Forrest Gump 1994
Adapted for the screenby Eric Roth
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Characters: Forrest Gump
Jenny Curran
Mrs. Gump
“Bubba” Blue
Lieutenant Dan Taylor
Forrest Gump, Jr.
Questions:
-What is the author's commentary about hardship and suffering? How does having a supportive family impact Forrest’s ability to deal with hardship? How does having an abusive father impact Jenny’s ability to cope with life’s challenges, especially as an adult?
-What is the author’s commentary about what it means to live a meaningful life? What are the various elements that give meaning to Forrest’s life?
-What is the author’s commentary about love and inter-personal relationships? How have the events in Forrest and Jenny’s lives shaped their ideas about love and their ability to maintain close, loving relationships?
-What is the author’s commentary on compassion? How does the author show the value in caring for others who are mistreated or marginalized? How does this encourage the viewer to be empathetic to Jenny and Lieutenant Dan, even in their darker points of life?
-Over the course of the film, the author highlights several acts of violence and war, from the founding of the Ku Klux Klan to assassination attempts on several political leaders, that were significant moments in America’s history. What is the author’s commentary about the nature of violence and its impact on a people and their culture? What brings out this violence in American culture?
-Zemeckis begins the film with the motif of the feather, then closes the film with this motif, creating a bookends effect to the story’s structure. What is the significance of this artistic choice?
-What is the author's message about the experience of loss? In what ways is loss essential for our growth and learning?
-How does Zemeckis use music in the story? In addition to capturing the music from specific moments in time, how do the lyrics of the songs connect to the themes of the story, especially in the scenes they are used?
-How does Zemeckis use the lack of music in particular moments of the story?
-Through the story, the author not only creates a portrait of the main character, Forrest, over a long span of his life, but also of the United States. What kind of portrait of America is captured through the film? How does this show the viewer different aspects of America, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly?
Quotes
Forrest: My momma always said, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
Forrest: (voice-over) If I'd a known that was the last time I was gonna talk to Bubba, I would have thought of something better to say. “Hey, Bubba.”
Bubba: Hey, Forrest. Forrest, why’d this happen?
Forrest: You got shot. (voice-over) Then, Bubba said something I won’t ever forget.
Bubba: I wanna go home.
Forrest: (voice-over) Bubba was my best good friend, and even I know that ain’t something you can find just around the corner. Bubba was gonna be a shrimping boat captain, but instead he died right there by that river in Vietnam. “That’s all I have to say about that.”
Lieutenant Dan: Now, you listen to me. We all have a destiny. Nothing just happens—it’s all part of a plan. I should have died out there with my men, but now I’m nothing but a goddamn cripple, a legless freak. Look! Look at me! Do you see that? Do you know what it’s like not to be able to use your legs?
Forrest: Yes, sir, I do.
Lieutenant Dan: Did you hear what I said!? You cheated me! I had a destiny—I was supposed to die in the field with honor. That was my destiny, and you cheated me out of it. Do you understand what I’m saying, Gump. This wasn’t supposed to happen—not to me. I had a destiny. I was Lieutenant Dan Taylor.
Forrest: You still Lieutenant Dan.
Lieutenant Dan: Look at me… what am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do now.
Forrest: (after Lieutenant Dan shouts at the women for calling Forrest stupid, and they leave) I’m sorry I ruined your New Year’s Eve party, Lieutenant Dan. She tasted like cigarettes. (voice-over) I guess Lieutenant Dan figured there’s some things you just can’t change. He didn’t want to be called crippled, just like I didn’t want to be called stupid.
Forrest: Why are you dying, Mamma?
Mrs. Gump: It’s my time. It’s just my time. Now, don’t you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life, something we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your mamma. I did the best I could.
Forrest: You did good, Mamma.
Mrs. Gump: Well, I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.
Forrest: What’s my destiny, Mamma?
Mrs. Gump: You’re gonna have to figure that out for yourself… life is a box of chocolates, Forrest—you never know what you’re gonna get. I will miss you, Forrest.
Forrest: Momma said there's only so much fortune a man really needs and the rest is just for showing off. So, I gave a whole bunch of it to the Foursquare Gospel Church, and I gave a whole bunch to the Bayou La Batre Fishing Hospital. And even though Bubba was dead, and Lieutenant Dan said I was nuts, I gave Bubba's momma Bubba's share. And you know what? She didn't have to work in nobody's kitchen no more...
Forrest: Why don’t you love me, Jenny. I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.
Jenny: Were you scared in Vietnam?
Forrest: Yes. Well, I don't know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out... and then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. There was always a million sparkles on the water... like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began. It's so beautiful.
Jenny: I wish I could’ve been there with you.
Forrest: You were.
Jenny: I love you.
Forrest: You died on a Saturday morning. And I had you placed here under our tree. And I had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground. Momma always said dying was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't. Little Forrest, he's doing just fine, about to start school again soon. I make his breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I make sure he combs his hair and brushes his teeth every day. I’m teaching him how to play ping-pong. He's really good. We fish a lot. And every night, we read a book. He's so smart, Jenny. You'd be so proud of him. I am. He wrote you a letter, and he says I can't read it. I'm not supposed to, so I'll just leave it here for you. Jenny, I don't know if Momma was right or if it's Lieutenant Dan. I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I, I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenny. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.