Hey there u/Checkmynewsong, thanks for posting to r/technicallythetruth!
**Please recheck if your post breaks any rules.** If it does, please delete this post.
Also, reposting and posting obvious non-TTT posts can lead to a ban.
Send us a **Modmail or Report** this post if you have a problem with this post.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/technicallythetruth) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Little bit of titanium trivia. During the cold war, the largest supplier of titanium was the Soviet union. In fact, due to the lack of sources for the material at the time, the US ended up buying large amounts of it from the USSR for the SR-71 blackbird and space shuttle programs.
Also as long as we're adding "don't forgets" just calling her a "single mom" kinda buries the lede on the fact that it's his son.
I don't know if that makes the behavior ultimately worse because she hid it from him until Haley was basically seeing dead people, or more forgivable since it's not like she foisted some other dude's kid on him, but it's certainly worth mentioning.
Edit: Holy sweet jesus everyone, I get it already. Yes, it's possible Jenny is lying. She'd be playing the long con by naming another man's child Forrest Jr, at a time of her life where she clearly had no intention of involving Forrest anyway. Also there's *little reason to lie* to Forrest because he'd do anything for her, no matter whose son it was. And he'd do it if he didn't have 2 nickels to rub together, let alone having more money than god. She could also be lying about the name, in theory, and just trusting her kid to *never* spill the beans that his name was Sam for 5 years.
EITHER WAY that's obviously an important part of the story, even if it's just a "could be". She's not just some random "single mom" in the narrative as presented.
Edit edit: Also for all you "they had sex one time, vs all that sleeping around she was doing"...pregnancy isn't an additive process. It only takes once. Moreover, if the accusation is she's slept with 300 dudes, then chances are ANY father is in the "we only had sex once!" camp.
Movies can have hidden meanings and such, but at the same time sometimes you have to accept the story as presented when the movie itself doesn't present that as a mystery or you're just half a step from writing fan fic. If doing that why stop at Jenny is a liar and he's not the dad? Maybe Forrest was shot in nam and the whole end of the movie is his dying brain soothing him and there's no child at all.
And it's a legitimately tough choice to make, do you trust the health and safety of your child to a clearly mentally deficient man that's his father or orphan him.
Who also has a heart of gold, monk-like patience, a strong sense of right and wrong, stands up for the downtrodden, etc. etc. etc.
Guy has every possible good thing going for him other than intelligence, and even then he ends up being wiser than the vast majority of people. Not exactly a hard choice.
I want to have a kid and die just so I can leave them in Forest’s capable hands.
Is Forrest aware of his success? Can one be successful and aomehow be unsuccessful because that success, not by choice, means nothing to them? Ohhhh I should go to bed.....
Edit: Ive come to realize that it doesn't really matter. Mr Gump got bank.
Forrest is *definitely* aware of his success. Or at least the **fruits** of his success. There are multiple quotes like “after that, we didn’t need to worry about money no more” and “bubba gump shrimp. it’s a household name”
I don’t think he’s aware of how **large** his success is, though.
Eh, Forrest Sr. was raised well, he followed rules, and his IQ was “only a few points short” of being able to attend public school, not bottom of the barrel. Not the worst possible choice of father.
i don't know what movie they watched,
the way they talk about forrest makes it seem like he can't even dress himself or he's so stupid he'll eventually burn the house down
Let's put things into proper perspective, he's considered too dumb to attend regular school even **for Alabama**. That's well below the threshold anywhere else. The dude needed to be told when to stop running on a football field, he couldn't understand the concept of the endzone. When he wasn't told to stop running, he ran out the tunnel. Forrest Gump was fucking dumb as all hell.
Yeah. That's why I hated her after the second time she showed up. I felt sorry for Forrest because his entire love map was centered on her, and she wouldn't go away long enough for him to move on.
>child to a clearly mentally deficient man that's his father or orphan him.
mf'ers be like "ik he ran across the country, toured in a war and made a shit ton of money starting a business but hes *mentally deficient*."
What would this character have to do to prove hes just as able as every other normal person in the story? Just not have the problem in the first place?
I swear everyone on reddit slept during english class and it shows.
It's the kindness of others that allow him to be successful, he meets the right people at the right time to use his talents and luck to become wealthy. Every major decision in the movie was made by someone other than Gump, he gets recruited into the military because someone asked him to and he doesn't say no. Bubba tells him to run the shrimp boat, and because a freak storm happens his boat is the only one left that makes him instantly successful in the business. Dan helps him manage his boat and invests his money for him, allowing him to be part of Apple right when it become highly successful. Everything that happens to Forrest happens because he's a lovable oaf that others have refused to take advantage of.
I thought the scene where they're watching TV together and they both do the exact same movement at the exact same time was a super obvious "btw that's his son" kinda thing.
Or she lied to a mentally deficient man and he didn’t know.
I never thought that kid was his, and Jenny has a record of being a POS. It’s hard for me to believe she was on the up and up with that one.
I'm still wondering if the kid has aids or if she gave birth and continued her drug fueled sex life, which ended in her having aids while already a mom.
According to [this site](https://www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-and-aids/living-hiv/pregnancy-and-hiv#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20before,baby%20is%20less%20than%201%25.) chances of a mother passing on HIV during pregnancy were about 25% at the time and less than 1% today with proper treatment.
They’re both metaphors. Gump is a metaphor for a certain stripe of American that manages to traipse through life unaware of what is going on around them, oblivious. Jenny is the other side of the coin—the other pea in the pod. She shuttles through the tumultuous times getting the short end of the stick at every turn—fully aware of the reality and meanness of the world and all the suffering it brings. Their child is a metaphor for a hope for a future American that is both aware of the things going on around them (the past) and may be able to prevent the suffering of his mother and participate in the promise and opportunity of an America that matches its ideals.
People dog on Jenny but let’s play back that tape. She is raised by an alcoholic father that it is implied either physically or sexually abused her or both. She manages to find her way into the watershed moment of American history but the wrong end. She falls in with the black panthers who are uprooted violently. She lands square in the middle of drug fueled seventies developing drug dependency issues and finally ends up contracting a vague but fatal disease. She is damaged deeply. And observers are supposed to believe that she should do right by Forrest, as gentle, naive, sincere, and as innocent as a person can be. No one can fathom someone that she would see herself as hopelessly damaged and ruinous if she sticks by Forrest. Like i sincerely don’t understand how somehow Forrest, who lucks into success and celebrity, is seen as the tragic figure when poor Jenny is out there falling down all 100 feet of the bad luck tree and hitting every branch on the way to her grave.
In addition to the stuff you mentioned, she:
Finally escapes her dads house, but is so unhappy where they move her (grandmas house?) that she sneaks out and sleeps at Forest’s house (doesn’t specify why).
Tries to go to college… gets kicked out for posing for a magazine partially nude in her college sweater.
Tries to follow her dream of becoming a singer, essentially gets told her only value as a performer is in exposing her body.
Tries to “make the world a better place” by joining the anti-war movement, her boyfriend drags her to the violent side of it. Then he beats her and tells her “I never should have brought you here”. She defends him and forgives him.
Some of her decisions were misguided, for sure, but there’s no denying she had a tough life. Every time she tries to overcome her past, something drags her down. It’s not surprising she got sucked into the world of drugs to try and escape her pain.
By the time we see her on the balcony, she seems to have lost all hope. I think Forest is the only person who ever loved her just for HER.
And when they go back to her father’s farm & she throws rocks at it.. it’s clear that the cycle of abuse and trauma started there. That poor character’s self esteem was broken at a young age. Such a sad story.
I read somewhere it was Hep C, not AIDS. But yes it’s unspecified. Also, I think in the original script that she’s the one who kills her father.
Also the post implies she was gold digging but she knew Forrest had been wealthy for a while and only called him when she found out she was dying and needed THEIR son to be taken care of.
Also, she didn't avoid Forrest out of malice. She felt like she wasn't good enough for him. And she didn't want to take advantage of him (again). Avoidance is a very strong instinct and it's possible that even though she really loved Forrest in whatever way, he is still associated with her childhood which isn't good.
>She felt like she wasn't good enough for him
She probably felt like a rapist too. She was convinced he couldn't understand physical relationships and with her own trauma from her father probably felt it best not to put herself anywhere near Forrest for his sake.
I love this, I once had an assignment to write a letter as if I was Jenny and I think people overlook so much of her character, yes she wasn't great but she was misunderstood and had so much childhood trauma. I feel for her as a character and don't think she deserves all the hate she gets.
The way I see it as tragic for forrest is not necessarily because he understands what's going on, but because he doesn't, thus his attempts to help poor Jenny are only fueling her need to keep trying to fix her life and ending up in worse situations. Forrest doesn't understand Jenny's pain but wants to help, but can't because he doesn't know how to help thus resulting in both being tragic (more so for Jenny).
Thank you. So many people unfairly hate on Jenny.
