Forrest Gump (1994) Staying True to Yourself When the World Shifts | Becoming your True Self - The Fandom Portals Podcast

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
What if the best thing that you can be, no matter

(00:02):
how much the world changesaround you, is yourself?
Do we forget the power of ourvalues in a world that begs us
to compromise?
And is authenticity the bestthing to carry us through life's
darkest moments?
In this episode, you'll learnhow Forrest Gump from 1994 shows
us that staying true to yourvalues in a changing world is
worth more than fitting in assomeone that you're not.

(00:38):
Welcome to the Phantom PortalsPodcast, the podcast that
explores how fandoms and filmcan help us learn and grow.
I'm Aaron, a teacher, and alifelong film fan, and each week
on the podcast we explore thestories we love to learn more
about ourselves and the worldthat shapes us.
Today I'm joined, as always, bymy co-host Brash.
Ah, Bubba.
He calls me that because I'm hisbest friend.

(01:01):
But this episode, as you heard,we are definitely doing Forest
Gump made in 1994.
But before we dive into anythinglike that, this is our 50th
episode.
Of 50 episodes, man, I'm like,that's a long milestone to get
to 50 episodes as a podcaster.
Statistically speaking, somepodcasters don't get to like
past the 10 episode mark, andthen even less it gets to the

(01:21):
25.
So happy to be on this journeywith you, man.
And 50 episodes strong.
Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
Yeah, well, hopefully 50 plus more.

SPEAKER_01 (01:29):
Yes, 50 plus more.
With that being said, as well,this 50th episode, I want to
dedicate this one to my mumbecause, you know, Forrest Gump
loves his mum.
But also, this movie, ForrestGump, was recommended to me and
shown to me by my mum.
And I said, Mum, what do youwant us to do for our 50th
episode?
Because she watches everythingthat we put in YouTube and also

(01:51):
listens on the podcast.
She's a big supporter.
So I thought, we'll do this onefor you, Mum.
And she picked Forest Gump.
And I don't, I think this islike one of her second favorite
movies or something like that,but I am 100% certain that this
is one of my favorite movies ofall time.
So there's a little glimpse intolike some bias that you might
hear through this episode,ladies and gentlemen that are
listening, because I'mdefinitely a big fan of this

(02:12):
movie.
It holds a special place in myheart.
So just keep that in your brainas you're listening to me talk
about this one too.
So this one is indeed ForrestGump made in 1994.
Brash, do you want to tell uswhat happens in this amazing and
awesome movie?

SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
Sure, I can do that.
Lovely.
So Forrest Gump is the story ofa kind-hearted but simple man
whose life, though marked bychance and circumstance, becomes
a journey of quiet personalgrowth and integrity.
Born in Alabama with a low IQand leg braces.
Forrest faces mockery andhardship early in his life, yet
his mother teaches him there isno difference from anyone else.

(02:47):
Planting the seeds of hislifelong optimism and
perseverance.
As he grows, Forrest earnestnessleads him into extraordinary
experiences, becoming a footballstar, serving bravely in
Vietnam, starting successfulshrimp business, and
inadvertently influencing majorhistorical moments.
Throughout it all, Forrest'sdefining trait is that

(03:08):
unwavering sincerity.
He approaches life with theacross cynicism or calculation,
following his heart and doingwhat he feels right.
His growth isn't intellectual orstrategic, it's emotional and
moral.
He learns about love, loss, andpurpose through his devotion to
his mother.
His friendships with LieutenantDan Bubba and his lifelong love

(03:30):
for Jenny.
By the end, Forrest hastransformed from a boy who
simply runs through life to aman who understands its
complexities, accepting both joyand sorrow with grace.
His story illustrates that truewisdom often lies not in
intellect, but in kindness,resilience, and the courage to
keep going.

SPEAKER_01 (03:48):
That was the best summary of Forest Gump that I've
ever heard.
Well done, Brash.
Thank you.
With that, ladies and gentlemenlistening, we are doing this
movie because one, Mamarecommended it.
But two, this is our last moviethat we're doing in the theme
arc that we've beeninvestigating so far on becoming
your true self.
And our sort of most valuabletakeaway that we're looking at,

(04:10):
or the lesson we're looking atfor this one, is that staying
true to your core values in achanging world is worth more
than fitting in as someone thatyou're not.
So I think that's rife throughthis Forest Gump movie, and it's
very much exemplified by thesynopsis that you just gave,
Brad.
But before we dive into anythingto do with our MVT and some of
the scenes and amazing momentsof this movie that teach us that
lesson, let's give us youropening thoughts.

(04:33):
What's your your go-to thoughtswhen it comes to Forest Gump?
Extremely quota.
Absolutely.
Funnily enough, I find myselfquoting Forrest Gump like when
it first came out and I firstsaw it, and probably more
frequently after every rewatch,but I probably quote Forrest
Gump at least once a week.
Maybe more.
Easily.

SPEAKER_00 (04:52):
I see someone running and I'm like, run,
Forest, run.
Like every time without fail.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
I say like peas and carrots.
We're like peas and carrots.
I say that all the time.
The way that I say I love you toKalia is I love you.
Like I'll say in that sort ofaccent.
Also, everybody, during thisepisode, you probably will hear
some bad Forest Gump accents.
We're not saying sorry forthose.

unknown (05:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:14):
You'll just have to deal with it.

SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
Yeah, that's that's true.
Because you can't, you can'tquote Forrest Gump without
trying to sound like ForrestGump.

SPEAKER_01 (05:21):
The thing that I quote the most from Forrest Gump
is like, that's all I have tosay about that.
I say that all the time when aconversation reached a natural
end.
It's just like the funniestthing to say.
Well, it's unintentional now.
It just comes as like a brainthing that you remember.
But you know, there's also I maynot be a smart man, but I don't
know what that is.
Or I yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (05:42):
Yeah, well, another one of mine's when he's in
Vietnam, and I do it all thetime, especially like when I
used to work on the tools, andlike if I ever got like hurt
myself, like got like if I cutmy leg or something like that,
or if I got like I'm grindingsomething a bit of metal like
sticks in my arm or somethinglike that, I'll always be like,
I'd I'd say two one of twothings.
I'd be like, I hurt myself, oror I'd be like, ow, something

(06:07):
bit me.
That's the two I use all thetime.
I just I just love that likethat's like probably like one of
my favourite scenes in thatwhole time movie, purely because
as he narrates what happens, itthen cuts to the scene and he
just says the exact same thinghe just says he's like oh it

(06:29):
felt like it was just a thing,he's like because he had like
bubble on his no, you hadLieutenant Dan dang on his
shoulders, yeah, yeah.
Like the narrator, which is him,he's like, and then um, and then
it felt like something justjumped up and bit me, and then
it cuts to this like and youwatch it, and then it comes back
to like the sound of that, andthen he hears she getting shot
in the arse.

(06:49):
He's like, Oh, something bit me.
Like, oh, that just stands meevery time.

SPEAKER_01 (06:55):
That's a thing which happens throughout the movie.
They've done that likeintentionally, even like the way
Forrest is narrating, he he doesit when his mum says stuff too.
So when he comes back to homeafter his ping pong adventure,
he goes, While I was away, mamahad lots of visitors, and then
it cuts over and says, Forrest,while you're away, we had lots
of visitors.
Like it just it does that thewhole time.

SPEAKER_00 (07:15):
So yeah, it's like, yeah, because he's so simple,
yeah.
So simple, and just like just hehe's so because he's just so
literal with everything.
Yeah, yeah.
So like if someone literallytells him something, the way he
describes it is literally howthey told him.

SPEAKER_01 (07:33):
Exactly.
And even like some of the advicethat his mum gives him all the
time, like you know, stupid isas stupid does, that comes out
very often.
It's almost like he is so true,as our theme marker is talking
about now, he's so true to hiscore values and the lessons that
he's learnt and the wisdomthat's been imparted to his
mother that he carries thatthrough every single episode or
season of his life, which is whywe kind of picked this movie

(07:55):
because our previous ones havebeen talking about characters
that are in development andthey're trying to get to and
reach their true self or theirtrue potential, like Walter
Middle was.
Whereas Forrest Gump, hedeveloped his core values at a
very young age and he carriedthem through almost every aspect
of his life.
Not like he was locked in like achildhood state, but he did
change and grow over time.
But his core values of likeloyalty and kindness and love

(08:19):
stuck the whole time throughouthis whole life.

SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
It's just just same values for the whole like
nothing, even though there wasthings there that tried to tempt
him away from his normal corevalues, he always stuck with
them.

