[SapientWolf]

Sure, that Vietnamese woman will have a better life thanks to the fact her country got bombed. That's all the movie is about and three of its most iconic images smack it in our faces: 1- Feather carried by the wind. 2- Box of random chocolate. 3- Forrest running to nowhere.

I wouldn't go so far as to call it nihilistic. I certainly wouldn't consider Forrest to be a nihilist. Unlike those around him, it wasn't in his nature to be burdened by self doubt or regret. He always lived in the moment. He didn't know his limitations therefore he had none. If there was any point to the movie then I think that was it.

[Ether_Snake]

I wouldn't go so far as to call it nihilistic. I certainly wouldn't consider Forrest to be a nihilist. Unlike those around him, it wasn't in his nature to be burdened by self doubt or regret. He always lived in the moment. He didn't know his limitations therefore he had none. If there was any point to the movie then I think that was it.

But does he ever experience joy? You say he had no limitations, but he really had no goals. Gump has no aspirations so he never experiences loss or joy. Bubba had aspirations, he dies. When Gump takes over Bubba's aspirations, he doesn't actually "experience" what Bubba dreamed of. Dan on the other hand experiences it like Bubba would likely have, he gets his legs back, a wife, gets rich. Imagine how it would have been without Dan. He would have pulled that net full of shrimps out of the ocean without a smile. Jenny had aspirations to find comfort, she gets aids, and Gump has no understanding of it either way.

He's really a feather in the wind. The son might even not be his, or have aids.

[Speevy]

Pulp Fiction was also a hip and visually interesting film when it came out.

Watching it years later misses the point of why people love/loved it so much.

[Scullibundo]

You can tell which posters in this thread have been burned by girls they thought should have been theirs because they were such nice guys to them.

[Rusty Shackleford]

So does Forrest get HIV when he has sex with Jenny?

[Ether_Snake]

So does Forrest get HIV when he has sex with Jenny?

Nah. The sequel makes no mention of him having aids. His son doesn't either. It's just that in the movie it felt like it could have been.

[geeko420]

Gump sat alone on a bench in park.

[DrBo42]

Shawshank Redemption was robbed.

x1000

[SapientWolf]

But does he ever experience joy? You say he had no limitations, but he really had no goals. Gump has no aspirations so he never experiences loss or joy. Bubba had aspirations, he dies. When Gump takes over Bubba's aspirations, he doesn't actually "experience" what Bubba dreamed of. Dan on the other hand experiences it like Bubba would likely have, he gets his legs back, a wife, gets rich. Imagine how it would have been without Dan. He would have pulled that net full of shrimps out of the ocean without a smile. Jenny had aspirations to find comfort, she gets aids, and Gump has no understanding of it either way. He's really a feather in the wind. The son might even not be his, or have aids.

He wasn't a vegetable. I think he just had a different way of finding his purpose. He was content to go with the flow instead of struggling against the current. It seems like the wrong way of doing things but Dan and Bubba and just about all the other major characters had the path of their lives dictated by circumstances out of their control.

Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if, if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.

If anything, the film is existential. Forrest is a character that's defined almost entirely by his actions and his experiences.

[Ether_Snake]

The problem is he has no goals. He takes actions, but never for a reason that resonates with a desire.

I get what you're saying though.

[Varna]

Nah. The sequel makes no mention of him having aids. His son doesn't either. It's just that in the movie it felt like it could have been.

Disappointing how he changed things to be more inline with the movie.

[SapientWolf]

The problem is he has no goals. He takes actions, but never for a reason that resonates with a desire. I get what you're saying though.

Yeah, actually, I think existentialist might describe the film but definitely not Gump. He's basically completely selfless. He's sort of just a vessel for all those moment to moment experiences. Maybe he's Taoist?

Maybe we're over-thinking this.

[Ramirez]

Nah. The sequel makes no mention of him having aids. His son doesn't either. It's just that in the movie it felt like it could have been.

That mentions a move adaptation of the 2nd book, is it still actually going to be made?

[Reuenthal]

It's been long seen I have seen it but Gump is a feather in the wind but eventually at the ending he has the desire/goals and purporse that are related to fatherly feelings, he wants a successful future for him and a son who is smart unlike him.

[Nesotenso]

All I know is that Robin Wright was stunning in Princess Bride.