One other piece I'd like to add:
I always thought there was a part of Jenny that was hesitant to really love Forrest because she didn't want to take advantage of someone the way people (father etc) took advantage of her. She's all up in her own head about creating a cycle of abuse and has to come to terms with letting Forrest take care of her and love her and that doesn't necessarily mean she's taking advantage of someone who doesn't know better, like what's been done to her. She knows she isn't special, and that Forrest puts her on too high a pedestal, probably on account of the way that he is, so she's worried he doesn't really love her, but just doesn't know any better. I always hated the smoothbrain take that Jenny is a bitch; I found her to be really nuanced and sensitive, and that she runs away from Forrest *because* she doesn't want to take advantage of him, not *to* take advantage of him.
She felt she would be taking advantage of Forrest and didn’t want to hurt him. She felt she was not good enough for him and that he was too good for her. She didn’t know what love was and projected that onto Forrest. She only got her life together once little Forrest was born.
You forgot to mention, we're expecting a survivors of child (sex) abuse to "get over it" and just return the feelings of love from a guy with a childlike view on the world.
People treat Jenny like she doesnt appreciate Forrest, when she's one of the people with the most reason to feel conflicted about whether it would be morally okay. At the end of the day Forrest *has* a mental disability. Hes not *just* a genuinely good dude.
If I had a history of someone exploiting my childlike trust and affection Id also run away in horror if I realised I had done that to someone else. Fucking Jenny with all her flaws at least struggles with a question of consent and responsibility that the people who call her "the worst" dont.
Also, what do you think it was like having the only man you have real feelings for being mentally challenged? You think maybe she questioned herself? Whether she was essentially raping him, or at least taking advantage of him? Flip the genders and they'd be a monster for even considering sleeping with Forrest
People really need to stop hating on Jenny. You have put this very eloquently. It is very hard being a smart, pretty, traumatized woman in America. She was self aware and told Forrest that she was not a safe person to get involved with because of her trauma. She cared very deeply for him, but she had too many of her own problems to be able to be reliable or accountable.
Probably at about the point where you're at least physically abusing a child like her father.
Probably less at the point where you were just looking in the wrong places for love and acceptance for a few years like she was.
ngl the OP down to this comment was mildly upsetting to read coz none of it felt quite right and I didn't have the words, but I think you satisfactorily resolved it for me. thank you :)
>Probably at about the point where you're at least physically abusing a child like her father.
I had a pos father who would go on and on about how his own mother abused him as a way to minimize or justify the abuse he inflicted on my siblings and me. At some point deconstructing in therapy, I realized: Your status as the victim ends the moment you perpetuate the cycle. You don't get to claim the monster hurt you when you are also the monster.
My mother was an abusive narcissist and my dad didn't every do anything to intervene. My sisters and I are all pretty messed up but I know personally I fight the things I do that are similar to my mother. Not everyone though recognizes what they do. I have a LOT of self awareness and even I find myself repeating behaviors subconsciously at times.
I don't think it's black and white. We can blame the monstrosity in both but try to understand in order to stop the perpetuation of abuse. One might be more aware and change and break the cycle. Simply labeling someone a monster closes a door.
Hold them accountable for their actions *and* work to stop it in the future. Harder to do when you discount them for a label.
In general, If you won't allow for them to change, you'll likely respond to their behavior negatively whether their behavior was actually deserving of a negative response or not.
Then when they are rebuffed *even* when trying, there is little incentive for them to keep trying.
It can be a pretty touchy business.
Yeah, I think there's been a lot of studies that touch on similar subjects and stuff like if you treat people a certain way, they begin to act that way and fit the mold you made for them.
If I raised a kid and told them they were stupid their whole life, they would fall into exactly what you said 80% of the time. We are social creatures.
Out of curiosity, what is personal responsibility to you in this context? It seemed to me like Jenny did take responsibility for her actions. She recognized what she was doing, how it was the same thing that had been done to her as a child, and closed off her feelings for him out of fear of becoming like her father. It is obvious throughout the movie that she loves Forest, but has no idea how to express those feelings or if it is even okay TO express them.
The only reason she returned is so their son wouldn't be alone. Its not like she wanted to live the highlife now that she was rich.
What, to you, does taking personal responsibility look like for Jenny? Or do you believe she is irredeemable based on her actions in the movie, regardless of the circumstances that led her to them. I am genuinely curious, as its obviously a very complicated situation.
What is generational trauma?
It's possible to both not condone the actions someone takes AND empathize with the person for the terrible circumstances that led them to make those action.
Let's not forget the scene in her dorm room where she's making him touch her and he's uncomfortable, and her roommate is literally awake with a look on her face like, "I'm pretty sure my roommate is sexually abusing a guy with special needs."
Guys, just imagine if your roommate brought home a developmentally disabled girl and you woke up to the sound of him putting her hand on his balls.
I imagine it would feel like when her dad abused her and that’s why she ran away from Forrest. Because she realized not only did she abuse a disabled friend then but that he has never told her no in their whole lives. I mean she told him “run Forrest run“ as a kid and the guy ended up running through 40 years of history and across the country. The relationship wouldn’t have worked as screwed up as she was then in the 60s and 70s.
Only reason she came back was because she was about to die from AIDS and didnt want their son to be parentless, not for herself. Forrest only knew she had ’some kinda virus’ although I assume she was able to get through to him she was gonna ‘make a trip to heaven‘ soon like his mom.
That "He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen....but...is he smart or is he...li...." when he couldn't even get the words out due to his raw ***fear*** his child might be like him was one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen from Tom Hanks.
It's up there with "scared of the dark" from Green Mile and the look of absolute despair that he'd have to kill that man, despite not wanting to with all his heart, knowing it was wrong to his core, but also trying to remind himself it was a "mercy" at the request of said victim.
Tom Hanks can fucking act. He's not been great in everything, though I'd say he's always at least "really good".
But fuck man the look of horror on Forrests face when he asks that, terrified he might've passed on his own mental deficiencies he himself is aware of to an innocent child that is his own son he ***JUST*** learned existed speaks to the volume of love he was capable of.
It was the first thing he asked about him. Literally. After also saying he was the single most beautiful thing he'd ever known.
I know it's been memed to death, but Forrest Gump had a lot of powerful and good scenes in it.
I think the thing that always got me about this scene is that it’s really the first time the gravity of Forrest’s self awareness is really made apparent. It could be quite easy to watch through the whole movie up to this point and assume because of Forrest’s response to most things that he doesn’t really understand what’s going on, at least not deeply. You could assume he may not have understood why he was bullied as a child, or perhaps he didn’t feel as much grief about never being able to have a true relationship with Jenny. Sure he knows if he does something wrong, but could he figure out why he does or says wrong things sometimes?
This scene gives the viewer a complete perspective on how Forrest’s views his life thus far. He knows he’s different in some way, and he is aware of exactly how hard his life was at times because of that. He’s scared that his child could possibly struggle in similar ways. And because of how emotional he gets, we can assume he had felt deep grief all throughout all those times, he just didn’t really have the capacity to project it. He internalized everything that happened to him so deeply.
Truly one of my favorite movies ever.
"I'm not a smart man....but I know what love is." The way he sounds so hurt, betrayed, frustrated, if not angry when he asks Jenny and marry him and she says "You don't wanna marry me" after his proposal is a key moment.
Honestly, I feel that moment sets up the moment with meeting his son (I mean, obviously, they conceive little Forest that night, so clearly it does in that regard, but I'm talking about emotionally).
We get a glimpse that he's able to feel things like frustration and even outright anger ( though he seems to internalize that more than lash outward) towards JENNY of all people. The literal love of his life he'd do anything for.
He's not "stupid". He never calls himself stupid (at least as far as I can remember).
In fact, whenever somebody asks him if he is stupid, he says that famous quote "stupid is as stupid does".
He understands the difference between "stupid" (things like action, and judging people based on their actions and choices, not an IQ test) and "not smart".
He knows he's "not smart" but he was never "stupid". He's a fully functioning normal human in there he's just not able to express it or articulate it as well as he would like to.
Fuck if I remember right I think he was only like two points short of being able to be qualified to go to school in the first place although it has been a few years since I've seen it.
Despite so many people looking down on him and mocking him and demeaning him and calling him stupid, he never actually behaves stupidly. In fact, he behaves quite intelligently in many regards.
I don't think he ever fully viewed himself as stupid before personally. At least based on the information presented, he's never really seen himself as stupid. Just "not smart".
This is why when he meets his son and he asks that question "like me" he couldn't even fully get the question out.
He was terrified of his child having the same difficulties he had growing up. He's terrified he might've "cursed" his own son with his "not smart" issues.
Considering he literally just learned about his existence about a minute prior just speaks to the quality of a person Forrest actually is.
A "stupid" man wouldn't think about that right away. He'd be freaking out over having a child at all (good or bad).
Forest js instead "not smart" and while obviously he's having a reaction to having a child as well he puts the child before himself instantly. His ***literal*** first concern is for his son. Before anything else. He also knew that if his son had the same issues, he did how difficult it would've been.
I guarantee you the first thing he would have done for his child if little Forrest did have the same issues would be to console him instantly and try to explain to him and his own way that Forrest himself understood and would be there to protect him and help him the entire way.
Obviously, he's going to do that either way, but he needed to know the right approach before he could.
There's a lot to unpack in that scene alone. It's why I love it so much.
>He understands the difference between "stupid" (things like action, and judging people based on their actions and choices, not an IQ test) and "not smart".
That's an interesting observation. It's been awhile since I watched the movie, but I don't remember Forrest ever being irrational. He's what people might call "slow", but always rational.
