Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and unrelentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best to be a good character.And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all the time gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves. Kind of like people in the movie (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions often. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.The man is a captivating storyteller, knew what he was doing saving his platoon in Vietnam and understood everything that was happening, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, and also understands Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo).He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved. I see it as misguided and untintended result of trying to stay apolitical rathee than making any kind of point.EDIT: One other observation, even if I'm maybe reading too much into the story, I came to realize from the conversations in the comments (lots of great responses everyone, love the discussions!) is how I can see where the dissonance with observing Jenny's character comes from. Jenny is a realistic person. Forest is not. Now that isn't a bad thing at all!I love Forest, he has a lot more depth than people give him credit for, and is the perfect protagonist for this story, but he basically wouldn't exist as is in any real life sense. He's more of an idea of the American myth rather than anything real.And like Jogoso2014 basically pointed out, if Forest is the idealized version then Jenny is the antithesis. So having this perfect pure boi that is an ideal with this tragically flawed realistic person can feel a bit weird and make her actions seem much more malicious than I think was intended by the filmakers. You want to protect Forest and believe his reality is emblematic of real life.But if you accept Jenny as she is and are sympathetic you may unintentionally have to accept that 20th century America was pretty crappy for a lot of people especially if they weren't white men. And that's a hard pill to swallow even now in modern discourse. This may be getting a bit too meta but I think it's an interesting observation.EDIT 2: I see how a lot of people think that Jenny took sexual advantage of Forest. I genuinely disagree as outlined in my OP and comments but I understand the perspective. And arguably she may not even have the foundation to understand true consent, as her first sexual experiences were unconsenting and abusive by the one person who should have protected her in this world. So even if she did, that adds to her tragity and depth imo, sins of the father creates a cycle of abuse. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/4jbIoki
