Forrest Gump in its list of the "Best 100 Conservative Movies" of all time. Then, in 2009, the magazine ranked the film number four on its 25 Best Conservative Movies of the Last 25 Years list. "Tom Hanks plays the title character, an amiable dunce who is far too smart to embrace the lethal values of the 1960s. The love of his life, wonderfully played by Robin Wright Penn, chooses a different path; she becomes a drug-addled hippie, with disastrous results." James Burton, a communication arts professor at Salisbury University, argued that conservatives claimed "Forrest Gump" as their own due less to
Forrest Gump has also been recognized by the American Film Institute on several of its lists. The film ranks 37th on "100 Years...100 Cheers", 71st on "100 Years...100 Movies", and 76th on "100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)". In addition, the quote "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get," was ranked 40th on "100 Years...100 Movie Quotes". The film also ranked at number 61 on "Empire"s list of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time. In December 2011, "Forrest Gump" was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.