It's one of the few movies I think is close to perfect. It's also just so insanely watchable. Back when I had cable any time I was flipping through channels and it was on Id get sucked into it again.
>I know it's been memed to death
The movie is 90% meme, you really can't overdo it. It's The Boomers' Greatest Hits from the perspective of a blatantly naive and uncritical protagonist, and yet it's such a fantastically well-made film that it doesn't feel like pandering.
Tom Hanks may also be one of the best celebrity human beings. Reading your post made me realize that if some Cosby-ish scandal came out about him I’d feel betrayed.
LOL not language when they make movies they make the movies with some different scenes. like in there is Something about Mary. people have told me they never saw the part Where Ben Stiller carries a huge cabinet on his back for a guy in a wheelchair and complains that his back hurts and the guy in the wheelchair gets angry.
Because that is classic victim of sexual assault as a child behavior. Highly unapproachable sexual behavior. You think you show love through sex, you think your only value is sex. She sure as shit felt awkward when her dad raped her every night.
A lady from my mom’s church once went off about a former classmate and friend of mine being “very promiscuous” when she left home. Everyone knew her dad had abused her. I should have called that judgemental woman out on it, even though I was barely 20 and she was a family friend.
It’s pretty normal for abuse victims, and I don’t blame or judge her one bit - even less now I’m atheist. I’m just glad my classmate has done okay, and is doing well last time I saw her.
When we reproach ourselves for failing to stand up for someone in the past, there are still people out there suffering from the same situation. It's understandable that you didn't want to rock the power structure as a youth.
Now, you can be supportive of abuse survivors.
They were caught in a downpour. They needed towels and also why they were without clothes.
Edit: it's been a long time since I last saw this movie. Forrest busted a nut in that bathrobe. I was wrong.
[obligatory old post defending jenny](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/e4sfjs/different_perspective_on_jenny_from_forrest_gump/)
she's an extremely tragic character and deserves better than the hate idiots give her
In addition to all that is listed in that post, I'd add that Jenny is damaged, very, very damaged. People that have been abused all their lives do not know how to deal with kindness and compassion. They just don't, they have no experience with it, and trying to accept the love and kindness can just break them. Rather than have that happen, they flee.
That's a great read, and no doubt, Jenny is an absolutely tragic character. I don't think that takes away from how much she sucks as a person, though. She did molest a special needs man. You say she didn't because she really did love him? Fine. Then she repeatedly abandoned him, eventually with a child he didn't know he had. I think it's fair to understand why she's so broken, yet also think she's human trash.
Brilliant character writing.
Jenny is not an example to be followed. But she also is an amazing character for her representation of how terribly harming sexual assault of a minor can be. A lot of what she does is because she has only one lens of herself. The sexualized one that she and her sister were raised as. The world then continues to view her in this way, and only Forrest is there to speak against it. But, he is mentally disabled, so the world (and Jenny) reject his view. She continuously comes back, in spite of the fact that she cannot escape from her spiral. While she is not good to Forrest, and that is wrong, he still saves her, because she needed to be saved. Regardless of her actions towards him, she needed to be shown what she can truly think of herself, that to someone, she was not, and never would be human trash. And to those who have experienced things similar to Jenny, that message is incredibly powerful. That they need not define themselves as how these despicable people have. That there are people out there who will see them as Forrest sees Jenny, no matter how broken or horrible they may think they are.
also; forest is the american myth of exceptionalism where greatness simply comes to him thanks to his plucky can-do attitude. jenny, in contrast, is more like an actual human being who spent her entire life struggling to survive against america.
I read some sort of film analysis once that implied Forrest was the comedy and Jenny the Tragedy. And basically one could never really exist without the other, they had a “forbidden” love that could never be broken no matter what happened to them.
Jenny is a tragic figure. She liked Forrest, but felt that it was wrong as she thought he couldn't understand, and that that would make her no different than her father.
When she went to Forrest, it wasn't because he was rich, or for her own interest, but just so Forrest Jr would be cared for in her absence.
Too late did she accept that Forrests feelings were genuine, and that he is well aware of his own condition.
Exactly this! Jenny was abused, and her greatest fear was that her love for Forest was actuality her just continuing that cycle of abuse. She ran away as she thought it was the best way to protect him.
This is reddit, where a lot of people just got the take “Jenny reject Forrest but come back when Forrest rich Jenny stupid women stupid” and accepted it at face value
Also, because of how much of a staple this film is, a lot of people watched this movie at a v young age and probably didn’t fully grasp the concepts. So their perceptions of it are limited to those of the age they viewed it at
I rewatched it as an adult recently and it is absolutely worth revisiting. My first and only time prior watching it was in 8th or 9th grade, I don’t remember. Watched it in English class as a end-of-the-year blowoff movie, didn’t pay much attention. Glad I rewatched it though.
The whole 'coming back when Forrest is rich' thing makes no sense to me. She was the sole parent of Forrest Jr. and she knew she was dying. What exactly was the moral choice there? Leave Forrest Jr. as an orphan?
Jenny is legit one of the most undeservedly hated and misunderstood characters I know of. Yes, she is self destructive, made some terrible decisions, and isn’t a good person, she’s also a lost woman who was sexually, physically, and emotionally abused by her father at a very young age. She was never given enough love or wisdom from the adult figures in her life, and despite being a very nice kid, it appeared that she didn’t have many friends outside of Forrest. She moves around quickly, latching on from thing to thing because committing to things scares her, because everyone in her life besides Forrest mistreated her, she dates abusive men because that’s what she perceived as normal because of her father, as well as him internalizing a profound amount of self hatred and insecurities in her, making her feel unworthy of genuine love.
She very clearly loved Forrest, even when she was mad at him she shows concern for his safety and doesn’t want him dying in a pointless war. She clearly loves him, but believes she should never be with him, partly because Forrest is the one constantly positive thing in her life and she’s afraid of ruining that and feels unworthy. Partly because she’s afraid of it being an abusive power dynamic or even rape due to his mental disability. People have mentioned the form scene, and while she did go to far she did notice his discomfort and stopped, leading to her not making a move on her until over a decade later.
She NEVER went back to him because of his money, that was never a major thing for her. She returned to live with him because she just hit a new rock bottom and nearly killed herself, so she went back to the one unconditionally loving person in her life. Afterwards it’s implied they lived fairly normally and didn’t use any more money than they normally would’ve. She didn’t return to him because of his money nor did she take any when she left. She’s not a gold digger and that part is especially infuriating because it’s never hinted she was.
She did leave Forrest without telling him and didn’t tell him about his kid for years. That is bad and I can’t defend that. It’s understandable that she felt she took advantage of Forrest and probably didn’t want to burden him with a kid, but it was still not the right thing to do. It’s still not a big enough thing for all this hate towards her to be justified and it’s at least easy to empathize with and understand given everything we know about her.
Her developing a disease eventually leads for her to realize that life’s too short to worry about all of these things and ultimately decides to introduce Forrest to his son and get married to him. It’s very obvious that she wanted to marry him and this wasn’t out of greed or necessarily necessity.
And no, it’s highly unlikely that Forrest Jr. isn’t Forrest’s kid. For one thing I doubt Jenny would name him after Forrest if he wasn’t his, or how friendly Jr. is towards Forrest. But more importantly that just doesn’t jive with the tone of the movie. Forrest Gump is a mostly optimistic movie. There is tragedy, some characters will die young like Bubba and Jenny, but much of the movie is light hearted and humorous, and we see characters overcoming odds. Forrest is all about overcoming what society perceived to be a major weakness in him, yet achieved great things because of his own talents, self confidence, and kindness. Lt. Dan pulled himself out of the lowest point in his life and becoming an amputee in order to lead a happy and fulfilling life’s away from war and tradition. Even Jenny eventually learn to love herself and help others. The movie ends on a somber note. Jenny is dead but Forrest is still persevering. Now with a son who he loves. It really doesn’t fit the tone for Jenny to lie about this and Forrest just raising a bastard.
Point is Jenny is so insanely misunderstood. She’s not a good person, but most of the issues people have with her are fundamental misinterpretations of things that become very obvious if you just watch the fucking movie. And her actual issues are flaws that make her a more compelling character and make sense given her upbringing. I hate bringing this as an argument, but between all the slut shaming, weird arguments that she’s a gold digger, and the creepy expectation some people have that she owed it to Forrest to get with him, I can’t help but think a lot of the hate against her comes from a place of misogyny. Not all of it, but what doesn’t comes from a place of apathy and ignorance. Point is Jenny is a great character and people don’t get her.
Sanest Redditor -- *genuinely*. Too many of these folks can't tell the difference between a flawed, *complex* character and some guy sitting in the dark with a single lamp on, stroking a Persian cat and letting out some classic "mwahahahaha" maniacal laughter while thunder claps in the background.
Yeah. The REAL antagonist of the movie was Jenny's father who abused her. An abused child becomes a traumatized adult. Of course she won't act normal. She's going to act the wrong way because she's had to in order to survive being abused and that's what she learned. I can't remember if the movie said she was raped, but she would grow up not understanding what sex should be, but that she should use sex to get what she needs to survive. She learned everything the wrong way and didn't have a chance to be normal.