SPEAKER_01 (08:34):
Yeah, and turn and like reframed himself or his
situation to go back to thosecore values as well, or reframe
the situation around him so hecould exemplify those core
values that he had.
So one thing that initialthought for me as well when I
watched this movie Young wasthat it was one of my favorites
to start with, insanelyquotable, but it was also one
that sort of made me feel likeit was a heartfelt movie, that

(08:55):
it was warm.
It always makes me cry.
I've seen it like more than 10times and I've cried every time,
sometimes at the same places,sometimes at different points.
But also, a rewatch when youwere young to now, it sort of
hits me different in terms ofthe way I view characters, and I
think we'll get into it a littlebit more later, but just to
touch on it, for example, thereis a large community out there

(09:16):
of people that watch Forrest Gumthat really don't like the
character of Jenny because ofhow much he she like is seen to
take advantage of Forrest, forexample.
And I know that you're one ofthem.
But I love you, Jenny.
Yeah.
So I think when I first watchedit, and definitely through my
teenage years, I was like, whatan absolute horrid person.

(09:36):
But watching it like for thelast few times as an adult, you
kind of get to see, and I thinkeverybody does as well, the
reasoning behind a lot ofJenny's actions.
So one of my initial thoughtswas that it's it ages well, but
there's more that you can seethrough it when you re-watch it
a second, third, fourth, orfifth time at different points
in your life.

SPEAKER_00 (09:55):
Like for him, Jenny was the one.
There was no other one, likethere may be other girls between
outside when Jenny wasn't there.
But for Forrest, there was onlyone person in this world that he
loved probably more than as muchas his mother.
Yeah.
More than my and that was Jenny.
And I think that's one of thethings that has stuck with me

(10:17):
with my life.
Yeah.
I think like there's one personfor everyone else, that's the
one for me.
There have been others becausewe were never together or
anything like that, but there'salways just been the one, and
that's that's it.
It's like that moment where youlike, I think the same moment
with Forrest is moment like thefirst time she steps on the bus,
and you just bang in love, andit's just uh the same thing for

(10:40):
me.
Like, seeing bang, that was it.
That was it for me.

SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
I was done, cooked, toast.
Exactly.
It's it's a really good scene inthat moment, too, because it's
sort of you can hear in TomHanks's narration how enamored
he is by that situation.
Like he says, I remember the busride the first day of school
very well, and he goes, youknow, it's funny what a man can
recollect.
He doesn't remember his firstChristmas or when he was born,

(11:04):
but or his outdoor first outdoorpicnic, but I do remember the
first time I heard the sweetestvoice in the whole wide world,
and that was obviously Jenny.
And I think that the reason thathe liked her and attached to her
so much was because as she sortof chose him and saw him after
everyone else sort of rejectedhim, he sort of sat down on that
bus next to Jenny, and she wouldask him questions and he would

(11:27):
answer the questions like that.
And nobody he's even said, youknow, nobody ever asked me
questions or was interested inmy life before that, except for
mum.
And just through that humanconnection that he had, he
realized that she had like abeautiful soul from just from
seeing her in that way.
Like people can look at somebodyand feel particular connection,
but he he felt that and thenwent even further and just

(11:48):
investigated her as a person aswho she was, not who she, like
not what her background was oranything like that, but they
sort of connected on that veryhuman level.
So I think that that was areally sort of well-played out
scene.
And I also think it's synonymouswith things that happen in the
rest of this movie because inlots of different social
situations, Forrest is likeshunned from lots of different

(12:10):
parts of society, but he kind offinds the people and the places
where his core values loved forone, but also where his
strengths and his skills canallow him to flourish.
So that's sort of like the startof this movie where he meets her
on the bus.
But I think it's also anallegory for the rest of his
life.
But one thing I will say beforewe move on from this is this

(12:34):
movie when I watched it when Iwas like 10 or 11 years old when
I first saw it, it actuallytaught me like the chronology to
some American history thingsthat I didn't even know about
before.
Like whenever I think aboutsomething that happened in
American history now, I thinkback to the order that it
happened in Forest Gump becauseI'm like, when did that happen?
Was that before or after the VMVietnam War or and just sort of

(12:56):
presidential runs as well?
So I'm like, who came before orwho came after?
I remember that throughremembering Forrest Gump and you
know, the order in which for noparticular reason somebody shot
that nice man.
Yeah.
So I think the biggest questionthis one raised for me when I
watched it this time is thequestion of like everybody is
calling like Forrest an idiot orstupid, but he always sort of

(13:18):
comes out on top.
So it raises the question for melike, what is an idiot really
when you're looking at it?
And especially during thosetimes in America where
everything was kind of changingand everybody was attaching
themselves to various differentsort of facets and lots of
information was coming atpeople, and there was extremists
on either side of it.
It's like who like what is whatis an idiot here?
Are we talking about somebodythat sort of follows a coup or a

(13:39):
crowd, or are we talking aboutsomeone that sort of stands true
to their values and makes theirway through these tumultuous
seas?
So I think it's veryphilosophical, this movie for
one, but also I think it's verythought-provoking as well.

SPEAKER_00 (13:54):
Yeah, because it's hard to define, like it makes it
hard to define what an idiot isafter watching Forrest Gump.

SPEAKER_01 (13:59):
Absolutely.
Because, you know, you can callhim an idiot all you want, but
he's like, he's got more moneythan David Crockett.
So he's he's happy on hislawmower.
And you know, he's he's stuck tothose core values all his life,
and that's what sort of got himinto this space.
Right.
So our MVT for this week isobviously that staying true to

(14:20):
your values in a changing worldis worth more than fitting in as
someone that you're not.
And through this movie, we'rereminded that Forrest used his
integrity and his authenticityas an anchor when everything
else around him is shifting andchanging, especially through
like American history betweenthe 50s and the 70s when this
movie is set.
So his success, his love, hisrelationships, it's all followed

(14:42):
by meaning and it's like blendedinto all of these historical
events that happen.
But he kind of learns thatstanding firm in who he is is
the biggest key in his happinessfor one.
And that doesn't mean like badthings don't happen to him, but
as they do, he's able tonavigate his way through them by
leaning on who he knows that heis.

(15:02):
So life's changes areinevitable, but his values and
how he fits into this world andhow he sees himself in this
world is a fixed sort of point.
And when the world bends, it'ssort of and everybody around him
does bend to meet his sincerityas well, which is one of the
things that I loved about thismovie too, is that every

(15:22):
character that Forrest isintroduced to is sort of changed
through meeting him.

SPEAKER_00 (15:27):
And and I think one of my favorite parts of him just
just sort of going with the flowand just being a part of it is
when he first joins the army.

SPEAKER_01 (15:35):
Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (15:37):
Like the Jewel Sarge is yelling at everyone, and then
he goes to Gump and he's like,uh, what's your sole reason of
being in?
He's like, to listen to what youhave to tell me, and he's like,
Yeah, goddamn that's the bestanswer I've ever heard.
You must have an IQ of 160.

SPEAKER_01 (15:53):
It's like I think that's that's a really good
point because that's that goesback to him having like that
core value of knowing what hisstrengths are, and he knows that
he's really good, or he findsout that he's really good at
doing things where there's onegoal and one operation.
So, because he even says, youknow, when he joins the army, I
I really like joining the army.
It was like a like a round pegfitting in a round hole.

(16:16):
All you have to do all the timeis, you know, keep your make
your bed, keep your place clean.
And every time somebody asks youa question, you always answer it
with yes, drill sergeant, andthen other times he cuts to when
he's when he says yes, drillsergeant.
But yeah, and it's like is thatclear, yes, drill sergeant.
Absolutely.
So I think that in this sort ofinstance as well, it plays to
his strengths where he doesn'treally get social context, like

(16:41):
Forrest doesn't really getsocial context when it comes to
all of the things that arehappening around him, because
when he tells Jenny he's goingto Vietnam, he's like, it's his
whole other country, like hedoesn't understand why the war
is happening, he just knows hehas to go there.
But if he has like a one-trackmind and one job, he does it to
almost perfection.
And again, it occurs when hegoes and plays ping pong,

(17:01):
because when he gets taught pingpong, the guy that teaches him
says, All you have to do, themost important thing of ping
pong is you never take your eyesoff the ball, and you watch as
he moves the ball, Forrest likelocks in and he moves and
watches the ball as well, andthen he's literally a genius and
an amazing person at ping pongtoo.
And then again, when he startsmowing the lawn, he cuts that
grass so perfectly because it'sliterally one item, one job, one

(17:22):
thing to do that he's justreally good at.
He finds himself that he's gottactile intelligence, he's good
with his hands.
If it's got a simple operation,like he plays towards his
strengths and he doesn't try tobe anything that he's not in
that space to.
So ping pong.
We have to do is return theball, hit it once it's got hit
back.

