Floating Along - Forrest Gump (1994)

Forrest: You died on a Saturday morning, and I had you placed here, under our tree. And I had that house of your father's bulldozed to the ground. Mama always said dying was a part of life. I sure wish it wasn't. Little Forrest, he's doing just fine. 'Bout to start school again soon. I make his breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. I make sure he combs his hair and brushes his teeth everyday. Teaching him how to play ping-pong. He's really good. We fish a lot. And everynight we read a book- and he's so smart Jenny. You'd be so proud of him, I am. He, uh, wrote you a letter, but he says I can't read it, I'm not supposed to, so I'll just leave it here for you. Jenny, I don't know if Mama's right or if its Lieutenant Dan, I don't know if we each have a destiny or if we're all floating around accidental, like on a breeze. But I think maybe its both, maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenny. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.

***

Most people can quote from this movie. It's full of good ones: "Run, Forrest, run!" "Stupid is as stupid does," and "I just felt like running."  My family can keep churning them out. We actually won a game of Forrest Gump trivia at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company once.  Thus, I would consider myself well-versed in all things Gump.

Every time I watch this movie, I find something new that I've never thought about before. This past Friday night when I watched it for the ump-teenth time with my sister, I noticed how Forrest deals with being "abnormal" in a normal world, tracing this theme of being normal through the film. Forrest seems to do fine with his cognitive handicaps, whatever they may be, as he accomplishes great things and experiences more in his lifetime than most of us.

Now given that this is fictional movie, I'm not surprised that Forrest does a lot more than we believe cognitively handicapped people to do. He challenges the stigma, but I don't think many actually receive the wonderful opportunities he did.  I like that he defies the odds not only because it gives all of us hope, but also because it makes everyone rethink what handicapped people are capable of.

Enough about the intricacies of the movie.  I could go on all day, as I'm sure most of you could. But maybe you're convinced that the movie is simply a comedic look back at the 1950s-80s America. Forrest is involved in many of the most important events of those periods. He's smack dab in the middle of everything. Forrest Gump in that sense is just an American history lesson.

But then there are moments like this monologue, where Forrest is completely alone and sharing his thoughts aloud. He's already told his story, but what's behind it all? What should we make of it?

According to Forrest, it seems as though we have two different "life" views: Mrs. Gump's and Lieutenant Dan, destiny versus coincidence.  These are commonplace views that we constantly deal with: are our lives planned out or do things just sort of happen?  

Forrest says it's a little bit of both. "Maybe both is happening at the same time," he says.  Does coincidence have a place in our destinies? Is everything just meant to be or are some things just not planned?

I don't exactly know what to make of it myself. I'd like to think that things happen because they're meant to happen, but then that makes me think that I have no chance at changing the future since it's already "destiny." I'd like to think that some things just happen coincidently. I suppose I'd side with Forrest on this one. Maybe we're not just "floating around accidental like on a breeze" but our lives are more complex than that.

Forrest's life may seem to be entirely one of coincidence. He gets lucky a lot. He's in the right place at the right time. But if he hadn't been a good runner, he wouldn't have made it out of Vietnam and if he hadn't run across the country, he wouldn't have had Jenny contact him. That part seems like destiny.

If there's anything to take away from Forrest Gump, I suppose it's that we're in the middle of history in the making. Whether it's destiny or not, we just might be in the right place at the right time being part of some of what will be monumental moments in history.