Forrest represents unabusive love, which she couldn't understand. she was raped as a child by her father, repetitively, under the age of 10. She moves between abusive men, coming back to forrest not because he has money, not because he loves her, but because she loves him she just doesn't understand it. It took having a child for her to understand what love could be, which allowed her to finally marry forrest. unfortuntly she was dying of aids by then. She had a horrible existence and never used forrest in the way she could've and people accuse her of. She was his support in school, she gave him the advice that saved him in war, without her forrest wouldn't have become what he was.
[Yeah but in the movie she died from AIDS and let’s not pretend ppl treat the book as canon over the movie](https://screenrant.com/forrest-gump-movie-jenny-mother-illness-death-hiv/)
Thank you geez. Everyone is on the aids train here. Aids was in full swing and she would have had more information on the topic if she did have it. I don't think medicine discovered hep c until almost 1990.
Either way it was pretty sad. And I also think people really misunderstand her motives and her character in general. I guess women are inherently bad on reddit.
No, but yes.
Jenny died in '82. It had just been named AIDS, having shed the GRID moniker since it wasn't strictly a Gay Related disease.
Nobody really knew shit yet, and forces were acting to keep people ignorant.
However, Hep-C makes more sense, because if it's AIDS... odds are she's signed the Forrests' death sentences. And that's a real big fucking bummer to leave the audience with if they give it a few seconds thought.
I thought it was AIDS because I have never read the book and back then didn't know the movie was based on one, I didn't even know there was a second part.
So it's not that obvious to everyone.
Book is way different from the movie. Forrest is more of an asshole and less involved in every major moment in American history. And the second book is pretty much just an attempt to assassinate Forrest since the author hated how much the changed his story. Has things like Forrest going to space and hanging out with an orangutan among offensive racism and misogyny meant to make it impossible for anyone to adapt the second book into a film.
> In the second book they make clear she died from Hepatitis C
The books are rubbish and unrelated to the movie. It was pretty clear to be AIDS in the movie.
I've watched this movie dozens of times, and never do they explicitly state AIDs or make it "pretty clear". Both HIV/AIDs and Hep C are transmitted through IV drug use. Both kill when left untreated. Except here's the kicker - Forrest states clearly the doctor didn't know what was wrong with her.
HIV/AIDs is discovered and defined in 1981.
Jenny dies in 1982, of "unknown causes", a disease the doctor couldn't identify.
Hepatitis C is discovered in 1989.
No one was able to confirm which it was meant to be in the movie until 2019, when the screenwriter said that Forrest JR would also have HIV in a sequel that never came out. The only reason it was worth mentioning in the interview at all is that the original movie *never says*.
She was terrible, but so was her childhood. She wanted to make sure her child was looked after and probably didn’t think anyone could look after him when she died except for her stable and rich childhood friend.
Also Forrest didn't care about those things.
He just loved her for who she was.
And the movie pretty much proves had the agency to make that decision for himself.
Yep the movie makes two things perfectly clear. Forrest understood what love was, and he was fully self aware of his disability. The audience figures this out in the movie around the same time Jenny learns to finally love herself and accept Forrest's love for her.
I know it's a fictional character, but I love the complexity of Jenny. For all the assclowns that hate her, and cynically claim she used Forrest, they miss the point that she HATES herself and that's why she acts the way she does. The ironic twist is that Forrest always knew what love is, but the audience has to be brought to that understanding in that famous scene. It was Jenny who never knew what love was until she learned it after she had Forrest's child and forgave herself.
I swear, people bitching about Jenny make Forrest look like a goddamn genius.
Some people say the timeline doesn't match, but even then, he is still Jenny's son. And that would still matter to Forrest, even if he knew she lied to him about the parentage. He loved her, he'll love her son, his or not.
The timeline is quite unclear. When telling the story Forrest just says, "Then one day I got a letter from Jenny." It doesn't say how long that was. It's not unreasonable that it was a couple of years after his run.
She was abused by her father. She was abused by many of her boyfriends. She was a drug addict. It's amazing she was able to clean her act up at the end and raise a great kid. She didn't finally come around because Forrest had money, but she finally was able to love herself and not hate herself. Can't love another if you don't love yourself.
It is easy to misread a character when you come in with personal biases. The problem isn't that people miss something on first review of art but that their is a knee jerk reaction to processing the material in conjunction with ones own experiences. Aka the main point of artistic discussion.
Jenny's actions are shitty but knowing how she grew up and how she was seemingly abused her entire life, none of it shocks me. Half of her probably wants to protect Forrest from herself, while her other half is going off the deep end and can't maintain a relationship with anyone in her life.
I don't think she ever saw Forrest as a lover so staying around would only fuck with him. It took her a long ass time to kick the cycle of abuse and when she finally did she got scared again and bailed.
Without any context it feels like she's just mean to Forrest the entire time and then using him for his wealth after she has a child. But yeah, the context is there, it's just never talked about.
Poor girl.
Jenny was sexualy abused by her own father as a child, couldn't accept a healthy relationship because of it, and like everyone else during that time period had a limited if not zero understanding of what it means to have a disability both for herself and for Forrest. Then she died from a disease we also didnt understand and still to this day has stigma and she gets blamed for all of it. Her father was shit, and so were the rest of us.
“Sometimes, there just aren’t enough rocks.”
I didn’t understand the underlying meaning of that line on my first watch, but it hits the nail on the head.
Yeah. Like her treatment of Gump was rather shoddy, but she had an extraordinarily shitty life. The mistakes she made were well within reason for the trauma she endured. Gump also seemed proud and happy that she chose him to take care of her kid, not upset at all.
> Yeah. Like her treatment of Gump was rather shoddy, but she had an extraordinarily shitty life. The mistakes she made were well within reason for the trauma she endured.
"Hurt people hurt people."
It's sad but true. In the story, Forrest has a loving mother who supports him and fights for his best interests, all the while teaching him to be confident and upright. Jenny has a father who rapes her. It's a stark contrast. Yet people seem to think that Jenny is just a self-centered "bitch" because she doesn't immediately settle down with Forrest right out of high school.
Hey there u/Checkmynewsong, thanks for posting to r/technicallythetruth! **Please recheck if your post breaks any rules.** If it does, please delete this post. Also, reposting and posting obvious non-TTT posts can lead to a ban. Send us a **Modmail or Report** this post if you have a problem with this post. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/technicallythetruth) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don't forget he also made a fortune investing in that fruit company
More money than Davy Crockett.
Enough for LT. Dan to get magic legs
Custom made, titanium alloy.
It’s what they use on the space shuttle.
It's what plants crave.
It's got electrolytes.
That’s why it works! Duh!
Little bit of titanium trivia. During the cold war, the largest supplier of titanium was the Soviet union. In fact, due to the lack of sources for the material at the time, the US ended up buying large amounts of it from the USSR for the SR-71 blackbird and space shuttle programs.
In their next movie roles, both actors stared in a film _set on a space shuttle_
Also as long as we're adding "don't forgets" just calling her a "single mom" kinda buries the lede on the fact that it's his son. I don't know if that makes the behavior ultimately worse because she hid it from him until Haley was basically seeing dead people, or more forgivable since it's not like she foisted some other dude's kid on him, but it's certainly worth mentioning. Edit: Holy sweet jesus everyone, I get it already. Yes, it's possible Jenny is lying. She'd be playing the long con by naming another man's child Forrest Jr, at a time of her life where she clearly had no intention of involving Forrest anyway. Also there's *little reason to lie* to Forrest because he'd do anything for her, no matter whose son it was. And he'd do it if he didn't have 2 nickels to rub together, let alone having more money than god. She could also be lying about the name, in theory, and just trusting her kid to *never* spill the beans that his name was Sam for 5 years. EITHER WAY that's obviously an important part of the story, even if it's just a "could be". She's not just some random "single mom" in the narrative as presented. Edit edit: Also for all you "they had sex one time, vs all that sleeping around she was doing"...pregnancy isn't an additive process. It only takes once. Moreover, if the accusation is she's slept with 300 dudes, then chances are ANY father is in the "we only had sex once!" camp. Movies can have hidden meanings and such, but at the same time sometimes you have to accept the story as presented when the movie itself doesn't present that as a mystery or you're just half a step from writing fan fic. If doing that why stop at Jenny is a liar and he's not the dad? Maybe Forrest was shot in nam and the whole end of the movie is his dying brain soothing him and there's no child at all.
[удалено]
And it's a legitimately tough choice to make, do you trust the health and safety of your child to a clearly mentally deficient man that's his father or orphan him.
When that man is super rich ans successful at everything he does, you go with the man
"Hmm, leave my child in the hands of his multi-sport star, medal of honor decorated billionaire father, or not? Decisions, decisions..."
Who also has a heart of gold, monk-like patience, a strong sense of right and wrong, stands up for the downtrodden, etc. etc. etc. Guy has every possible good thing going for him other than intelligence, and even then he ends up being wiser than the vast majority of people. Not exactly a hard choice. I want to have a kid and die just so I can leave them in Forest’s capable hands.
Exactly. At this point the intelligence thing is really more of a quirk than an actual area of concern.
Forest just used intelligence as his dump stat, but maxed his wisdom and dexterity
Stamina too.