SPEAKER_00 (17:41):
Yeah, and like and the fact that he's so nonchalant
or like he's uh when umLieutenant Dang's like, um
Lieutenant Dang got me investedin some kind of fruit company.
I was full of Apple becauseApple and so he's like, so um, I
got a call from him saying wedon't have to worry about money
no more.

SPEAKER_01 (17:56):
Yeah, I think that simplicity of him and and you
know what actually pointed itout to me the most was when he
was talking about all of thepeople that kind of got shot,
and he'd say, you know, for noparticular reason at all at all,
somebody shot that nice man.
And that tells me that like hedoesn't he doesn't base people's
value on who they are, likethere was a president or uh

(18:17):
Elvis Presley had a heart attackin in the movie as well.
Like he doesn't base people'svalue on what they are or what
they do.
He looks at who they were as aperson, and that's sort of one
of the defining values ofForrest as well.
Like he doesn't get that socialcontext, but at the same time,
he's got this simple view ofpeople instead of broader
society, which also seems tocause a lot of conflict in the
movie and in human history,because you'll notice that

(18:40):
Forrest does navigate his waythrough lots of different
conflicts, like bullying atschool, and then obviously in
the army through America'sinvolvement with Vietnam.
And then when he comes back fromVietnam, he's even in conflicts
there where there's protestinghappening.
Like he's happy to be home, butthere's even a fight on the
homeland in terms of Americawhere there's lots of
protesting, and then heinterrupts the Black Panther

(19:01):
Party, and then there's thatsort of racial war that's
occurring.
So he's always in these spacesof conflict, but he's kind of
oblivious to it because he'sjust seeing people as people,
and he's just sort of workingthrough different sort of social
situations as best he can byleaning on his values of like
honesty and integrity andpersonal recognition of people
where he can and love as wellthat was instilled by his mum.

(19:25):
I think that was definitely veryimportant in terms of Forrest's
navigation through America.
I think it's like his valuesdefinitely came from his mum at
an early age.

SPEAKER_00 (19:37):
I was just thinking, like, one of the values that his
mum taught him that probablymade like made him such a great
person and not a selfish or anda generous person was when he
does get all that money and hequotes something that his mom
said, and he's like, Mama saidthere was only so much fortune a
man really needs, and the restis just showing off.

(19:57):
And then he gives like all themoney to the hospital, to the um
church, and to Bubba's mum.
And it's like, I mean, I gavesome money to Bubba's mum and
now she doesn't have to work insomeone's kitchen anymore.
Yeah, so it just like just showslike and all of all of all of
his mum's words of wisdom werealways just just simple like

(20:22):
simple things that realisticallyeveryone should just easily be
able to follow.
Yeah, exactly.
Just be nice to people.

SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
It definitely shows that he's he's like a very
charitable person, too.
Because I think even he said inthat narration, you know, even
though Lieutenant Dan said thatI was crazy to give uh Bubba's
mum his half, he still did it.
And that also goes to show likeit that that simple scene shows
a lot about his characterbecause it shows that you know
he made a promise, and he says apromise is a promise when he's

(20:57):
talking to Lieutenant Dan abouthow he's gonna start a shrimping
boat business, like he said toBubba, he'd go 50-50.
But then that also rubs off onLieutenant Dan, who's a very
cynical man as well.
But he eventually says, youknow, if you become a shrimp
boating captain, then I will beyour first mate and I'll be an
astronaut.
Like he's so disbelieving ofhim, but then because he spends
lots and lots of time withForrest, his values start to rub

(21:20):
off on Lieutenant Dan, and youdo see that he follows through
with that word as well.
One of the biggesttransformations in the movie,
and one of my favoritecharacters is Lieutenant Dan.
We might hit him up a little bitlater, but before we do, I
wanted to jump back onto some ofhis mum's sort of values that he
introduces early, because one ofthe first scenes that you see,
he's obviously got those legbraces on when we're talking
about young Forrest here, and hegets his legs sort of caught in

(21:42):
that drain.
And once he sort of is assistedout of the drain when lots of
people are looking onto him,like laughing at him, his mum
walks him down the street andsays, Don't let anybody ever
tell you that they're betterthan you, Forrest.
If God intended everyone to bethe same, he'd have put braces
on everybody's legs.
And then, you know, that sort ofillustrates his mum's like sort

(22:02):
of value that everybody needs totreat each other nicely, whether
they're different or not.
And you can see Forrest carriesthat through when he treats like
Dan with no legs the same as hedid with Dan when he had legs,
but also the way that he treatsBubba and any other sort of
normal-looking person as Bubbahad like he was born with big
gums.
So physical difference or evenlike Jenny and her horrible

(22:24):
background, he'll treat themjust as nicely as he treats
anybody else.
And that's the value that hismum sort of instilled on him.
And I think there's no truerline in the movie when Forrest's
mum gets sick and she's gotcancer, and she says, I just
wanted to be a good, good mum toyou, Forrest.
And he says something like, Oh,you were a good mum.
I think that's absolutely true.
I think she's really good atinstilling those values in.

(22:46):
Because even in that scene whenshe's trying to get him into the
school, and the principal says,Your son's different, and then
she says something back to himin the in the something along
the lines of well, what's normalmean anyway?
Yeah.
So that's a big philosophicalquestion too, when you're
talking about people.
It's like what's normal and whoare you to determine what normal

(23:07):
is.

SPEAKER_00 (23:07):
So one of the other lines that go along with the
legs, she was saying, uh, shewas talking to for instance, she
says you have to do the bestwith what get God gave you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Like she's saying, likeeveryone's gonna everyone has
everyone in the world at somepoint they're extremely lucky,
which I doubt most people are,like will have some sort of

(23:30):
adversity at some point in theirlives, and you just have to do
the best with what you got.

SPEAKER_01 (23:35):
And that's all you can do.
And Forrest does carry thatthrough as well, and he sort of
questions it a little bit toobecause he's got like Lieutenant
Dan in one of his ears talkingto him about his destiny, and
he's a staunch believer that hehas this purpose, this mission,
this path in life that has beenled out towards him, and that is
what his value is placed upon.

(23:56):
It's the fact that his familyand his ancestors, for as long
as anybody can remember, havefought and died in every
American war, and that's what heis going to do.
And I want to talk about one ofmy favorite scenes of the movie
now is when he's obviously losthis legs, like Dan's lost his
legs, and they're in thehospital bed after the fact, and
he's very depressed, like Dan isvery depressed at the fact that

(24:19):
he's no longer who he thought hewas going to be.
Like his ambition and hisaspiration hadn't come to pass,
and he feels like initiallyblames Forrest for stealing that
from him.
And there's that scene where hesort of rips Forrest out of the
bed and he complains to him andsays to him, like, what am I
supposed to do now?

(24:40):
There's that scene where hesays, You cheated me, I had a
destiny, I was supposed to diein the field with honor, and you
cheated me out of it.
He says, Do you understand whatI'm saying, Gump?
And he goes, This was notsupposed to happen to me, I had
a destiny.
He said, I was supposed to beLieutenant Dan Taylor.
And then Forrest Gump hits himback with a very simple answer.
He goes, You're still LieutenantDan.

(25:01):
And on the surface, that seemslike a really sort of simple
response said by a very simpleman, like, you're still
Lieutenant Dan.
And Forrest is like notintelligent enough to grasp the
fact that, you know, he'swrestling with this ambiguous
concept of destiny.
But in actual fact, he saidexactly what he needed at the
time.
Like, your value isn't in thefact that you don't have legs,

(25:23):
it's the fact like that you'restill the same person that you
were, and you can move pastthis.
He goes, So even without legs,it's like it can be played as
like a really dumb retort and alack of understanding, but I
think there's a deeper meaningthere that Forrest truly sees
who he is as a person becausehis mother placed that value in
him, or he had that value ofbeing kind and seeing people's
nature as opposed to what theycan do.

(25:47):
So I think that he places thatvalue more on who he is and who
he spends time with and what heloves about people.
And I think Lieutenant Dan hasone of the best arcs from a
character in this story becausehe grows immensely from knowing
Forrest.

SPEAKER_00 (26:05):
So whenever when I watched as a young kid, he was
always like he was always myfavorite because he was always
fine.
He was like, Yeah, yeah.
But always got Gump'sinteractions with Lieutenant
Dang, but always just so becauseLieutenant Dang would try and go
on some tangent, and ForrestGump just always hits him and
just like one-the liners justall the time and just completely

(26:27):
shuts him down.

SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All the time But I think anotheranother quote that sort of
Forrest is using very simpleresponses to to sort of fix
Lieutenant Dan's situation issort of during the time when
they're spending the celebrationand the holidays with each other
in New York, Dan says to toForrest Gump, you know, have you

(26:48):
found Jesus yet, Gump?
And then Forrest Gump replieswith, I didn't know I was
supposed to look at the game.

SPEAKER_02 (26:53):
No, I was supposed to look for him.

SPEAKER_01 (26:55):
And that's like it's so simple, and you think, oh, he
doesn't really understand thequestion, but really like
Forrest has always had arelationship with with God and
Jesus, like he's a very faithfulman, and so and his mother was
too.
So he's like, I'm not lookingfor Jesus because like I I I
know where Jesus is, I I have arelationship with him all the
time because he's very sure inthe fact because he says later
on in that same conversation,I'm going to heaven, Lieutenant

(27:18):
Dan.
And then Lieutenant Dan saysback to him, Well, before you go
there, get down to the store andget us another bottle of and
he's just like, Yes, sir.
And he goes and because he's inthat old habit, you know, that
he's he's his lieutenant.
But I think that that's anotherexample of the fact that Forrest
is exactly what Lieutenant Danneeded in that point.
He's almost like a groundingpoint and anchor to return Dan
to his core values withinhimself and not worry about the

(27:39):
external that is impressing itsdestiny, if you will, onto him.
Like he had this expectation ofwhat his life was going to be.
And Dan obviously isn't going tolive up to that, but Forrest was
a good grounding tool to sort ofhelp him realize what he could
become now.
And to finish off our arc onLieutenant Dan, when they

(27:59):
finally get onto the shrimpingboat and they're in that storm,
I think that whole shrimpingboat sequence is you could look
at it as an allegory for grief,really, because you know, at the
start, they're Forrest is on hisown.
He's not really catching anysort of shrimp, but he's still
persevering, which is anothervalue that he has, is like
perseverance and religion andresilience through tough times.
And then Lieutenant Dan comes onwith him, but eventually they go

(28:22):
through that storm.
And the storm can be synonymouswith like any sort of trauma or
any kind of bad thing that acharacter is going through.
In this case, I think it'sdefinitely the demons that
Lieutenant Dan is facing,because before that, definitely
very cynical, very much livingoff the government's tit, as he
says, and just without a purposeand without a direction.

(28:44):
He goes on this shrimping boatand he says, you know, Forrest
says, we always used to followLieutenant Dan's feelings.
He had a feeling that the shrimpwould be over in the easterly
direction, so that's where wewent.
But that's sort of how Dan wasnavigating his grief.
He was just like, I feel like Ishould be doing this, so that's
what I'm doing.
But then he sort of consciouslywent ahead and sort of weathered

(29:04):
the storm, faced it head on,like faced his his trauma and
his grievance head on.
And then in the end of it, itsort of says, you know, he what
does Forrest say?
No, Lieutenant Dan actually saysin that moment, Forrest, I never
actually thanked you for savingmy life.
Yeah.
And then he jumps in the sea,which you could look at as him

(29:25):
like letting go, and he startsfloating as in ta letting nature
take its course, or almost likethe feather at the start of the
movie, floating on the breeze.
It's almost like he's let go ofdestiny and he's taking on that
ideal that sometimes we're justa feather on the breeze,
floating peacefully.
And he said, you know, he neveractually said so, but I think he
made his peace with God at thatmoment.
And from that point on, Dan'slife kind of gets a bit better,

(29:48):
you know.
At the end of the movie, you seehim walking again, which is
something that he never thoughthe would do, and he's got his
magic legs, and Forrester'sextremely proud of him, and he's
got a you know, a wife to be,and they get that.
Sort of smug little look to eachother.
But I think that he he's he'svery much a character that is
influenced by Forrest'sauthenticity.
And I think that Forrest isexactly what Dan needed is that

(30:11):
reminder that, you know, leaningon those core values, who you
are is what matters, not whatyou are.
And it's good to have anambition about what you want to
be and what you want to do.
But sometimes you also need tosort of let go and make the most
of the opportunities that comeyour way.

SPEAKER_00 (30:29):
Yeah.
And in his in that moment youtalk about earlier, when his
grief, when he first lost theuse of his leg or lost his legs,
in that tangent, he goes on withForrest.
I think uh it's probably a noteto point out that one point of
what he says is, do you knowwhat it's like to live without
legs?
Yeah, yeah.

(30:49):
And and so like Forrest doesn'tbite back with anything, but
like he kind of does.
He had to wear their leg bracesto stand to walk.
But I think uh in that moment, Ithink Forrest, I think this is
how brilliant he actually is.
I think in that moment Forrestknew to be quiet and just listen

(31:10):
and not sort of bite back or sayanything or all that, he's just
being sympathetic.

SPEAKER_01 (31:16):
Yeah.
He actually does that a lotthrough this movie because if
you notice at the start of themovie, when Forrest is young,
Jenny does all of the talking.
Like they just and she justyammers and yammers, and he
says, you know, I could listento her all day, and he listens
more than he speaks.
And that's a really good valueand trait to have when people
are going through something aswell.

(31:36):
Sometimes they don't need you tofix it, sometimes they need you
to listen to it.
It's something that I'mdefinitely working on in my life
because I'm a fixer.
So if my partner comes to mewith something that she's sort
of worried about, I'll try tofix it.
And sometimes she just doesn'tneed that, she just needs me to
listen to her, and I've got toget better at sort of
verbalizing what that is.
But I I actually think that hehe is really good at being a

(32:01):
person who does listen topeople's troubles and helps
through the action of just likebeing himself and and being
there for the people that heloves and showing them that
genuine care and showing themthat love as well.
Because eventually, if you wantto say it in a sort of crass
way, that's how he sort ofbreaks sort of Jenny down and
gets him to be in a relationshipwith Jenny, is he just keeps
showing up for her.

(32:21):
He keeps showing up for her inthese moments, and he does the
same thing to Lieutenant Dan,you know, gives him a job when
he needs one, shows up for himin the holidays when he's down
and out.
And and Dan actuallyreciprocates that on occasion
too, because if you remember thetime when they were with the two
ladies in the New Year's party,and he says, you know, sorry, I
ruined your New Year's party,Lieutenant Dan, she tastes like
cigarettes.
But Dan Dan says, you know,don't call him stupid, don't

(32:44):
ever call him stupid.
And then Dan's called a loserand a freak for that by these
ladies, and then which is hisbiggest fear, and then they
leave.
But Dan sort of stands up forForrest in that moment, which is
something he really don't expecthim to do because Well, I think
I think it's also because it'ssomething he used to do as
Forrest.
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (33:04):
There's a moment when he gets the Congressional
Medal of Honor, and Lusan islike, they gave you a
Congressional Medal of Honor,and he's like, They gave you an
imbecile, a moron who goes ontelevision and makes a fool of
himself in front of the wholedamn country, a Congressional
Medal of Honor.
And Forrest is just like, Yes,sir.
Yeah, that's it.
But then I think it's sort oflike him, and then when the

(33:26):
women like the women call himthat, I think, and at that stage
they've become really goodfriends.
It's sort of I think it's sortof him trying to make amends for
how he used to treat Forrest bysticking up for him and being
there for him when people tryand call him stupid.
Same with like Jenny when Jennydoes it too.

SPEAKER_01 (33:45):
And I think that it comes in that line that Forrest
says during that scene where hegoes, I guess Lieutenant Dan
figured at that point there arejust some things you can't
change.
Like he he didn't want to becalled crippled and I didn't
want to be called stupid.
And and then after that,Lieutenant Dan sort of turns
around to him and says, afterthe the party's dispersed and
they're sort of sitting therealone in the room, he goes, you

(34:05):
know, Happy New Year,Lieutenant, or Happy New Year
Gump, or something, he says.
And that to me symbolizes thatLieutenant Dan has started to
then embrace a new beginningbecause that's what that's what
the liners said earlier in thefilm.
It's just like you can be anyoneyou want to be in New Year's,
you can change anything youlike.
And I think that's that's thestart of Lieutenant Dan's sort
of shift and change becauseafter that is when he he starts

(34:28):
to show up for Forrest on theboat and he starts to actually
base his demons and change in agood way as a result of the
friendship that Forrest Gump hasprovided for him.

SPEAKER_00 (34:39):
Yeah, I think and Forrest is like the kind of
friend that I think everyonereally wants in a way.
Like even looking at hisrelationship with Bubba before
Bubba passed on, and how they'retrying to sleep in the war, and
they're sleeping back to back,and Mama's like, We should sleep
back to back so we have to sleepwith our head in the mud.