[CassSept]

You asked the question: how is it an anti-intellectual film? Yet you answered it yourself: because Forrest is incapable of reason and choice. What is so difficult to understand? He never questions orders.

That makes Wall-E pro-robot uprising because only robots will care about the Earth in the future.

Seriously, until the Internet I would've never guessed how people overanalyze Forrest Gump. It's just a movie, Jesus. No way in hell would I have ever thought that there is some underlying message. But no, there always have to be something.

Taking the movie at it's face value, it's sappy, cliched, but fun to watch at the same time. And just that, nothing deeper than that. Just a fun movie, that you might watch when you are bored.

[DarkFlow]

GAF hates everything.

They love art house shit...

[FelixOrion]

I see Jenny's subplot as a story of redemption. She had a hard life and made some very bad choices, ignoring Forrest included among those. Meanwhile, I see Forrest's story as various mile markers on his road to becoming the kind of person Jenny really needed to help redeem herself.

But that could just be me.

[Karak]

I agree with what many say, I do indeed feel she was just a terrible person.

But what got me is the look on his face when he asks her if his son is slow like him. The fucking look...oh god man. It fucking chokes me up. As someone who thinks Tom Hanks is pretty lame as an actor that scene fucking tears me up every time.

[Captain_Spanky]

Seriously, until the Internet I would've never guessed how people overanalyze Forrest Gump. It's just a movie, Jesus. No way in hell would I have ever thought that there is some underlying message. But no, there always have to be something.

That's a terrible, anti-intellectual attitude and a few people in the thread have said otherwise. Almost all creative works have some sort of intent and meaning, whether inserted consciously by the author or not. Writing is affected by inner philosophies, fears, hopes, current world climate and so on. It's a wholly worthwhile exercise to look at something and discuss what it might be saying. The important thing is to look at what's actually there, not what you want there to be though.

Encouraging people to not critically engage with works is, in my opinion, a terrible thing to say. Yes, there ALWAYS is something worth discussing.

[CassSept]

That's a terrible, anti-intellectual attitude and a few people in the thread have said otherwise. Almost all creative works have some sort of intent and meaning, whether inserted consciously by the author or not. Writing is affected by inner philosophies, fears, hopes, current world climate and so on. It's a wholly worthwhile exercise to look at something and discuss what it might be saying. The important thing is to look at what's actually there, not what you want there to be though. Encouraging people to not critically engage with works is, in my opinion, a terrible thing to say. Yes, there ALWAYS is something worth discussing.

That's... not really what I've meant. I just mean that many times in case of Forrest Gump I feel like it's overanalyzing the material. Maybe it's because I'm not American, but not once when I watched it had I thought of it like GAF/Internet does. I feel like it's reaching, looking for underlying themes that are just not there. Not every movie has to have some deeper meaning, and I doubt that's the case with Forrest Gump. I'm all for analyzing movies, but only when there actually is something for analyzing, not just trying to add something to the movie that's not there (e.g. FG being deeply anti-intellectual and conservative... of course it can be interpreted as such, but that wasn't the point of the movie).

[J2 Cool]

I adore Forrest Gump. I guess to address the complaints now - The feather and Forrest as an allegory is about as preachy as the film gets. But you can describe it as pro-conservative or nihilistic really. Either way. Even playing "running against the wind" during the film to drive it home, I don't think it ever gets too heavy handed. It takes an angle on everything, but gives enough breathing room to enjoy it as is. I don't think it's trying to answer life either. I always took it that Forrest's life started pure shit, but there was no way of telling how his life would go. There's no road map to it all. From there, his life ends up turning comically charmed at a lot of points, but I don't see it any different than a Simpsons episode. A lot of characters end up surprised by Gump's success, but I don't think it tells you "live like this, things turn out well". It's just Forrest Gump. His unfortunate beginnings don't lead to a doomed existence for him. That's what makes his scene with his son so fantastic, its the closest to a resolution to Forrest's life, and it turned out alright. He didn't fuck up. If his character took pure joy in all his other successes, maybe it would be a different film. As is, there's just a lot to enjoy about the movie.

On another point, I disagree Forrest's life was pure charms, or that he didn't feel sorrow. The scene where he runs across America is nearly a battle with depression, and he invests in pretty much nothing to get over it, just running (and time). Were it just a charmed life absent of real sorrow, they easily could have sent some divine help his way, but it instead just plays itself out in a really satisfying sequence. One of the best, really.

