Forrest Gump (Negative Reviewers are Missing the Point)

jjacques1

I am a long time IMDb fan and first time reviewer. When I am reading through fellow user reviews, I generally find myself gravitating towards reading reviews that hold the opposite of my opinion. If I loved a film, I read the poor reviews and vice versa on the films that didn't resonate with me. I like finding value in an opposite viewpoint.

With that said, while I read through the negative reviews of Forrest Gump, I found myself thinking that a number of the reviewers might be missing what I see is a large part of the film's message.

Their focus was on the characters' intelligence and lifestyle. I read things like the point of the film was that you would be successful even if you're an idiot like Forrest, as long as you walked a conservative path. If you decided to take the path Jenny's character chose, despite the fact she was more intelligent then Forest, your life would end in disaster.

I think the differences between Forrest and Jenny's journeys has nothing to do with the disparity in their intelligence or lifestyle but more with the difference between someone who knows who he truly is versus someone who is searching to find out who they are.

I don't think the movie is passing judgement on either person's choices. I don't see Jenny's life ending the way it does as being a failure. Her life had value and she was able to find what she was looking for. Forrest's life was incredible and his love for Jenny was his guiding star. He lived through so many experiences and met so many famous people of that era. He lucked into wealth and at a couple points in the film became famous in his own right. None of that had any real meaning to him. His purpose came from his personal relationships, protecting and doing right by those he loved and his strong sense of right and wrong.

Each character's journey (again regardless of intelligence) is representative of the experiences of an entire generation of North Americans.

score 10/10

jjacques1 13 October 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4395493/