(35:00):
And then he's like, you knowwhat?
I think we are like bestfriends, like brothers.

SPEAKER_01 (35:06):
Yeah, he says that, doesn't he?
He's like, Yeah, because we wealways be looking out for each
other, like brothers and stuff,yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (35:12):
And then he's like, um, and then he goes on's like,
Well, I'm gonna do a trip inbusiness after this.
You should join me.
And then Foster's like, thatsounds like a really good idea.

SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
Yeah, he literally says, Okay.
Yeah.
I think that that's a reallygood point because he does sort
of make that it seems to us, theaudience, that he makes that
decision really quickly becausehe just says, Okay, that sounds
like a fine idea.
Like you you should put morethought into business decisions
like that, is what I thoughtwhen I watched it.
But in the same respect, likehe's spent a lot of time with
Bubba, he's a very good judge ofpeople's character as opposed to

(35:45):
who they are and what they do.
So I think that he knows thatthat's a really good decision,
and it also shows againafterwards his loyalty and that
sort of, you know, a promise isa promise, and he keeps those
values carried forward throughevery aspect of Forrest's life.
I think that it calls back aswell when he's talking about
Bubba being his brother.
Remember when he's talking abouthow JFK was shot, and then a few

(36:07):
years later, his brother wasshot too in the hotel kitchen,
and he says it must be hardbeing brothers.
I don't know what that's like.
So he's never had a brother, andthen he finds one in Bubba and
loses him.
But then also at the start, hesays, you know, he he didn't
have a dad, like his dad tookoff on him, and he says he holds
on to things too, because hismum says in the interview about
the vacation, and then he askshis mum what's vacation, and his

(36:29):
dad never sort of came back, andshe says to him, you know, it's
when you go away and you nevercome back.
But in that respect, he kind oflooks at Lieutenant Dan as like
a father figure in that way,too.
So he sees all these people thatsort of feel this need for him,
but he also feels a need forthem as well, which I think is
the important part that hecarries what he has through this
life to help these other peopleout, but he also finds people

(36:51):
that fill the gaps in his aswell to help them.
I love it when Forrest says,after you know, that whole thing
with Lieutenant Dan meeting himthe first time, and you know,
Lieutenant Dan says, Are you twotwins?
And he goes, No, we're notrelated.
But he'll he says, you know, Isure hope I don't let him down.
And that shows his compassion aswell.
Like Forrest Gump has thiscompassion that he's he's really

(37:14):
looking to to help people out.

SPEAKER_00 (37:17):
Yeah, and well, I don't know if we want to move
on, like sort of move towardsthis thing, but um uh speaking
of helping people out.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (37:24):
Are we gonna talk about Jenny?
Yeah.
Okay, so before we talk aboutJenny, let's just give a little
disclosure to people.
We're probably gonna talk aboutlike different kinds of abuse,
drug use, that kind of thing.
So if that's a trigger foranybody, there's your your
trigger warning.
So yes, let's talk about Jennynow.

SPEAKER_00 (37:38):
So I know you've got some torts for people's
admonishment for Jenny, andshe's not one of my favourite
characters, yes but I understandI understand Forest's view of
it, but one of the ones thatalways and I know like that

(38:00):
because I've I've seen this inmy life as well, but the scene
when Jenny's got that date andhe and Foresting's just beats
the shit out of him.
Shit out of the Yeah, you meanthe time in the car?

SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
Yeah, yeah, and he sort of miscontrudes the
situation, he's like, he had hishands on, you know, like that
kind of thing.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (38:19):
And it's like, oh my he was hurting me if you say no,
he wasn't.
Yeah, yeah.
Sort of ruins her sort of herdate night, yeah, I guess you
call it.
But I think for Forrest is thathe sort of always knew about her
relationship with her dad.
So seeing and he because it'ssimple and hasn't really

(38:43):
experienced that kind ofrelationship or situation
before, I think for him it sortof clicked in this protective
protective because he's like,oh, there's a guy on top of
Jenny, or like what her fatherhad um done, what he she told

(39:04):
him of her father, and sort ofclicked in this fucking
protective mode that he gotmisconstrued because Jenny was
annoyed at first, but then sortof pretty much straight away
forgives him.

SPEAKER_01 (39:14):
Yeah.
For I think that's a that's agood point because during that
moment Jenny says, you know, hedoesn't know any better.
But I think Forrest does have asort of history with knowing
what Jenny has looked like inthose sort of situations before,
because they did spend a lot oftime together in childhood.
And he even says, you know, herfather was a very loving man,
but he's obviously misconstruedthat in a sort of different

(39:37):
manner.
But I think protectiveness isone of his his core values as
well, that he sort of he doesthat a lot in terms of that's
why he runs back into the forestto save half of his platoon.
That's why he always sort ofgoes after Jenny.
And, you know, it's the samepattern with Jenny every single
time.
She'll be with a guy or somesort of relationship, and then

(39:57):
they'll treat her like shit, andhe'll come in and be protective
of her.
And Jenny will always sort ofstand up for the other person
and say, you know, he doesn'tknow any better, or she she will
always kind of accept the abuserback in that way.
And that's sort of her patternof trauma where she she actually
sees a genuine connection inForest, and that scares her a
lot because she's got this woundthat says she's not really

(40:21):
valuable, and in that way, shedoesn't really want to accept
any genuine and pure love thatsort of Forrest is is giving her
in that space.
So she accepts the love shethinks she deserves from all
these assholes, and in that way,she's sort of defending both
herself, but she's alsorejecting and retracting from
from Forrest.

(40:42):
But when they're in the in thedoor room, dorm room after that
scene, it's another time whereForrest just completely disarms
people with a very simpleanswer.
Where Jenny's like, Do you everdream about who you're gonna be,
Forrest, you know, in thefuture?
And then Forrest just says,Aren't I just gonna be me?
And Jenny goes, No, no, no,you'll always be you, you'll
just be like a different versionof you.

(41:02):
Like she's romanticising it, butForrest is like, I'm just gonna
be me.
Yeah.
But yeah, Jenny, Jenny wants tobe that sort of famous and and
seen on stage and all that kindof thing.
But yeah, Forrest is.

SPEAKER_00 (41:29):
Yeah.
And I think it's later on whenwhen uh when he's like, I may
not be a smart man, but I knowwhat love is.
I think that was him finallysort of sort of in a way
standing, not so like I'd saystanding up to Jenny's Yeah,
he's sort of punching her ideathat he's an idiot in space in
in the space of like.
Because in her Jenny's eyes, sheprobably sees that she's trying

(41:51):
to protect him.
But in reality, all she's doingis sort of putting him in a box
and like and solidifying thefact that she also thinks that
he's an idiot.

SPEAKER_01 (42:04):
Yeah, yeah.
And I think that's veryapparent, yeah, through the
movie.

SPEAKER_00 (42:08):
And and and it's always a way, and then Jenny
comes up with excuses sayingthat, oh, I mean you're too good
for me, right?
And the whole time he's saying,Well, how do you know if you
haven't tried?
Yeah.
And I that I think that's one ofthe things that annoys me the
most about Jenny is is she totry like in her defending
Forrest is also putting himdown.

(42:31):
And like the fact that that'sjust it's just it's just Jenny.
It's just Jenny.

SPEAKER_01 (42:36):
Yeah, yeah.
It's uh it happens so muchthrough the movie, and as I said
before, continuous pattern.
It's like when she's singing onthat stage with a guitar and he
goes in and he beats thosepeople away, and then they walk
across that bridge, and shesays, You've got to stop doing
this, Forrest, and he goes, Ican't help it, I love you.
And then Forrest like herealizes in that moment that
people can be kind and cruel atthe same time, like you were

(42:59):
saying.
Like, Jenny rejects any kind ofconnection that he sort of goes
and puts toward her, and sheruns whenever whenever Forrest
gets close.
So he literally just said, Ican't help it, I love you.
And the next thing Jenny does isshe threatens to jump off the
bridge, and then she gets in astranger's car.
So she's got this reaction toanybody showing any kind of

(43:21):
affection to her that isextremely like, no, no, no, get
away.
And, you know, she cares, butshe's very frightened to open up
in that space.
And then it happens again whenthey meet in our nation's
capital, when she's like reallyhappy to see him.
She's really, really happy tosee him, and they have that
awesome, like it's such anawesome scene when, you know,
Forrest in his military uniformand Jenny in the hippie outfit

(43:42):
sort of hug in front of the theWashington monument.
Because I think that's likethat's the value that a lot of
people looking back in Americasort of wanted.
They wanted that peace and theywanted that togetherness and
they wanted that harmony, andthere was a lot of division
between those two sort ofparties.
And that actual image is likeit's one of my favorites in the
whole movies.
But I really liked in that scenewhere she's sort of with yet

(44:03):
another idiot in that sort ofBlack Panther sequence, and he
actually like beats her to theand then, you know, all other
elements around Forrest thenjust sort of disappear.
The sound swells to a pointwhere literally the only thing
in Forrest's view is gettingthat guy that just hurt Jenny.
Yeah.
And then, you know, he defendsher again, defends her from the

(44:24):
abuser, and he shows that viewof kindness towards her again as
he's confronting and defendingher.
And then she again says, youknow, he doesn't mean it when he
does things like this.
He really doesn't.
And then Forrest says to Jenny,you know, I would never hurt
you, Jenny.
And then Jenny says, I know youwouldn't, Forrest.
Forrest says, You know, I wantedto be your boyfriend.