Forrest as a character, actually kind of reminds me of The Dude. Maybe things turn out a little better for him, but basically just moving through weird character, unfortunate events, etc. Dude has to struggle a little more to stay apathetic to it all. Forrest, people make a pass for (disability) or he seemingly finds his way through conflict unscathed and inpersonal about it all. There's a weird similarity to them though. Something like the "Time Man of the Year" I can easily see happening to either of them, with the same corresponding reaction.

The movie's also got a great soundtrack though, some good characters, a few truly great dramatic scenes (Forrest meeting his son), and high comedy from Tom Hanks. I don't see how you can't love this movie, if you love Tom Hanks. He was killing it in the mid 90s. It's almost the equivalent of hating Rocky.

[Bleepey]

It's a damn shame the suits at the film company decided to screw the author over. For a few million they decided to lose 100s of millions in a sequel.

[J2 Cool]

It's a damn shame the suits at the film company decided to screw the author over. For a few million they decided to lose 100s of millions in a sequel.

Did the second book have enough material to make a satisfying sequel? I feel like its almost one film where a sequel could do no possible good. I mean so much happens, and a life story is told. Where do you go then?

[corporate cheerleader]

Jenny was a very unsympathetic character, there wasn't much depth to her personality and actions besides the fact that she got abused. I guess they wanted to focus on Gump entirely.

[Messypandas]

great theme by Alan Silvestri:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcOt6mfjxeA

in fact, one of the oft mentioned all time best

[J2 Cool]

Jenny was a very unsympathetic character, there wasn't much depth to her personality and actions besides the fact that she got abused. I guess they wanted to focus on Gump entirely.

I always felt like she has a large story almost entirely absent from the film. Forrest only really gets the blunt of the pain she causes him. We react to that, naturally.

[corporate cheerleader]

I always felt like she has a large story almost entirely absent from the film. Forrest only really gets the blunt of the pain she causes him. We react to that, naturally.

Nailed it. I watched the movie recently again after so many years and that's exactly what bothered me. She could have been a well written tragic character whose conflicts could clearly be seen on the screen, but instead we just have to assume too many things.

[BertramCooper]

Rewatched it. It sucks. A lot.

Forrest Gump is clearly a member of the Illuminati.

[MisterHero]

Did the second book have enough material to make a satisfying sequel? I feel like its almost one film where a sequel could do no possible good. I mean so much happens, and a life story is told. Where do you go then?

Forrest Gump in outer space!

Actually he would've gone to space.

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

I hadn't really seen Jenny in that way, just as an emotionally and psychologically messed up girl. I love Forrest Gump btw, and I ain't even mad it won best picture. You wanna talk about overrated movies let's talk about Shawshank Redemption. I'll never understand its IMDB chart position. Best movie of all time? Really?

I like the Shawshank Redemption but it really is one of the most overrated movies of all time.

[maniac-kun]

Her now.

Would.

Well you have to think about Jennys situation in the movie. She had a rapist dad that abused her at a very young age and was violent and drunk all the time and this left her unable to love and bind herself to somebody that truely cares about her.

[Brera]

Jenny had a hard life and was fucked up.

I was sad when she died, as her childhood really fucked her over and as dumb as Forrest was, he knew why she was the way she was. Hence him knocking her old home down.

They should have flat out said she had HIV though.

[Utako]

Every nice guy has a Jenny in his life. Maybe different parts of her persona in multiple women.

Valuable lesson here.

[BertramCooper]

The Jenny/Forrest storyline is great, as is the Forrest/Lt. Dan storyline.

Most everything else is cringe-inducing.

[Utako]

Nobody here really mentions how Jenny is supposed to be the anti-Gump. Forrest is incredibly pure, perseverent, and lucky, while Jenny is damaged goods in every conceivable sense.

This way, we get to see American history play out from angles that we never would have were Forrest our only perspective.

[Brera]

Nobody here real mentions how Jenny is supposed to be the anti-Gump. Forrest is incredibly pure, perseverent, and lucky, while Jenny is damaged goods in every conceivable sense. This way, we get to see American history play out from angles that we never would have were Forrest our only perspective.

That's how I saw it too.

Watching it, you really want to give Jenny a talking to and tell her to stop being a dumbass!

[J2Dumb]

Fucking great movie.

[dehydratedbabies]

Her now.

Yowza.