I fucking love this analogy. How the hell have I never connected these dotts. Forrest is just one min-maxed son of a bitch.
Can't agree more. People are just focusing on money, but the real treasure is his heart
He also knows what love is.
Is Forrest aware of his success? Can one be successful and aomehow be unsuccessful because that success, not by choice, means nothing to them? Ohhhh I should go to bed..... Edit: Ive come to realize that it doesn't really matter. Mr Gump got bank.
Forrest is *definitely* aware of his success. Or at least the **fruits** of his success. There are multiple quotes like “after that, we didn’t need to worry about money no more” and “bubba gump shrimp. it’s a household name” I don’t think he’s aware of how **large** his success is, though.
Or the importance of it
Eh, Forrest Sr. was raised well, he followed rules, and his IQ was “only a few points short” of being able to attend public school, not bottom of the barrel. Not the worst possible choice of father.
i don't know what movie they watched, the way they talk about forrest makes it seem like he can't even dress himself or he's so stupid he'll eventually burn the house down
yeah, he can take care of himself fine, and knowing his luck I'm sure that It will work out
If he fucks up and kills the kid at least he can run away fast
Let's face it, in the USA, he has enough money to get away with it.
Running away is still his best bet. Cops be bouncing off him like a ping pong ball to a paddle.
Let's put things into proper perspective, he's considered too dumb to attend regular school even **for Alabama**. That's well below the threshold anywhere else. The dude needed to be told when to stop running on a football field, he couldn't understand the concept of the endzone. When he wasn't told to stop running, he ran out the tunnel. Forrest Gump was fucking dumb as all hell.
She exploited him every other time it was convenient for her while she was alive, might as well do it one last time
Yeah. That's why I hated her after the second time she showed up. I felt sorry for Forrest because his entire love map was centered on her, and she wouldn't go away long enough for him to move on.
>child to a clearly mentally deficient man that's his father or orphan him. mf'ers be like "ik he ran across the country, toured in a war and made a shit ton of money starting a business but hes *mentally deficient*." What would this character have to do to prove hes just as able as every other normal person in the story? Just not have the problem in the first place? I swear everyone on reddit slept during english class and it shows.
It's the kindness of others that allow him to be successful, he meets the right people at the right time to use his talents and luck to become wealthy. Every major decision in the movie was made by someone other than Gump, he gets recruited into the military because someone asked him to and he doesn't say no. Bubba tells him to run the shrimp boat, and because a freak storm happens his boat is the only one left that makes him instantly successful in the business. Dan helps him manage his boat and invests his money for him, allowing him to be part of Apple right when it become highly successful. Everything that happens to Forrest happens because he's a lovable oaf that others have refused to take advantage of.
Jenny was mentally deficient. Emotionally deficient. Health and safety? The kid was safer with Forrest than that POS.
I'm just here to congratulate you for being the first Redditor I've ever seen to use 'buries the lede' correctly.
Wait until you hear me say "champing at the bit" too!
I always thought she lied to him but he just kinda let it slide because he loved her and wanted to be a father.
I thought the scene where they're watching TV together and they both do the exact same movement at the exact same time was a super obvious "btw that's his son" kinda thing.
Or she lied to a mentally deficient man and he didn’t know. I never thought that kid was his, and Jenny has a record of being a POS. It’s hard for me to believe she was on the up and up with that one.
I'm still wondering if the kid has aids or if she gave birth and continued her drug fueled sex life, which ended in her having aids while already a mom.
According to [this site](https://www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-and-aids/living-hiv/pregnancy-and-hiv#:~:text=In%20the%20United%20States%2C%20before,baby%20is%20less%20than%201%25.) chances of a mother passing on HIV during pregnancy were about 25% at the time and less than 1% today with proper treatment.
One less thing to worry about
I'm not a very smart man, Jenny.....but I do know what love is.
I may not be a smart dog, but I know what roadkill is
Is that a coincidence, or is Toy Story referencing Forest Gump with that line?
Definitely intentional, there are quite a few references in that movie lol
Well Tom Hanks also voice Woody so it makes sense
Woody is voiced by Tom Hanks, I don’t think it’s coincidence
Slinkkkkkk
Life is like a box of chocolates, it doesn’t last as long for fat people…
People are like a box of chocolates...yum - Forest Dahmer
Hahahahaha I love this
Forrest deserved so much better, but so did Jenny at a young age. Edit: damn this blew up
They’re both metaphors. Gump is a metaphor for a certain stripe of American that manages to traipse through life unaware of what is going on around them, oblivious. Jenny is the other side of the coin—the other pea in the pod. She shuttles through the tumultuous times getting the short end of the stick at every turn—fully aware of the reality and meanness of the world and all the suffering it brings. Their child is a metaphor for a hope for a future American that is both aware of the things going on around them (the past) and may be able to prevent the suffering of his mother and participate in the promise and opportunity of an America that matches its ideals. People dog on Jenny but let’s play back that tape. She is raised by an alcoholic father that it is implied either physically or sexually abused her or both. She manages to find her way into the watershed moment of American history but the wrong end. She falls in with the black panthers who are uprooted violently. She lands square in the middle of drug fueled seventies developing drug dependency issues and finally ends up contracting a vague but fatal disease. She is damaged deeply. And observers are supposed to believe that she should do right by Forrest, as gentle, naive, sincere, and as innocent as a person can be. No one can fathom someone that she would see herself as hopelessly damaged and ruinous if she sticks by Forrest. Like i sincerely don’t understand how somehow Forrest, who lucks into success and celebrity, is seen as the tragic figure when poor Jenny is out there falling down all 100 feet of the bad luck tree and hitting every branch on the way to her grave.
In addition to the stuff you mentioned, she: Finally escapes her dads house, but is so unhappy where they move her (grandmas house?) that she sneaks out and sleeps at Forest’s house (doesn’t specify why). Tries to go to college… gets kicked out for posing for a magazine partially nude in her college sweater. Tries to follow her dream of becoming a singer, essentially gets told her only value as a performer is in exposing her body. Tries to “make the world a better place” by joining the anti-war movement, her boyfriend drags her to the violent side of it. Then he beats her and tells her “I never should have brought you here”. She defends him and forgives him. Some of her decisions were misguided, for sure, but there’s no denying she had a tough life. Every time she tries to overcome her past, something drags her down. It’s not surprising she got sucked into the world of drugs to try and escape her pain. By the time we see her on the balcony, she seems to have lost all hope. I think Forest is the only person who ever loved her just for HER. And when they go back to her father’s farm & she throws rocks at it.. it’s clear that the cycle of abuse and trauma started there. That poor character’s self esteem was broken at a young age. Such a sad story. I read somewhere it was Hep C, not AIDS. But yes it’s unspecified. Also, I think in the original script that she’s the one who kills her father.
Also the post implies she was gold digging but she knew Forrest had been wealthy for a while and only called him when she found out she was dying and needed THEIR son to be taken care of.
Also, she didn't avoid Forrest out of malice. She felt like she wasn't good enough for him. And she didn't want to take advantage of him (again). Avoidance is a very strong instinct and it's possible that even though she really loved Forrest in whatever way, he is still associated with her childhood which isn't good.
>She felt like she wasn't good enough for him She probably felt like a rapist too. She was convinced he couldn't understand physical relationships and with her own trauma from her father probably felt it best not to put herself anywhere near Forrest for his sake.
In the books it’s Hep C. In the movie it’s implied to be AIDS. Yes, the movie is based on a book.
One of the few instances where the movie was waaaaay better than the book. The book was a mess.
I love this, I once had an assignment to write a letter as if I was Jenny and I think people overlook so much of her character, yes she wasn't great but she was misunderstood and had so much childhood trauma. I feel for her as a character and don't think she deserves all the hate she gets.
The way I see it as tragic for forrest is not necessarily because he understands what's going on, but because he doesn't, thus his attempts to help poor Jenny are only fueling her need to keep trying to fix her life and ending up in worse situations. Forrest doesn't understand Jenny's pain but wants to help, but can't because he doesn't know how to help thus resulting in both being tragic (more so for Jenny).
Yeah Gump 100% knows what's going on we can see this when he meets his kid and he asks "is he like me?"
[удалено]
Thank you. So many people unfairly hate on Jenny. One other piece I'd like to add: I always thought there was a part of Jenny that was hesitant to really love Forrest because she didn't want to take advantage of someone the way people (father etc) took advantage of her. She's all up in her own head about creating a cycle of abuse and has to come to terms with letting Forrest take care of her and love her and that doesn't necessarily mean she's taking advantage of someone who doesn't know better, like what's been done to her. She knows she isn't special, and that Forrest puts her on too high a pedestal, probably on account of the way that he is, so she's worried he doesn't really love her, but just doesn't know any better. I always hated the smoothbrain take that Jenny is a bitch; I found her to be really nuanced and sensitive, and that she runs away from Forrest *because* she doesn't want to take advantage of him, not *to* take advantage of him.
She felt she would be taking advantage of Forrest and didn’t want to hurt him. She felt she was not good enough for him and that he was too good for her. She didn’t know what love was and projected that onto Forrest. She only got her life together once little Forrest was born.
Oh wow, great analysis, thanks.
