11/26/21

Zach Thomas

My Favorite Movie Portfolio Assignment: Forrest Gump

1. Main Characters

a. Forest Gump

i. Forest Gump is the movies protagonist. He’s a physically and mentally

challenged individual whose mother nurtured him to believe he is just like

everyone else. His mental deficiencies are often endearing to those around

him, and he repeatedly finds himself in historically significant events,

from the integration of the University of Alabama through the Watergate

scandal's final hours. Forrest is polite and compassionate, offering

affection and devotion to Jenny Curran, a childhood friend. Even though

she is battling some terrible demons, he is dedicated to her and wants to

shield her from harm.

b. Mrs. Gump

i. Mrs. Gump is Forrest's mother, a warm-hearted yet tough woman who

encourages Forrest to trust in himself despite what others say. She is

incredibly proud of Forrest's achievements and tells him that being his

mother is part of her "destiny."

c. Jenny Curran

i. Jenny Curran is Forrest's lone childhood friend, a lovely young lady with a

tumultuous past. She treats Forrest with kindness and pushes him to stand

up to the bullies at their school. She also has to deal with the fact that she
 was reared in a home where her father sexually abuses her. She had high

hopes of being a renowned folk singer and runs away from Greenbow,

becoming a hippy and then a druggie disco dancer before ultimately

settling down and healing after years of addiction. At the conclusion of the

film, she sadly dies from an unknown infection (probably HIV).

d. Bubba

i. Bubba is Forrest's best friend from his time in the military. Bubba is a

black man from the bayou whose one ambition in life is to have a

shrimping boat. In fact, a significant portion of his screen time features

him talking about this dream. Sadly, Bubba dies during the Vietnam War

after being shot in the chest, despite Forrest’s heroic, medal of honor

earning effort to save him and everyone else around him. With that being

said, Forrest becomes determined to buy a shrimping boat in Bubba's

honor.

e. Lieutenant Dan

i. Lieutenant Dan is Forrest's Vietnam officer. Dan is extremely dissatisfied

and unhappy after Forrest rescues him from an attack in Vietnam. He is a

polished and confident man who is loyal to his family's legacy—he has an

ancestor who perished in each of America's conflicts. He loses both of his

legs and lives in Manhattan on disability payments until Forrest stumbles

upon him and urges him to start living again. He later joins Forrest in the

shrimping business, making him a millionaire.

2. The Plot
 a. Throughout the entire movie, Forrest has a desire to complete only one thing:

reunite with his childhood sweetheart Jenny. Although he is a challenged

individual with a low I.Q., Forrest proves time and time again that he’s no

different than anyone else, and that anything is possible so long as you have a

kind heart and a good mindset. With that being said, many events during the plot

of this movie are used to back that up: Forrest creates a famous shrimp fishing

fleet, wins medals, starts a ping-pong craze, creates the smiley, inspires people to

jog, writes bumper stickers and songs, donates to people and meets the president

several times. In addition, during the plot Forrest also finds himself in several

significant real-life historical events such as the Watergate scandal and the

Vietnam War. To be complete, despite the occurrence of all these great things,

Forrest never seems to care too much about them as he only ever has one thing on

his mind: His love for Jenny, his mother, and his close friends.

3. Settings

a. Greenbow, Alabama

i. Greenbow, Alabama is Forrest’s home town and is the main setting in the

film.

b. Vietnam

i. Vietnam is where Forrest was deployed when he joined the military. He

met his two great friends Bubba and Lieutenant Dan here, and received the

Medal of Honor for his heroic acts of bravery during the war. Forrest left

Vietnam after getting injured during the war as he was shot in the butt.

c. New York City

 i. Forrest reunites with Lieutenant Dan while in NYC for a talk show. He

then goes on to spend a lot of time with him and eventually recruits him to

be the second in command on his shrimp boat.

d. Washington, D.C.

i. Washington, D.C. is shown many times as Forrest meets several

presidents, and reunites with Jenny for a short amount of time at a peace

rally.

4. Camara Angles/Point of View

a. The entire story is told in 1st person point of view, in fact Forrest himself is the

narrator. During the movie it’s revealed that he is physically telling the story to

someone on a bench while waiting for a bus. Additionally, dramatic camera

angles are used especially during the stories most significant scenes, and beautiful

angles are used during Forrest’s 3-year, coast to coast run.

 Compare and Contrast

Forrest Gump is, without a doubt, my favorite movie of all time. The story it tells is so impactful,

so much so that it just makes you feel a certain way after watching, especially for the first time.

With that being said, after watching the movie Forrest Gump for the first time, I couldn’t help

but to notice a few things. First off, I loved how several historical events were used within the

movie, there were a few times where I would ask myself “Did that really happen?” Additionally,

after watching the movie for the first time I was moved and touch by the emotional aspects of the

storyline, between significant characters passing and goals being achieved. I then watched this

film for a second time where several new details were brought to my attention. To begin, I began

to notice a trend with how different people treated Forrest, and how he would typically respond.

Forrest tends to surround himself with good people that don’t judge him, and he always

responds/confronts these people in the most kindhearted and compassionate ways. Even though

he doesn’t relatively care what others think of him, he will care about what others think and say

about his friends and he will stand up for them before just as he will for himself. In addition to

this, I also began to notice other interesting details such as the Nike shoes Forrest got as a gift

from Jenny, the Apple stake he received, and the places featured in his run (one of them was

Grandfather Mountain!). Lastly, I watched the movie for a third time. This go round I took notice

on the significance and reality of some of Forrest’s quotes. Sayings such as “Life is like a box of

chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get” and “My Mama always said you got to put

the past behind you before you can move on” are hard-hitting quotes that display truth even in

the real world. Overall, with each subsequent viewing, my core impression wasn’t completely

changed but was only enhanced. I first perceived the story to be a beautiful, emotional, and

motivating one that could be used as an example to help someone get through troubling times or
complete their goals in real life. After viewing the film multiple times afterwards, I only ever

noticed more factors that would contribute to my initial impression, rather than change it.