Forrest Gump

I was a teenager in the mid-90’s, but I had never seen Forrest Gump until now in my late 20’s. I felt like I had heard all about it, mostly from my friend PF who quoted from it constantly and was an aspiring movie-maker himself. But, finally watching it for myself, I really was surprised about a lot of elements and plot events in the movie. Of course there are lots of funny parts (“So, I went to the White House, again, and met the President, again…” “What is your sole purpose here, Gump?!” “To do whatever you tell me to do, when you tell me to do it, drill sergeant”) But on the whole it’s quite tragic. I was struck with how, even after all he went through, Forrest was still so innocent and naive. Maybe he was “too dumb” to ever be bad. Also, his Mama really loved him and tried her best to start him out right. On the other hand, Jenny had such a bad start, got herself into more and more bad situations, and barely learned about what real love means before it was too late. She never had any innocence or naivete to start out with, and just went downhill from there.

Sometimes, there just aren’t enough rocks.

One thing I really appreciate about this movie is the subtle and clever connections between all its different parts. Nothing ruins a movie for me like putting emphasis on some detail or imbuing a scene with meaning, and then you never see or hear about it again. I want to see lots of witty, meaningful self-referential “inside jokes” as a movie viewer. I think this is how my sense of humour works in general, and I find it especially entertaining in movies. Forrest Gump is full of this and I love that. Here’s the perfect example: Gump’s commanding officer from Vietnam, Leutenant Dan, is very bitter and cynical after war – Forrest saved his life but both legs were amputated above the knee. In response to Gump’s plan to become a shrimp-boat captain to honor the dying wish of his comrade Bubba (“shrimp soup… shrimp gumbo… fried shrimp… sauteed shrimp…”) Dan says, “the day you become a shrimp boat captain is the day I become an astronaut.” So then, at the very end of the movie, after Forrest and Dan have long since ended their days of success in the shrimp industry and are reunited once again, Dan has new leg prostheses made of “titanium, just like they used in the space shuttle.” That, my friends, is true movie excellence.