(44:45):
And then Jenny's really silent.
She changes the topic to howgood he looks in his uniform and
how handsome he looks.
And then Forrest brings thatconnection back up and he goes,
I'm glad we're together again inour nation's capital.
So then the very next scene,that abuser comes back and he
goes, You know, last night gotout of hand.
And then he says the exact sameline Forrest said.
He says, I would never hurt you,Jenny.

(45:06):
He says the same thing thatForrest said, and he goes, You
know that.
And it's the same words Forrestsays, but she believes it from
him and not from Forrest becauseagain, she's sort of rejecting
that form of pure love thatForrest is trying to give her.
And she says, you know, we livevery different lives, Forrest.
And she goes, This is myfavorite line in the whole
movie.
She goes, Why are you so good tome all the time?

(45:28):
And then Forrest says, Becauseyou're my girl.
And then she says, I'll alwaysbe your girl.
And then that song Turn, Turn,Turn, plays.
Because I think what thefilmmakers are saying is that's
when Jenny starts to realize andchange her perspective as to the
fact that maybe I do deservesomething a little bit more.
Because in the scenes afterthat, she's definitely still

(45:48):
falling into old habits, but Ithink she's more she's more
likely to leave those people.
Like she'll go and leave peopleon her own now instead of
Forrest coming and bailing herout of it.
So you see her like leave thatguy on New Year's, just walk out
of the apartment, and she's sortof moving through life on her
own.
So she's sort of slowly gettingbetter because Forrest keeps

(46:09):
sort of showing up for her andshowing her that she has value
and giving her thatunconditional love because he's
got a really strong value ofloyalty.
So I think that Jenny isdefinitely a character who is a
victim of her past, but I dothink that I can attest that she
does treat Forrest like not verygood at times.

SPEAKER_00 (46:28):
Probably one of the biggest things that people
criticize about the movie is theboy.
Yeah.
Yeah, the go there, Brash, gothere.
She's like, when talking aboutit, when Jenny tells him that
that's his son, and she's like,hey Forrest, look at me, look at
me.
There's nothing you need to do,okay?
You didn't do anything wrong.

(46:48):
Isn't he beautiful?
Forrest is a bit all over thejoint.
He's like, he's the mostbeautiful thing I've ever seen.
But and then just as to himself.
And then and then Forest's like,is he is he smart or is he
trying to try and say, like, ishe's like, oh, he's very smart,
he's one of the smartest in hisclass.

(47:08):
But I I I still stand by thefact that that is not his son at
all.

SPEAKER_01 (47:14):
Don't like no nah.
Well, to play devil's advocateon that, I think that um it is
very convenient that you knowshe goes away and then comes
back and he like he he is richnow, he has lots of money, and
she's in a very dire situation.
Like there is that sort ofskepticism that comes into to
people's brains in that space,but I want to view the movie

(47:36):
from a good-hearted place,Brash.
And to me, when I watched thatscene, it was probably one of
the most beautiful moments fromForrest, whether it is his child
or not, he's yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 (47:46):
Forest is on 100% on the right on that side.

SPEAKER_01 (47:48):
Yeah, yeah.
So so for me when I watch thatand Forrest his his immediate
concern straight away was like,is he like me?
Like his and that that's themoment that sort of clicks for a
lot of people when they watchthis the first time that, oh,
wait a minute.
Forrest actually has known thiswhole time that he has grown up
in adversity.
Like there are people that donot treat him nice at all

(48:11):
because of his intelligence.
Like he knows that.
However, on the surface, and tothe viewers, until that moment
in the movie, it seems like it'sjust water off a duck's back for
him.
Like it he just travels throughlife without a care because he's
too unintelligent to realize theimpact of it.
But in that moment, you see, hedoesn't want his son to grow up
with the same challenges that hehad in terms of his

(48:33):
intelligence, but also throughsociety, because he knows that
he wasn't treated so well.
He knows it was hard for him tomake friends, he knows what it
feels like to get on a bus andhave seven people be like, don't
sit here, you're weird.
And he didn't want that for hisson.
So that was the immediatethought that came to his brain.
And I think that one shows hishis actual emotional
intelligence.
And two, I think it also goesback to his core values of being

(48:56):
so empathetic and caring that hethen extended that to this boy
who he didn't want to sufferthrough the same challenges he
did.
So, yes, there might be somesome paternity questions between
audience members there, but forme, I liked it because that's
what it sort of showed me fromForrest's side.
Oh, it makes Forest look itmakes Forest look like a saint.

SPEAKER_00 (49:15):
And I'm like, that's the thing, like it's just
something Forrest would do, likeespecially for Jenny, but he'd
probably do that for anyone.
Yeah.
Really?
I think so.
Um, but I I know because Jennyis sick from her sketchy past
and she is dying.
Mm-hmm.
So this is sort of um a way thatshe knows that at least her son,

(49:36):
she knows her son is gonna gettaken care of.

SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
Yeah, by the best guy she knows too.

SPEAKER_00 (49:41):
Exactly.
And and like once Forrest putshis mind to something, like
that, like you said earlier,when like he's simple tasks.
Like, his task now is to lookafter a kid, and that's what
he'll do.
But I think it's just such ashitty thing to do as a person,
to like uh I know Forrest wouldhave be happy to do it no matter

(50:02):
what, but uh to put someone inthat position and it even goes
far as well.
Like he wouldn't have said, No,even if she had said this isn't
your son, he's my son, but I'mnot gonna be around anymore.
I need you to look after him forme.
He would have been like, Yes.
Yep.
I'd do that, absolutely.
But she's like, It's your son.

(50:22):
I was like, do you really wantto go out that way?
And do you really want to go outthat way?
Like you're about to die, andyou're the last thing you're
gonna say to your man who'sloved you for your almost entire
life, you're gonna lie to him.
I'm like, and that always justrolls me in the wrong way.

SPEAKER_01 (50:40):
You don't have to Well, I'm in I'm in the camp
that that boy is definitelyForrest's son just because I
want to believe in love andmagic.
I want to believe in love andmagic and fairies.
Absolutely.
But you know, I'll I'll give itto you this way.
So I'll put I'll put Jenny'sjourney in a parallel with a
small part of Forrest's journey.
So because Forrest deals with alot of loss, but he kind of

(51:02):
travels like a feather on thebreeze through a lot of it and
gets through it based on hiscore values.
But at some point it gets to thetime where it's more than he can
bear.
So he loses his mum and thenJenny obviously leaves and he
gets up and he starts running.
So throughout this whole movie,you know, if whenever I was
going somewhere, I was running.
Like he he literally usesrunning as a tool to get from

(51:25):
point A to B, but also as ameans to sort of progress
forward, and it gives him lotsof opportunities in life.
But in this case, it's it can beseen as a metaphor for like when
sad things happen to you.
Sometimes you just have to gointo that survival mode, take
that one step forward, and justdo the things that you need to
do.
He says, you know, while he wasrunning, I I thought a lot about

(51:46):
mama, I thought a lot aboutBubba, I thought a lot about
Lieutenant Dan, but most of allI thought about Jenny.
And then during that time, sortof Jenny gets herself together
and she gets a job and sheobviously has a son.
But I think the key moment forthis is previously when we'd
seen Jenny leave Forest, she'dget in a car and she'd be
obviously running away.
But this time she gets into thecab and she says to the cab

(52:08):
driver, who says to her, Whatare you running from?
And she says, I'm not running.
And I think that shows theaudience that in this moment she
still has some growing to do andsome things to get past because
it goes back to what Forrest'smum says.
You have to put things in thepast behind you before you can
move forward.
And I think that's why my run orwhat my run was all about.