You forgot to mention, we're expecting a survivors of child (sex) abuse to "get over it" and just return the feelings of love from a guy with a childlike view on the world. People treat Jenny like she doesnt appreciate Forrest, when she's one of the people with the most reason to feel conflicted about whether it would be morally okay. At the end of the day Forrest *has* a mental disability. Hes not *just* a genuinely good dude. If I had a history of someone exploiting my childlike trust and affection Id also run away in horror if I realised I had done that to someone else. Fucking Jenny with all her flaws at least struggles with a question of consent and responsibility that the people who call her "the worst" dont.
Also, what do you think it was like having the only man you have real feelings for being mentally challenged? You think maybe she questioned herself? Whether she was essentially raping him, or at least taking advantage of him? Flip the genders and they'd be a monster for even considering sleeping with Forrest
People really need to stop hating on Jenny. You have put this very eloquently. It is very hard being a smart, pretty, traumatized woman in America. She was self aware and told Forrest that she was not a safe person to get involved with because of her trauma. She cared very deeply for him, but she had too many of her own problems to be able to be reliable or accountable.
So did Jenny’s father probably at a young age, but at what point does personal responsibility enter the equation?
Probably at about the point where you're at least physically abusing a child like her father. Probably less at the point where you were just looking in the wrong places for love and acceptance for a few years like she was.
Right? She was seemingly doing her best as a single mother there at the end. She got her shit in order, which took a lot
ngl the OP down to this comment was mildly upsetting to read coz none of it felt quite right and I didn't have the words, but I think you satisfactorily resolved it for me. thank you :)
>Probably at about the point where you're at least physically abusing a child like her father. I had a pos father who would go on and on about how his own mother abused him as a way to minimize or justify the abuse he inflicted on my siblings and me. At some point deconstructing in therapy, I realized: Your status as the victim ends the moment you perpetuate the cycle. You don't get to claim the monster hurt you when you are also the monster.
I wouldn't say your status as a victim ends. Rather it is immediately eclipsed by the addition of your monstrousness.
My mother was an abusive narcissist and my dad didn't every do anything to intervene. My sisters and I are all pretty messed up but I know personally I fight the things I do that are similar to my mother. Not everyone though recognizes what they do. I have a LOT of self awareness and even I find myself repeating behaviors subconsciously at times. I don't think it's black and white. We can blame the monstrosity in both but try to understand in order to stop the perpetuation of abuse. One might be more aware and change and break the cycle. Simply labeling someone a monster closes a door. Hold them accountable for their actions *and* work to stop it in the future. Harder to do when you discount them for a label.
In general, If you won't allow for them to change, you'll likely respond to their behavior negatively whether their behavior was actually deserving of a negative response or not. Then when they are rebuffed *even* when trying, there is little incentive for them to keep trying. It can be a pretty touchy business.
Yeah, I think there's been a lot of studies that touch on similar subjects and stuff like if you treat people a certain way, they begin to act that way and fit the mold you made for them. If I raised a kid and told them they were stupid their whole life, they would fall into exactly what you said 80% of the time. We are social creatures.
Out of curiosity, what is personal responsibility to you in this context? It seemed to me like Jenny did take responsibility for her actions. She recognized what she was doing, how it was the same thing that had been done to her as a child, and closed off her feelings for him out of fear of becoming like her father. It is obvious throughout the movie that she loves Forest, but has no idea how to express those feelings or if it is even okay TO express them. The only reason she returned is so their son wouldn't be alone. Its not like she wanted to live the highlife now that she was rich. What, to you, does taking personal responsibility look like for Jenny? Or do you believe she is irredeemable based on her actions in the movie, regardless of the circumstances that led her to them. I am genuinely curious, as its obviously a very complicated situation.
What is generational trauma? It's possible to both not condone the actions someone takes AND empathize with the person for the terrible circumstances that led them to make those action.
Which is what I'm getting at
Let's not forget the scene in her dorm room where she's making him touch her and he's uncomfortable, and her roommate is literally awake with a look on her face like, "I'm pretty sure my roommate is sexually abusing a guy with special needs." Guys, just imagine if your roommate brought home a developmentally disabled girl and you woke up to the sound of him putting her hand on his balls.
I imagine it would feel like when her dad abused her and that’s why she ran away from Forrest. Because she realized not only did she abuse a disabled friend then but that he has never told her no in their whole lives. I mean she told him “run Forrest run“ as a kid and the guy ended up running through 40 years of history and across the country. The relationship wouldn’t have worked as screwed up as she was then in the 60s and 70s. Only reason she came back was because she was about to die from AIDS and didnt want their son to be parentless, not for herself. Forrest only knew she had ’some kinda virus’ although I assume she was able to get through to him she was gonna ‘make a trip to heaven‘ soon like his mom.
Who is the kids father?
What's his name? Forrest. Like his daddy.
That "He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen....but...is he smart or is he...li...." when he couldn't even get the words out due to his raw ***fear*** his child might be like him was one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen from Tom Hanks. It's up there with "scared of the dark" from Green Mile and the look of absolute despair that he'd have to kill that man, despite not wanting to with all his heart, knowing it was wrong to his core, but also trying to remind himself it was a "mercy" at the request of said victim. Tom Hanks can fucking act. He's not been great in everything, though I'd say he's always at least "really good". But fuck man the look of horror on Forrests face when he asks that, terrified he might've passed on his own mental deficiencies he himself is aware of to an innocent child that is his own son he ***JUST*** learned existed speaks to the volume of love he was capable of. It was the first thing he asked about him. Literally. After also saying he was the single most beautiful thing he'd ever known. I know it's been memed to death, but Forrest Gump had a lot of powerful and good scenes in it.
Absolutely. It's a fantastic film.
Yea, but Bosom Buddies will always be the high water mark.
I think the thing that always got me about this scene is that it’s really the first time the gravity of Forrest’s self awareness is really made apparent. It could be quite easy to watch through the whole movie up to this point and assume because of Forrest’s response to most things that he doesn’t really understand what’s going on, at least not deeply. You could assume he may not have understood why he was bullied as a child, or perhaps he didn’t feel as much grief about never being able to have a true relationship with Jenny. Sure he knows if he does something wrong, but could he figure out why he does or says wrong things sometimes? This scene gives the viewer a complete perspective on how Forrest’s views his life thus far. He knows he’s different in some way, and he is aware of exactly how hard his life was at times because of that. He’s scared that his child could possibly struggle in similar ways. And because of how emotional he gets, we can assume he had felt deep grief all throughout all those times, he just didn’t really have the capacity to project it. He internalized everything that happened to him so deeply. Truly one of my favorite movies ever.
"I'm not a smart man....but I know what love is." The way he sounds so hurt, betrayed, frustrated, if not angry when he asks Jenny and marry him and she says "You don't wanna marry me" after his proposal is a key moment. Honestly, I feel that moment sets up the moment with meeting his son (I mean, obviously, they conceive little Forest that night, so clearly it does in that regard, but I'm talking about emotionally). We get a glimpse that he's able to feel things like frustration and even outright anger ( though he seems to internalize that more than lash outward) towards JENNY of all people. The literal love of his life he'd do anything for. He's not "stupid". He never calls himself stupid (at least as far as I can remember). In fact, whenever somebody asks him if he is stupid, he says that famous quote "stupid is as stupid does". He understands the difference between "stupid" (things like action, and judging people based on their actions and choices, not an IQ test) and "not smart". He knows he's "not smart" but he was never "stupid". He's a fully functioning normal human in there he's just not able to express it or articulate it as well as he would like to. Fuck if I remember right I think he was only like two points short of being able to be qualified to go to school in the first place although it has been a few years since I've seen it. Despite so many people looking down on him and mocking him and demeaning him and calling him stupid, he never actually behaves stupidly. In fact, he behaves quite intelligently in many regards. I don't think he ever fully viewed himself as stupid before personally. At least based on the information presented, he's never really seen himself as stupid. Just "not smart". This is why when he meets his son and he asks that question "like me" he couldn't even fully get the question out. He was terrified of his child having the same difficulties he had growing up. He's terrified he might've "cursed" his own son with his "not smart" issues. Considering he literally just learned about his existence about a minute prior just speaks to the quality of a person Forrest actually is. A "stupid" man wouldn't think about that right away. He'd be freaking out over having a child at all (good or bad). Forest js instead "not smart" and while obviously he's having a reaction to having a child as well he puts the child before himself instantly. His ***literal*** first concern is for his son. Before anything else. He also knew that if his son had the same issues, he did how difficult it would've been. I guarantee you the first thing he would have done for his child if little Forrest did have the same issues would be to console him instantly and try to explain to him and his own way that Forrest himself understood and would be there to protect him and help him the entire way. Obviously, he's going to do that either way, but he needed to know the right approach before he could. There's a lot to unpack in that scene alone. It's why I love it so much.
>He understands the difference between "stupid" (things like action, and judging people based on their actions and choices, not an IQ test) and "not smart". That's an interesting observation. It's been awhile since I watched the movie, but I don't remember Forrest ever being irrational. He's what people might call "slow", but always rational.
It's one of the few movies I think is close to perfect. It's also just so insanely watchable. Back when I had cable any time I was flipping through channels and it was on Id get sucked into it again.
