Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is not a simple biography of a low IQ man. The film deliberately chooses Forrest Gump as its narrator, using the simplest words and yet showing the whole history of contemporary America in a most profound way.
After watching the film, our hearts were filled with awe. There are too many details worth discussing and too many ideas worth savoring. However, we unanimously agree that the figures depicted in this film are the most typical symbols of the diversified society. So we organized our review by respectively discussing the figures the film introduces to us.
Gump
It is very thoughtful of the director to choose Forrest Gump as the film’s narrator. Gump in this film serves as a thread, linking up many events happened in the then American society.
On one hand, he is a man with an IQ of 75, lower than the average level. So it is safe for us to look at the political stuff filled in this film in a more relaxing and humorous way through Gump’s eyes. And by doing this, we are able to see ourselves in a different perspective too.
On the other hand, Gump is also well educated by his mother and he turns out to be incapable of doing anything less than profound. He loves Jenny, so he loves her wholeheartedly and unconditionally; he likes to run, so he runs into college straight-ahead; he joins the army, so he stands out to be an excellent soldier; he is sent to the war, so he comes back with the Medal of Honor; he plays Ping Pang and simply grabs the very essence of the game, so he even plays it on behalf of his nation; he wants to fulfill his friend Bubba’s dream, so he successfully becomes captain of a shrimp boat; he wants to have a long running and he does it, so he gets to be a nationwide celebrity …
There seems to be too many wonders about our protagonist, a man with low IQ. Each thing he achieves is an unreachable goal for most of our normal people. However, Gump fulfills all those with ease and out of nature. By contemplating Forrest Gump, we can’t help but revalue our idea of life.
Gump’s Mother
Surprisingly, this woman we may see daily on the streets has such wisdom about life! She brings up Gump with love and her own philosophy, after Gump’s father deserts them. She never fails to explain the world to Gump, with words easily understood. “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” has become a saying universally known since the film was shot.
We say that Gump’s mother is a very decent woman not because she affects the history or the world in a big way, but because she lives up to the very depth of daily life. She never thinks her son as a retarded child and painstakingly instills the idea “you’re the same as everybody else” to Gump’s mind. She insists that her son “is going to get the same opportunity as everyone else” and finally gets Gump enrolled in a normal school. She encourages Gump to carry out his life, and shows profound pride when he achieves something.
Her philosophy is about everyday life. When we saw her in the film, she is already a mother, a mid-aged woman who seems to have no romance or big time any more. But she lives her life so beautifully and ages so gracefully that we have to pay her our respect.
Jenny
Apart from his mother, Jenny is the most important woman in Gump’s life. She plays together with him when they are young; she encourages him to run off when he is bullied by other boys; she even has a child with him and finally marrieshim before a serious disease wipes off her life. Though she confronts her own adolescent blue individually, she treats Gump very well out of her kind nature. We are greatly moved by Gump’s love for Jenny, though they are two very different persons on the surface. While Gump is pushed to be a celebrity, Jenny’s attempt to become a famous figure fails. We pitied Jenny, perhaps because she has a youth so familiar to us, confusing, rebellious and unhappy.
Unlike Gump’s mother, another female figure in this film, Jenny is the symbol of the beat generation, wearing weird clothes and unceasingly looking for an idealistic life. She is born in a poor family and sexually abused by her father at tender age. Her living circumstances make her a pessimist of life and want to escape from the reality by flying off like a bird. However, she is also a very kind girl in nature. Gump is right affected by her the first time they meet on the school bus, when all the other children refuse to share a bench with him and she spontaneously offers her place.
We do not have the heart to blame the tragedy on Jenny. After all, she is a fragile person like us, kind, idealistic, yet reckless and not strong enough.
Lieutenant Dan
Lt. Dan is definitely a responsible man conscious of his society value, otherwise he won’t be so bitter about Gump’s saving his life. He is such a man that it is better for him to die with his men at the battle field than to live ashamedly as a disable.
He loses his legs in the war and becomes a cynic, abandons himself by indulging in excessive drinking. When Gump mentions that he wants to become captain of a shrimp boat, Lt. Dan sneers and laughs at this idea. However, we believe Lt. Dan never ceases to look for the meaning about his own life, because he reacts so positively when Gump really becomes a captain. He joins Gump in the shrimp business and finally find his confidence again when the business is booming.
Lt. Dan has a happy ending in this film. He adopts artificial legs and marries a woman he loves, with stronger belief in life. Thinking of Lt. Dan, we cannot help thinking of the lyrics “how many miles must a man walk down, before we call him a man.” Though having twists and turns in his life, we have to admit that Lt. Dan is a good example of true men.
Bubba
Bubba is a less important role in this film, compared with the above discussed figures. But without him, this film would lose much laughter and amusement.
Bubba, a poor black boy, lives his life after the simple dream of becoming a shrimp boat captain. He never forgets this dream and untiringly repeats to Gump about details of the shrimp business. Every scene he shows up becomes an offbeat one, titillating us to a blast of laughter. So it is no wonder when he dies in Vietnam War with the last line “I wanna go home”, we were all set into profound sadness.
Bubba is such a simple guy that he even has no diffidence about his skin, in a racial discrimination society like the then America. He is too naïve to understand the world and sacrifices his life unwillingly.
To sum up our report, Forrest Gump is a film that is going to be remembered everlastingly. It provides us with such a layered humanity by life stories of common people and is sophisticatedly set in an eventful time. We felt that the figures we discussed have become part of our life and will accompany us forever.
What did we contribute to this paper?
***: I did the draft and grammatically proofread it.
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