(52:32):
So Forrest had to do the run toget over the fact that, you
know, he'd lost Bubba, he'd losthis mum, and Jenny'd walked out
on him.
But Jenny had to move forward inher life in a different way,
too, to get over the things inher past as well.
So, yes, that journey could havebeen done together.
And I know a lot of people do gothrough that sort of aspect
where they grow together andhelp each other.
But I think in this particularstory, in this instance, Jenny

(52:54):
knew she had some things to getpast in from her trauma from
before.
And I think she sort of neededto move and get through that
before she felt like she couldbe deserving of of love from
Forrest.
That's my opinion of it, Ithink.
And I think it's similar to thestory that Forrest needed to go
on that run for three years, 26days, whatever it was, so he

(53:16):
could get past the things thathe needed to, so he could be the
father that Forrest Jr.
would need him to be, eventhough he didn't know about him
at the time.
But at the at the same point,that sort of run sequence was
said to have given people hope.
And he goes, I don't know aboutthat.
But he ended up getting a lot ofcompany.
And that goes back to the pointwhere like he's just simply
doing what he needs to do in anenvironment that is consistently

(53:41):
in conflict and with peoplelooking for various different
sort of powers or ideas toattach themselves to.
And he was just continuing to dowhat he needed to do in terms of
his values, like he needed tosort of step forward, he needed
to progress, he needed to leanback on those things of loyalty
that he was talking about anddetermination and resilience
that he's carried him so far aswell.

(54:02):
And everybody wanted there to bea meaning behind it, but he in
the end he just goes, I'm prettytired.
I think I'll go home now.
And it was sort of everyone wassort of like just starts to just
like Yeah, and they literallycouldn't believe because it was
like, you know, are you are yourunning for world peace?
Are you running for this?
Are you running for that?
He's like, No, I just felt likerunning.
And then he's like, and theneveryone's like, uh.

unknown (54:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (54:23):
And he is he just walks off, and then everyone
else is sort of just likeSasha's moving off as well.

SPEAKER_01 (54:29):
Yeah.
But then, you know, before andafter that, they're talking, you
can see see on the newsbroadcasts and things like that,
there's still conflict going onin the world.
So there's Forrest is stillremaining that sort of true,
ambiguous sort of person tohimself.
But I really do think that bothJenny and Forrest at that point
in their life had some thingsthat they needed to get past.
And it goes back to that quotethat his mum sort of said, you

(54:52):
have to put the past behind youbefore you can move forward.
It's like bringing old shit intoa new relationship.
Some people say that they needsome time before they jump into
something new.
Like it's I think it's that sortof concept if I'm looking at it
optimistically, but also youcould you could look at it like
Jenny was a bitch and she shetook off.

SPEAKER_00 (55:10):
Well, yeah, like I mean, because it's for any every
nearly every point when sherocks up into forest life, it's
only when she needs something orneeds money.
Yeah.
Like, at no point does even evenwhen after the run she's like,
Oh, how do you fix my life?
The only time she goes to Forestis to palm off her son because
she's dying.

(55:31):
Like every time it's just to dosomething.

SPEAKER_01 (55:34):
In Jenny's defense in that one, she didn't come to
Forest.
She sent a letter to Forrest andit was his choice.
But previous to that,absolutely, because even when
she rocked up at Greenbow,Alabama, uh to live at Mama's
house again, he he even said,you know, I think she came here
because she had nowhere else togo.
And she must have been tiredbecause she slept a long time.

(55:54):
Like, you know, she just sleptand slept and slept.
And I think there's something tosay about the fact that Forrest
always knew that he could comehome because after his service
in the military was done, hegoes, and after my service in
the military was done, I couldfinally come home.
And then he goes up to his mamaand he says, I'm home, mama.
Like I think there's a lot ofvalue in knowing him knowing

(56:15):
that he had that safe place tosort of venture at and then come
back home too.
And he then offered and extendedthat to Jenny, who, you know,
gave her that safe space, andshe went out and she she took
off and did what she needed todo, but then they both came back
and they had their wedding andtheir marriage.
So I I think that this, ifnothing else, is a story of at
least on Jenny and LieutenantDan's part, they're they're

(56:37):
growing through some things thatare very hard human-wise to deal
with, and they're doing itthrough the help of somebody who
sees things in the simplest formpossible.
And sometimes that's what'sneeded.
You need to strip back all thelayers and all the social
expectation, and you need tothink, okay, what's good for
myself?
And Forrest is theexemplification of that.

(56:57):
Like he's he's loyal, he'ssteadfast, he's resilient, he's
true, he's loving, he has faithin a higher power, he's kind to
all his friends, and he he'salso kind to you no matter what
you look like or where you comefrom.
And he sort of embraces the factthat his life is going to be
what it is.
It's almost like that proverbthat goes around how the

(57:20):
present's called the presentbecause it's a gift for right
now.
Forrest is the embodiment ofthat because he doesn't think
about the future.
He literally like ping pong tookhim places, and then after that,
after ping pong happened, heused his ping pong endorsement
to get a shrimping boat.
Like there was very little planin how his life sort of
unfolded.
And I'm not telling two ourlisteners to just, you know,

(57:40):
wait for things to show up onyour doorstep like Forrest did,
but I think there's something tobe said about Well, see, he
didn't he didn't he didn't evenwell, it wasn't about him really
waiting and things were doing.

SPEAKER_00 (57:51):
It was him just doing things, and then as a
consequence of those things,other things happened.
It was just a yeah, opportunity.
Like he was playing Win Kong'sreally good.
Someone's like, Oh man, you'rereally good at Plim Pong, you
should play professionally.
He's like, Okay.
Yeah.
It's about the opportunity.
Exactly.
Like opportunity presenteditself, he took the opportunity

(58:11):
and it paid out.
But for me, Lieutenant Dan andJenny are two sides of a coin
who in Lieutenant Dan's side, hesort of embraced Forrest and
sort of Forrest's friendship andlove and sort of came out the
other side pretty well off.
You could say healed, yeah.

(58:33):
And sort of yeah, and he sort ofwent from his depressed suicidal
state to getting his magic legsand getting his wife.
And then Jenny until the veryend She's the cautionary tale,
isn't she?
Kept rejecting that rejectingForrest, and it sort of kept and

(58:53):
she kept getting it which keptdriving her down and further and
further into a darker place.
It's about so Forrest is sort oflike the light, and Lieutenant
Deng embraced that light andstopped herself from drowning,
and Jenny rejected the light andended up drowning further.

SPEAKER_01 (59:10):
Yeah, that's a really great way to look at it
too, because I can definitelyagree, like Jenny definitely
rejects any sort of attemptuntil it's too late, but then
she's still it's too late.

SPEAKER_00 (59:22):
And then I think she realizes that it's too late for
her, but it's not too late forher son.
Yeah.
And so that's and then sort oflike pitches his wagon to Forest
because she knows that if shedoes this, he's gonna have a
good life.

SPEAKER_01 (59:38):
And in that way, you could say Jenny sort of stops
the cycle of abuse becauseobviously her father imparted
that to her, and Forest has allof these sort of values that
embody self worth, that embodylike a true sort of spirit that
she obviously wants her son toreplicate through his life as

(59:59):
well.
So through That she kind of doesstop the the cycle, and that can
be seen as the the win for Jennyin terms of her being that sort
of motherly presence andfighting fighting that battle on
her son's behalf.
But I think the the ultimatething that the storytellers did
in this movie was that they gaveForrest the choice to go and see

(01:00:20):
Jenny at the end.
Like, and Jenny's growth beingthat she didn't just rock up to
Forrest for him to rescue heragain.
She sent the letter and made ithis choice if she came or not,
if he came or not.
So I think that's the growth forJenny as well, that she's sort
of moved past that point ofreally asking somebody else to
save her and fix her problems.
And she's moved into the pointof if he wants to, that's his

(01:00:43):
choice.
There was no mention of a childin the letter.
So I will not have you say thatshe lured him there.
No.
That being said, she knows himwell enough.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:50):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
She did lure him there becauseshe sent him a letter.
What point would you ever thinkthat Forrest would not go see
her?
He Absolutely.
Again, he could do or sayanything, drop of a hat, Forrest
would be there.
So her giving Latter.
And her giving and saying, Oh,you don't have to come was

(01:01:13):
bullshit.
She knew he was gonna come.
Always, every time, withoutfail, he will be there for her.
Because that's because it'sabout unconditional love and the
unconditional love that Forresthas for her.
No matter what happens in theirlives, she is gonna be his
number one, his girl.
P's and carrots.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:33):
So just to be clear, while we end this up right now,
you are still in the camp thatyou don't like Jenny.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:40):
Yes.
I'm sorry, but yes.
I I can't like I don't like Idon't think she's a villain.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:45):
I think she's a victim of circumstance, boy.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:47):
She is 100% a victim of circumstance.
She's a victim of her childhood.
She endured things that I don'twish upon anyone.
And it is unfortunate that shenever she couldn't see the man
Forrest truly was.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:03):
I like that.
Because that's absolutelyexemplified in that ending scene
where he says, you know, willyou marry me?
I'd make a good husband, Jenny.
And then she says, you know, youwould, Forrest, but and then
Forrest goes, Oh, but you won'tmarry me.
And he goes, Why don't you loveme, Jenny?
And he goes, I'm not a smartman, but I know what love is.
And that it's at that pointwhere Jenny's like, okay, maybe

(01:02:26):
I've been misjudging this personbecause from everything that I
know about this guy and fromeverything that he's been
through and every time he'sshown up for me and all the ways
that he shows up for his friendsand all the stories he's told
me, it has shown that he has adeep, deep love for the people
who he's connected with, astrong loyalty, he's resilient,

(01:02:48):
and those sorts ofcharacteristics, like you could
call like how can you reallycall him unintelligent or stupid
when he is that kind of personat heart?
It just goes to show like it'swhat you place your value on
when it comes to intelligence.
Emotional intelligence, I thinkForrest has that in some sort of
way.

