“Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
(If you haven't seen Forrest Gump, here is a quick recap)
Tom Hanks immortalized the man known as Forrest Gump, showing us the events of the world from the innocent perspective of a man with an IQ of 75.
Although this movie showcases events in history such as the Watergate Hotel scandal, President Kennedy’s assassination, and Hurricane Carmen, this story centers around Forrest and his pure, chaste love for his childhood sweetheart, Jenny, which is what we're going to be exploring this week.
Forrest fell in love with Jenny the moment she let him sit by her on the bus on his first day of school. Forrest testifies years later that he had “never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life”. She is the first person that showed him kindness (besides his momma), and he develops a deep attachment to her, the girl with the “most beautiful voice in the wide world”.
I’ve watched this movie many times over, and each time, I realize something more about the character of Forrest Gump that I didn’t realize before. The first time I saw a clip of it was when I was five (just the “Life is like a box of chocolates” scene), and I didn’t even realize that Forrest was mentally handicapped. In fact, I only remember thinking that the lady sitting by him on the bench was being rude to him, only answering him with minimal language. As I got older, I began to realize more of the emotions that other characters were feeling, such as Lieutenant Dan when he legs lost his legs. I started recognizing more of the songs of the period (Simon and Garfunkel, the Doors). I also realized that although Forrest was capable of loving Jenny completely and irrevocably, she didn’t love herself.
This is evidenced by the scene in which Jenny is getting grabbed by some men at the strip club, and Forrest beats them up. Jenny flies into a rage, telling Forrest to “stop it” and that he “can’t keep trying to save her”.
“I can’t help it.” Forrest drawls, “I love you.”
“Forrest…you don’t know what love is.” Jenny replies snidely.
This is a statement that sticks with Forrest throughout the whole movie, moreso than being called “idiot” or “stupid” (“Stupid is as stupid does.” Sorry, I had to). In a poignant scene near the end of the movie, which takes place decades after Jenny told Forrest he didn’t know what love was, Forrest gets quiet and says, “I'm not a smart man. But I know what love is.”
And indeed he does. Throughout the film he constantly displays unselfish love for the people in his life. He doesn’t think twice when he runs back into a Vietnam forest that is being bombed, because he knows his “bestest good friend”, Bubba, is in there. He jumps off his shrimping boat and swims to shore when he hears that his Momma is sick. When he bumps into Lieutenant Dan, a now-wheelchair bound veteran, Forrest spends New Years with him. Even after Jenny refuses his marriage proposal and takes off, Forrest runs to her side when she calls for him. I can’t think of a scene where Forrest isn’t caring for someone or loving someone around him, even though, technically, it should be vice versa, since he is mentally handicapped.
And that’s all I have to say about that. :)
(Okay, I know you have memories or a favorite scene from Forrest Gump, so leave a comment telling us about it.)
One part that sticks out in my mind from this movie is when Forest is running away from the bullies chasing him and Jenny is yelling, "run Forest run!". It is a very intense part of the movie when his braces on his legs break off and he is running without them. This movie is such a great classic movie, that everyone should watch more than once in their life.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't seen Forrest Gump you are A: under the age of twelves and/or B: no longer qualified to be my friend until you do so.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many memorable scenes in that movie it is hard to pick one out. I thought anytime that they edited him into old film was very sweet. Like when he told the president he had to go to the bathroom because he had so many Dr. Peppers (I can relate). Personally, it upset me that he loved Jen-ny so much because she was a dirty coke whore that kept leaving him. However, great classic top 15 movies of my life....And that's all I got to say about that.
I love the movie Forrest Gump! It's such a good movie not only because of the whole story and plot line, it also does a good job of kind of showing what times were like throughout the decades. It does it by changing their clothing styles, music, and just people's attitudes in general to different things.
ReplyDeleteI like how it shows how selfless he is and it also makes me mad how he is there for Jenny all the time and she never gives him anything in return.
Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. It has everything a good movie should have, action, comedy; the sappy moments...it was a great timeless film. I too didn't realize what everything meant when I was younger, but I knew some things were funny and some were sad. Luckily, as I became more educated, I could grasp the emotions and the historical events taking place. The funniest scene to the movie, I believe, is when Forrest and Bubba are in basic training and Bubba is listing off all the different kinds of shrimp he was going to make....it still makes me chuckle to this day.