| Thank you so much for the follow-up reply, Melly! The pleasure is always mine to exchange thoughts, opinions, ideas with friends. I have enjoyed reading your essay, the eloquence of your writing, the sparkling thoughts, etc. Have to thank you for the inspiration of more thinking. Sorry that I could not see your comments until now. You seem to be a "thinking" person, constantly on a run searching for the meaning of life.......have to say that is one merit not everyone owns it, especially in an era characterized with information exploration, and people are tempted with all kinds of instant, pragmatist recipes of life philosophy, and yet oftentimes get lost when they are totally overwhelmed by routine life. Exactly in that sense, this is where the movie like Forrest Gump comes into play. You can not be more right about Forrest Gump, as an epic of anti-hero, to say it’s kind of movie that compels people to contemplate, in seeking for the meaning underneath the surface. There are certain things in Forrest, persistence, sincereness, bravery, loyalty for both friendship & love, to name a few among many others, they are so pure, so pristine that they are almost utopian. These idealistic qualities, unattainable in a real world in its pure form, set up mirror, through which people see their own images on a higher level and herein are being inspired. Just like you well put it, Forrest’s mom is indeed one tough fighter for life, and she goes all-out trying to give the best she could to her son; and yet, on the other hand, she is sophisticated, witty, and knows how to make a compromise when she is cornered – Guess that is something Forrest did not inherit from her. In actuality, it is her sophistication that grants her all the life wisdom. What a wizard of life philosophy when she says, "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." It’s a teaching she passed onto her son summed up her own life experience. Sympathetic as Forrest’s childhood, Jenny had to stand up to protect Forrest when he was bullied by other kids. "Run! Forrest, run!" It is really heart-wrenching to hear this little girl crying out loud at the top of her lungs, trying to help her boyfriend, chased by three menacing kids, to cast off that ominous predicament. For little Forrest, she is a guardian angle! I bet you every audience would feel relieved when Jenny's calling finally unleashed Forrest’s extraordinary aptitude to run, just like a magic. "Run! Forrest, run!", this line literally becomes a motto for Forrest throughout his life. It guides him to run in a football court to be a skillful player, to run saving lives of his comrades in a killing field in Vietnam, to run his shrimp business and succeeded, and to run across the country from coast to coast. To me, the episode of running across the country is the most sentimental scene in the whole movie. Even he’s got everything with his life -- fame, wealth, friendship, success, and so forth; but none of these seems to be he wanted. What he really longs for is his true love, Jenny, that girl he loved ever since they were little. When Jenny, after being out of touch for so long, wandered back to Forrest, he was ecstatic because he thought he finally got what he wanted and he could hold onto it for lifetime. However, Jenny’s abrupt leaving, as impetuously as she came back, put him in the state of being lost. Forrest decided to run, first through the county, then the state, and then the whole country from coast to coast.........Even Forrest claims he is running for no reason, but he is really running for his lost love and trying to leave everything behind; he is running to protest his sad love story, in silence and in desperation. It’s bit ironic and sad that Forrest started running led by his guardian angle, and in the end he runs for the loss of the fallen angle........ Thank you for sharing the topic!
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
My reply:
Edrifter, thank you so very much for your wonderful essay about Forrest Gump. I feel so honored. To be honest, I didn’t expect a simple essay would bring on so many thoughts. I am very happy and I really appreciate about it. Your essay and opinion are so perfect that I am afraid I am not able to throw any comment. You really expanded my view of this movie. Forrest’s long run across the country was definitely one of the most touching scenes in the movie. It started with a very simple reason---just want to run a little while. Few people believed his simple intention and tended to think there must be hidden big reasons. To a simple man, running was running, nothing else. He might not consciously realize it was for lessening his hurt as you described. It was also probably only a metaphor for his simplicity and persistence perfectly characterized in his whole life, and rewarded by gaining his Jenny again. Those scenes were like his visioning for his guardian angel Jenny. The short lonely running turned out to be a long, inspiring one. Many people followed him in his journey. Ironically, people got lost when Forrest stopped. What did those people really want? Forrest’s Mom was a very successful role model for him. The most important thing was she knew what he could do and what he could not. I agree with you that she was sophisticated and “it was her sophistication that granted her all the life wisdom.” I guess her sophisticated life experiences, such as being a single Mom, (maybe) being laughed at having a poorly-formed boy, built up her bravery, confidence and perseverance. Without those experiences, she could hardly translate profound life philosophy into simple words. Isn’t experience the most precious treasure in our life? Above is my two cents. I believe everybody is thinking in one way or another, just like everybody is stupid in one way or another. We should think the meaning of life now and then to keep us clear yet not getting addicted to it. :-) I’d like to be a female Forrest Gump, a simple one. :-)) Thanks again for your follow-up essay. I really enjoy your superb writing. |