(01:03:08):
In terms of like intelligenceabout world events and things
like that, nah.
Forrest doesn't know anythingabout what's going on right now,
but he knows about the importantpeople in his life, and he knows
what connection is, and he knowshow to be a good friend, and he
knows how to be kind.
And I think Jenny realizes thatin that moment.
And that's all we have to sayabout that.
Yeah.
Moving on, let's rate it.

(01:03:29):
So for me, no-brainer.
It's in my top four letterboxmovies, it's five out of five,
bro.
Like it does have its flaws, butevery time I watch it, it's
different and it's new.
It makes me cry.
Not many films make me cry,honestly, and this one makes me
cry every time.
Love the character of ForrestGump, loved it all my life.
Five out of five.
Brash, what about you?

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:49):
Absolutely spectacular movie.
I I also really love this movie.
It always touches and feels.
And as much as the character ofJenny annoys me sometimes, she
is vital to his growth and hisjourney.
So I'll have to get it four outof four point five.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:06):
Uh, ladies and gentlemen, with our ratings of
five and four point five frommyself and brash respectively,
we officially have a new leaderof our Phantom Portals on a
board knocking off Guardians ofthe Galaxy Volume 3 that has
been there for oh my gosh, sinceJune or March.
We did a Marvel month, yeah.
It's been there for a while.

(01:04:26):
We finally got a new number one,and it's Forrest Gump, and I'm
really happy about it.
So I think this is great.
I think that it definitelysolidifies and talks about it,
it's a nice ending to our arc ofbecoming your true self because
I think Forrest does go throughthe various different seasons of
life, and it's not about beingyour true self in terms of I

(01:04:50):
really love playing football, sothat's who I am as a person.
It's like core value kind ofstuff, like he's loyal, he's
resilient, that kind of corevalue that was instilled in him
in his upbringing that reallycarry him through all these
things.
And I think that this is areally great way to end the arc
because we've looked atcharacters pursuing that version
of themselves, whereas Forresthad the fortune to know and be

(01:05:15):
that.
And it's good to see a characterin a movie that exemplifies that
as well.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:21):
And it's not even the main it's not even really
the main character who evolvesand it's more so the main
character who helps everyoneelse find their true selves and
be better, like be it Elvis.
Yeah, Elvis, Lieutenant Dan,Jenny, eventually.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:42):
Richard Nixon and he forces him to be honest with the
Watergate scandal.
John Legend writing Imagine.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:48):
Yeah, and yeah, like he brings out the best in others
who accept that, who accept hiswisdom.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:56):
Yes, the Gumps are a very wise family.
So, guys, small podcasters likeus love it when you share
amazing things with yourfriends.
So if you got friends that lovepodcasts, if you've got friends
that love Forest Gump, if youhave heard a hot take from
myself or Brash, or if you'veheard something interesting,
feel free to share that withyour mate and direct them to our

(01:06:17):
podcast, the Fandom PortalsPodcast.
We can be found at allpodcasting places, and we're
even on YouTube.
So if you're listening to ourvoices and you're not seeing our
faces, you can go and see ourfaces on YouTube.
And if you're looking at ourfaces and hearing our voices and
you think, I don't want to seethese faces anymore, you can go
and listen to us on Spotify andApple and all those places as
well.
Next week on the pod, guys,we're going to do a thank you

(01:06:40):
episode, which is going toinclude lots of messages from
some of the guests that we'vehad on here and also a little
bit of a chat between Brash andI about where this podcast has
been and where it is now after50 episodes, because again,
we've hit a milestone, we've hita birthday, so we're going to
celebrate with our next episodebeing one of those.
So if you've got a gratitude forus, or if you've got some

(01:07:02):
feedback, definitely send it toour email, which is
fandomportals at gmail.com, orhit us up on socials.
We're everywhere atfandomportals, and we're
absolutely thankful foreverybody who's tuned in,
whether this is your firstepisode with us or if you've
stuck with us for all 50, wethank you so much.
It is, it means the world to usbecause we love doing this.
It's fun, it's a good littleoutlet for us, and to have some

(01:07:25):
people join us on the ride, thatis just awesome.
I guess my gratitudes aretwofold.
One for hitting 50 episodes forthis week.
We've hit 50 episodes, that'sdefinitely something I'm
grateful for.
I'm grateful for our communitythat has followed us along.
I'm grateful for you, Brash,because you're flexible and
you're an awesome friend andyou're great to talk to about
this kind of stuff, and we'vegone through heaps together, and

(01:07:46):
this has actually become areally great place for me to
sort of share stuff.
And I found I don't want to likeput a cap on it or anything like
that, but I think that talkingthrough some stuff that we've
talked about in this podcast hasmade me a bit of a better
person.
It's definitely made me thinkabout some things in different
ways, that's for sure.
So thank you for that.
And my second sort of gratitudeis obviously for my mum who
listens to all of the episodes,who watches us all on YouTube.

(01:08:09):
Hi mum.
Ah, thank you.
Brash, gratitudes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:08:12):
Um, also gratitude, 50th episodes, and I'm grateful
grateful for you for inviting meon this journey.
Wouldn't have it any other way,mate.
It's been I know, yeah.
I I love our chats.
Even like before we actually geton the podcast, we just talk
about just stuff, and it's justjust just always great.
We've been thinking abouthitting record and sending them
out, but yeah.
We don't know yet.

(01:08:33):
I might do some editing on someof the class.
Yeah, yeah.
But uh, yes, grateful for thiswhole experience.
It's been really great.

SPEAKER_01 (01:08:41):
I look forward to continuing.
I started this like on my on myown, obviously, and then I have
some guest stars, but then whenyou came on, it just it it
changed and evolved the spaceinto something that I kind of I
really like it.
Like it's you've done a lot forthis this pod brash.
So thank you.
I just talk shit.
Yeah, but we both do it togetherand it ends up sounding okay

(01:09:03):
sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:04):
I really appreciate you even yeah, thinking of me to
bring me onto it.
Yeah, I'm very grateful.
Oh, I'm grateful for John Cenaand AJ Styles.
For those that I know, I'm a bigwrestling fan.
And Crown Jewel is here inPerth.
And so far, we've had SmackDownhere in Perth, and we've had the
Crown Jewel and we've got Rawtomorrow.

(01:09:24):
But so far, the SmackDown was anamazing show, and Crown Jewel
was absolutely phenomenal.
I say that because thephenomenal AJ Styles and John
Cena had their just love lettermatch in the middle of Crown
Jewel, and it was absolutelyfantastic.
And the crowd, for the mostpart, for us here, I'm really
proud of us, our country whowere there as a pivot because

(01:09:47):
the crowd was just made thatwhole experience even better.
All right.

SPEAKER_01 (01:09:51):
Keep learning, keep growing, and keep loving
phantoms, guys.
That's all I have to say aboutthat.
But is that gonna be a thing?
It's gonna be I think so.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:57):
It's gonna be a thing now, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 (01:09:58):
Yeah, we'll stick it up.

SPEAKER_00 (01:09:59):
Also, also with another thing where we say, when
we get off topic, I digress.
Yeah, I digress.

SPEAKER_01 (01:10:06):
Yeah, I digress.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Go get them on shirts.
That's all I have to say aboutthat.
See everybody.

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Forrest Gump (1994) Staying True to Yourself When the World Shifts | Becoming your True Self

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Forrest Gump (1994) Staying True to Yourself When the World Shifts | Becoming your True Self