Seen Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)? If so, you've seen her tits.

Now I'm not quite as pissed that I watched that movie. Apparently her tits are also featured quite prominently in 2010's Happiness Runs, which is on Netflix Watch Instantly and which I will be fast forwarding through soon.

[Vulcano's assistant]

One of my favorite movies of all time. I love its depiction of people, but I know not to take it too seriously. I'm not American (not born american, anyway), and this movie was my image of what Americans were, when I was growing up. It's an all too happy, optimistic view that is not around anymore since Clinton's administration ended, and someone crashed a plane in a tall building in New York a couple of years later. It's the happy 90's American, that watched Disney hand draw movies, and demonized war. This is probably funner for non Americans though.

[Fudgepuppy]

Last time I watched this I was sobering up after a party while a girl was sleeping with her legs in my lap.

When the "Is he smart scene" happened, I was tearing up like a motherfucker whispering "Oh Forrest". That was one of my best times being drunk.

Then the girl woke up and I tried to look manly while wiping my tears. Fucking onions.

God I can see this movie any day of the week, love it.

[B.K.]

Nah. The sequel makes no mention of him having aids. His son doesn't either. It's just that in the movie it felt like it could have been.

There's a sequel?

*reads wiki*

WTF is this shit? That books sounds horrible. I'm glad they never adapted it into a movie.

[Cat Party]

The Jenny/Forrest storyline is great, as is the Forrest/Lt. Dan storyline. Most everything else is cringe-inducing.

More or less how I remember the movie. Jenny was sexually abused as a child, and it fucked her up beyond all help. It's a tragic situation that is all too real for many people out there. I can't blame Jenny for any of her actions. But Forrest never gave up on her, even when he would have been justified in doing so. And because he never gave up, his son got to have a good life, and Jenny finally got a few moments of peace.

[Varna]

There's a sequel? *reads wiki* WTF is this shit? That books sounds horrible. I'm glad they never adapted it into a movie.

The first books synopsis probably sounds equally horrible. Try actually reading it. 3.50 used on Amazon.

[SillyEskimo]

Hey...I didn't make up this thesis. It was written ages ago and most people with half of a political education of the 50's, 60's and 70's agree with it.

I knew this wasn't your opinion.

[TheMan]

jenny's character did treat forrest badly, but seriously, could you fall in love with someone who was mentally disabled?

[bjork]

jenny's character did treat forrest badly, but seriously, could you fall in love with someone who was mentally disabled?

I could. Some of the girls I've known over the years might qualify.

[Mikasangelos]

Just the mere mentioning of this movie reminds of the scene where he asks Jenny if his son is smart. It absolutely DESTROYS me, every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLkaLveElpM

This is the most emotional part of the film to me. I bawl so much during this scene, almost everytime.

[shadowsdarknes]

This thread compelled me to watch Forrest Gump for the first time in like 10 years. I just assumed it was overrated and overplayed so thus wrote it off. Oh boy was I wrong, Forrest Gump is an enjoyable story about ironic good fortune. At first, your assessment of Jenny caused me to hate the movie even more, but then I thought about it. I then remembered Jenny wasn't like that at all in the movie. I think it's ridiculous to ridicule her character with sinister motivations. I see a conflict between two behavior and emotional forces. Jenny emotionally distraught loves Forrest but he isn't the one who can heal the pain inside. She needs to figure that out for herself. So she adventures around the U.S getting involved with different people, political movements, music and drugs. I think it's pretty clear she isn't quite passionate about politics, therefore she is following dominant, passionate men into that scene to search for answers to only find abuse again. She said she wanted to be famous, to sing and be on stage which only led to her embarrassment. Forrest saved her at a point of desperation and helped her realize her road must keep on continuing. I believe that moment killed her dream of becoming famous, not her love of music per say, alas that experience did not yield answers. Drugs was a constant escape from her past, however we see in two scenes her drug abuse leaves her in a state of distress. Later on during the Free Bird scene, you can see a black eye painting her face. The apartment she is in is filthy and littered with drug paraphernalia, I believe the room serves as a reflection of how she feels about herself and at that point she realizes who she is and finally accepts herself. She shuts Forrest out until she can become the woman Forrest deserves, for if he could understand her emotional damage he would not see her as the innocent girl he fell in love with as children.

[PumpkinPie]

"But lieutenant Dayun, you ain't got no leygs"


I love the film.