disability rights organisations due to its constant use of the word "retard"; Stiller defended the scene as being intended to lampoon
Forrest Gump (character) John Lennon to write the song "Imagine". Soon after, Forrest reunites and stays with Lieutenant Dan, his platoon leader from Vietnam and now using a wheelchair, over the winter holidays. Dan has since became an alcoholic who has lost all faith in God, and was dismayed that such an "imbecile" like Forrest could earn the Medal of Honor and humiliate himself on national television. During a New Year's Eve celebration in 1971, Forrest persuades Lieutenant Dan to join him in the shrimping business as his first mate, in an effort to fulfill his promise made to Bubba earlier in Vietnam.