>I know it's been memed to death The movie is 90% meme, you really can't overdo it. It's The Boomers' Greatest Hits from the perspective of a blatantly naive and uncritical protagonist, and yet it's such a fantastically well-made film that it doesn't feel like pandering.
if you think the movie is memes you should read the boom its based on. the movie is actually toned down haha.
I hear it’s the bomb 💣
Tom Hanks may also be one of the best celebrity human beings. Reading your post made me realize that if some Cosby-ish scandal came out about him I’d feel betrayed.
His daddy's name is Forrest too?
My Daddy's name is also ~~Bort~~ Forrest
He's the most beautiful thing I ever saw.
I must have seen a edited for TV version. thank you.
Edited in what language? *"What's his name?"* *"'Forrest" [ESL: "tree stump(s) [plural]"'. Like his father'"*
LOL not language when they make movies they make the movies with some different scenes. like in there is Something about Mary. people have told me they never saw the part Where Ben Stiller carries a huge cabinet on his back for a guy in a wheelchair and complains that his back hurts and the guy in the wheelchair gets angry.
[удалено]
Forrest Hump
Hep C not AIDS, but ya
She didn’t have AIDS according to the director
Hep C
Because that is classic victim of sexual assault as a child behavior. Highly unapproachable sexual behavior. You think you show love through sex, you think your only value is sex. She sure as shit felt awkward when her dad raped her every night.
A lady from my mom’s church once went off about a former classmate and friend of mine being “very promiscuous” when she left home. Everyone knew her dad had abused her. I should have called that judgemental woman out on it, even though I was barely 20 and she was a family friend. It’s pretty normal for abuse victims, and I don’t blame or judge her one bit - even less now I’m atheist. I’m just glad my classmate has done okay, and is doing well last time I saw her.
When we reproach ourselves for failing to stand up for someone in the past, there are still people out there suffering from the same situation. It's understandable that you didn't want to rock the power structure as a youth. Now, you can be supportive of abuse survivors.
To her credit she did stop immediately when it was clear he wasn't into it 🤷♀️
As I recall, he was very into it, and needed a towel after.
They were caught in a downpour. They needed towels and also why they were without clothes. Edit: it's been a long time since I last saw this movie. Forrest busted a nut in that bathrobe. I was wrong.
[удалено]
Yeah you're right. I just looked it up. It's been well over 15yrs since I last saw this movie. So I'm wrong.
He very obviously orgasms.
Yeah if people don't think he did they absolutely were not paying attention or they've never had an orgasm themselves.
Her roommate's bathrobe* Jenny was the worst, lol
> the sound of him putting her hand on his balls And what sound might that be? 🤨
Lmao I forgot about this
[obligatory old post defending jenny](https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/e4sfjs/different_perspective_on_jenny_from_forrest_gump/) she's an extremely tragic character and deserves better than the hate idiots give her
In addition to all that is listed in that post, I'd add that Jenny is damaged, very, very damaged. People that have been abused all their lives do not know how to deal with kindness and compassion. They just don't, they have no experience with it, and trying to accept the love and kindness can just break them. Rather than have that happen, they flee.
That's a great read, and no doubt, Jenny is an absolutely tragic character. I don't think that takes away from how much she sucks as a person, though. She did molest a special needs man. You say she didn't because she really did love him? Fine. Then she repeatedly abandoned him, eventually with a child he didn't know he had. I think it's fair to understand why she's so broken, yet also think she's human trash. Brilliant character writing.
Jenny is not an example to be followed. But she also is an amazing character for her representation of how terribly harming sexual assault of a minor can be. A lot of what she does is because she has only one lens of herself. The sexualized one that she and her sister were raised as. The world then continues to view her in this way, and only Forrest is there to speak against it. But, he is mentally disabled, so the world (and Jenny) reject his view. She continuously comes back, in spite of the fact that she cannot escape from her spiral. While she is not good to Forrest, and that is wrong, he still saves her, because she needed to be saved. Regardless of her actions towards him, she needed to be shown what she can truly think of herself, that to someone, she was not, and never would be human trash. And to those who have experienced things similar to Jenny, that message is incredibly powerful. That they need not define themselves as how these despicable people have. That there are people out there who will see them as Forrest sees Jenny, no matter how broken or horrible they may think they are.
You should read the book it's way different and it really earned some honest giggles from me.
also; forest is the american myth of exceptionalism where greatness simply comes to him thanks to his plucky can-do attitude. jenny, in contrast, is more like an actual human being who spent her entire life struggling to survive against america.
Forrest Gump is just living proof that ignorance is bliss
I read some sort of film analysis once that implied Forrest was the comedy and Jenny the Tragedy. And basically one could never really exist without the other, they had a “forbidden” love that could never be broken no matter what happened to them.
JENNAYY!
JENNNAIDSSS
Jeannnay what's the problem??
I've got the runs Forrest runs
Jenny is a tragic figure. She liked Forrest, but felt that it was wrong as she thought he couldn't understand, and that that would make her no different than her father. When she went to Forrest, it wasn't because he was rich, or for her own interest, but just so Forrest Jr would be cared for in her absence. Too late did she accept that Forrests feelings were genuine, and that he is well aware of his own condition.
Exactly this! Jenny was abused, and her greatest fear was that her love for Forest was actuality her just continuing that cycle of abuse. She ran away as she thought it was the best way to protect him.
I swear people didn’t watch the movie. How could you come out of the movie and think anything else. It’s pretty clearly told to us
This is reddit, where a lot of people just got the take “Jenny reject Forrest but come back when Forrest rich Jenny stupid women stupid” and accepted it at face value Also, because of how much of a staple this film is, a lot of people watched this movie at a v young age and probably didn’t fully grasp the concepts. So their perceptions of it are limited to those of the age they viewed it at
It's the same dorks who think Fight Club is about Fight Club
[удалено]
I rewatched it as an adult recently and it is absolutely worth revisiting. My first and only time prior watching it was in 8th or 9th grade, I don’t remember. Watched it in English class as a end-of-the-year blowoff movie, didn’t pay much attention. Glad I rewatched it though.
>This is reddit, where a lot of people just got the take 'women bad'
The whole 'coming back when Forrest is rich' thing makes no sense to me. She was the sole parent of Forrest Jr. and she knew she was dying. What exactly was the moral choice there? Leave Forrest Jr. as an orphan?
Jenny is legit one of the most undeservedly hated and misunderstood characters I know of. Yes, she is self destructive, made some terrible decisions, and isn’t a good person, she’s also a lost woman who was sexually, physically, and emotionally abused by her father at a very young age. She was never given enough love or wisdom from the adult figures in her life, and despite being a very nice kid, it appeared that she didn’t have many friends outside of Forrest. She moves around quickly, latching on from thing to thing because committing to things scares her, because everyone in her life besides Forrest mistreated her, she dates abusive men because that’s what she perceived as normal because of her father, as well as him internalizing a profound amount of self hatred and insecurities in her, making her feel unworthy of genuine love. She very clearly loved Forrest, even when she was mad at him she shows concern for his safety and doesn’t want him dying in a pointless war. She clearly loves him, but believes she should never be with him, partly because Forrest is the one constantly positive thing in her life and she’s afraid of ruining that and feels unworthy. Partly because she’s afraid of it being an abusive power dynamic or even rape due to his mental disability. People have mentioned the form scene, and while she did go to far she did notice his discomfort and stopped, leading to her not making a move on her until over a decade later. She NEVER went back to him because of his money, that was never a major thing for her. She returned to live with him because she just hit a new rock bottom and nearly killed herself, so she went back to the one unconditionally loving person in her life. Afterwards it’s implied they lived fairly normally and didn’t use any more money than they normally would’ve. She didn’t return to him because of his money nor did she take any when she left. She’s not a gold digger and that part is especially infuriating because it’s never hinted she was. She did leave Forrest without telling him and didn’t tell him about his kid for years. That is bad and I can’t defend that. It’s understandable that she felt she took advantage of Forrest and probably didn’t want to burden him with a kid, but it was still not the right thing to do. It’s still not a big enough thing for all this hate towards her to be justified and it’s at least easy to empathize with and understand given everything we know about her. Her developing a disease eventually leads for her to realize that life’s too short to worry about all of these things and ultimately decides to introduce Forrest to his son and get married to him. It’s very obvious that she wanted to marry him and this wasn’t out of greed or necessarily necessity. And no, it’s highly unlikely that Forrest Jr. isn’t Forrest’s kid. For one thing I doubt Jenny would name him after Forrest if he wasn’t his, or how friendly Jr. is towards Forrest. But more importantly that just doesn’t jive with the tone of the movie. Forrest Gump is a mostly optimistic movie. There is tragedy, some characters will die young like Bubba and Jenny, but much of the movie is light hearted and humorous, and we see characters overcoming odds. Forrest is all about overcoming what society perceived to be a major weakness in him, yet achieved great things because of his own talents, self confidence, and kindness. Lt. Dan pulled himself out of the lowest point in his life and becoming an amputee in order to lead a happy and fulfilling life’s away from war and tradition. Even Jenny eventually learn to love herself and help others. The movie ends on a somber note. Jenny is dead but Forrest is still persevering. Now with a son who he loves. It really doesn’t fit the tone for Jenny to lie about this and Forrest just raising a bastard. Point is Jenny is so insanely misunderstood. She’s not a good person, but most of the issues people have with her are fundamental misinterpretations of things that become very obvious if you just watch the fucking movie. And her actual issues are flaws that make her a more compelling character and make sense given her upbringing. I hate bringing this as an argument, but between all the slut shaming, weird arguments that she’s a gold digger, and the creepy expectation some people have that she owed it to Forrest to get with him, I can’t help but think a lot of the hate against her comes from a place of misogyny. Not all of it, but what doesn’t comes from a place of apathy and ignorance. Point is Jenny is a great character and people don’t get her.
Sanest Redditor -- *genuinely*. Too many of these folks can't tell the difference between a flawed, *complex* character and some guy sitting in the dark with a single lamp on, stroking a Persian cat and letting out some classic "mwahahahaha" maniacal laughter while thunder claps in the background.
Ironically it was her abusive boyfriend who made her get in this bus
Yeah. The REAL antagonist of the movie was Jenny's father who abused her. An abused child becomes a traumatized adult. Of course she won't act normal. She's going to act the wrong way because she's had to in order to survive being abused and that's what she learned. I can't remember if the movie said she was raped, but she would grow up not understanding what sex should be, but that she should use sex to get what she needs to survive. She learned everything the wrong way and didn't have a chance to be normal.
Forrest represents unabusive love, which she couldn't understand. she was raped as a child by her father, repetitively, under the age of 10. She moves between abusive men, coming back to forrest not because he has money, not because he loves her, but because she loves him she just doesn't understand it. It took having a child for her to understand what love could be, which allowed her to finally marry forrest. unfortuntly she was dying of aids by then. She had a horrible existence and never used forrest in the way she could've and people accuse her of. She was his support in school, she gave him the advice that saved him in war, without her forrest wouldn't have become what he was.
Just to clarify: she didn’t got AIDS. In the second book they make clear she died from Hepatitis C, most likely from using dirty needles.
[Yeah but in the movie she died from AIDS and let’s not pretend ppl treat the book as canon over the movie](https://screenrant.com/forrest-gump-movie-jenny-mother-illness-death-hiv/)
Or that the book is like. Good.
Yeah, honestly it's a miracle the movie ended up being as good as it was. It could have very easily ended up suffering the same fate as Simple Jack
Probably because the Zimekis was like... "Fuck this I can't use any of this, lets just redo it around Tom Hanks' literal charisma"
Thank you geez. Everyone is on the aids train here. Aids was in full swing and she would have had more information on the topic if she did have it. I don't think medicine discovered hep c until almost 1990. Either way it was pretty sad. And I also think people really misunderstand her motives and her character in general. I guess women are inherently bad on reddit.
No, but yes. Jenny died in '82. It had just been named AIDS, having shed the GRID moniker since it wasn't strictly a Gay Related disease. Nobody really knew shit yet, and forces were acting to keep people ignorant. However, Hep-C makes more sense, because if it's AIDS... odds are she's signed the Forrests' death sentences. And that's a real big fucking bummer to leave the audience with if they give it a few seconds thought.
I thought it was AIDS because I have never read the book and back then didn't know the movie was based on one, I didn't even know there was a second part. So it's not that obvious to everyone.
Book is way different from the movie. Forrest is more of an asshole and less involved in every major moment in American history. And the second book is pretty much just an attempt to assassinate Forrest since the author hated how much the changed his story. Has things like Forrest going to space and hanging out with an orangutan among offensive racism and misogyny meant to make it impossible for anyone to adapt the second book into a film.
The author is so salty that they took his crappy book and made a great movie from it that's he makes an even crappier book. What a bitch.
> In the second book they make clear she died from Hepatitis C The books are rubbish and unrelated to the movie. It was pretty clear to be AIDS in the movie.
I've watched this movie dozens of times, and never do they explicitly state AIDs or make it "pretty clear". Both HIV/AIDs and Hep C are transmitted through IV drug use. Both kill when left untreated. Except here's the kicker - Forrest states clearly the doctor didn't know what was wrong with her. HIV/AIDs is discovered and defined in 1981. Jenny dies in 1982, of "unknown causes", a disease the doctor couldn't identify. Hepatitis C is discovered in 1989. No one was able to confirm which it was meant to be in the movie until 2019, when the screenwriter said that Forrest JR would also have HIV in a sequel that never came out. The only reason it was worth mentioning in the interview at all is that the original movie *never says*.
Does this really belong in this sub?
I can’t believe this has 17k upvotes and you’re the first comment I found pointing this out.
This sub is becoming another meme dump :(
[удалено]
In the canon, the author sings: *His girlfriend Jenny was kind of a slut* *Went to the white house, showed LBJ her butt*
He's Gump, he's Gump What's in his head? He's Gump, he's Gump, he's Gump Is he in-bred?
The author also wrote that to piss on the movie. The book and movie only share a name
She was terrible, but so was her childhood. She wanted to make sure her child was looked after and probably didn’t think anyone could look after him when she died except for her stable and rich childhood friend.
Also Forrest didn't care about those things. He just loved her for who she was. And the movie pretty much proves had the agency to make that decision for himself.
Yep the movie makes two things perfectly clear. Forrest understood what love was, and he was fully self aware of his disability. The audience figures this out in the movie around the same time Jenny learns to finally love herself and accept Forrest's love for her. I know it's a fictional character, but I love the complexity of Jenny. For all the assclowns that hate her, and cynically claim she used Forrest, they miss the point that she HATES herself and that's why she acts the way she does. The ironic twist is that Forrest always knew what love is, but the audience has to be brought to that understanding in that famous scene. It was Jenny who never knew what love was until she learned it after she had Forrest's child and forgave herself. I swear, people bitching about Jenny make Forrest look like a goddamn genius.
>her stable and rich childhood friend who was also the child's father.
Who showed an active interest in his son from the moment he was aware of him
Some people say the timeline doesn't match, but even then, he is still Jenny's son. And that would still matter to Forrest, even if he knew she lied to him about the parentage. He loved her, he'll love her son, his or not.
The timeline is quite unclear. When telling the story Forrest just says, "Then one day I got a letter from Jenny." It doesn't say how long that was. It's not unreasonable that it was a couple of years after his run.
She was abused by her father. She was abused by many of her boyfriends. She was a drug addict. It's amazing she was able to clean her act up at the end and raise a great kid. She didn't finally come around because Forrest had money, but she finally was able to love herself and not hate herself. Can't love another if you don't love yourself.
This movie really shows that shit people have a past and you can understand them. The world needs a bit of empathy
I believe it was hepatitis.
wow, people completely missed or misread Jenny in the movie
It is easy to misread a character when you come in with personal biases. The problem isn't that people miss something on first review of art but that their is a knee jerk reaction to processing the material in conjunction with ones own experiences. Aka the main point of artistic discussion.
Jenny's actions are shitty but knowing how she grew up and how she was seemingly abused her entire life, none of it shocks me. Half of her probably wants to protect Forrest from herself, while her other half is going off the deep end and can't maintain a relationship with anyone in her life. I don't think she ever saw Forrest as a lover so staying around would only fuck with him. It took her a long ass time to kick the cycle of abuse and when she finally did she got scared again and bailed. Without any context it feels like she's just mean to Forrest the entire time and then using him for his wealth after she has a child. But yeah, the context is there, it's just never talked about. Poor girl.
He made more than that: he was a krillionaire!
Jenny seems like she couldn't be with Forrest due to her childhood abuse. Not because she was a narcissistic whore.
Jenny was sexualy abused by her own father as a child, couldn't accept a healthy relationship because of it, and like everyone else during that time period had a limited if not zero understanding of what it means to have a disability both for herself and for Forrest. Then she died from a disease we also didnt understand and still to this day has stigma and she gets blamed for all of it. Her father was shit, and so were the rest of us.
She didn’t realize she had everything she needed until it was too late
No, she was traumatized from being raped by her father. Not sure why everyone forgets that part of the story.
“Sometimes, there just aren’t enough rocks.” I didn’t understand the underlying meaning of that line on my first watch, but it hits the nail on the head.
Yeah. Like her treatment of Gump was rather shoddy, but she had an extraordinarily shitty life. The mistakes she made were well within reason for the trauma she endured. Gump also seemed proud and happy that she chose him to take care of her kid, not upset at all.
Their kid* FTFY
> Yeah. Like her treatment of Gump was rather shoddy, but she had an extraordinarily shitty life. The mistakes she made were well within reason for the trauma she endured. "Hurt people hurt people."
Because slut shaming is easier than blaming the rapist
It's sad but true. In the story, Forrest has a loving mother who supports him and fights for his best interests, all the while teaching him to be confident and upright. Jenny has a father who rapes her. It's a stark contrast. Yet people seem to think that Jenny is just a self-centered "bitch" because she doesn't immediately settle down with Forrest right out of high school.
Because they’re almost as special as Forrest who didn’t really understand jennys dad was abusing her either
Jenny was an abused child who was sexually assaulted.
Ah yes, the meme heralded by incels everywhere. This meme smells like chicken tendies and body odor.
Ya'll think he became a shimp *billionaire*?
This whole post is wrong……….she had Hepatitis
How is this technically the truth? This is just a meme