I was too young when I watched this in 1996. I didn't get some of the references back then. "Jenny's dad was the most loving man he was always hugging and kissing her and her sisters." Oh my God that was probably the darkest part of the movie and my thirteen-year-old brain didn't pick up on it.
I think an underrated scene is the New Years party when Lt. Dan yells at the woman for calling Forrest stupid. It shows he really thought of Forrest as a friend.
I used to hate Jenny, and its easy to see how one could, but I always want to offer an alternate thought: Consider that she was raped as a child by her father probably multiple times. When she accuses Forest of "not knowing what love it" its because SHE doesn't know what love is. She isn't rejecting Forest, she's rejecting herself. She doesn't think SHE is good enough for Forest. So I get it, its easy to be mad at her for rejecting such a pure soul as Forest, but i encourage people to go a little easier on her. Its not easy getting over the trauma that she went through.
People often seem to believe that because Forest is a nice guy he's ENTILTED Jenny's love, which is very wrong in itself, Yeah of course she's confused and be best of with him, but that doesn't mean she's not free to say no and make mistakes.
@@Deorman I agree she's free to say no. I think the issues that many people have, including me, is the way she invalidates Forests feelings. Remember, she's not saying no to him. She's saying HE doesn't know what love is, (which i believe, though I'm not a therapist that she is really rejecting herself, and not Forest).
@@jessewright2319 NO SHe's not entilted to do so, BUt Forest happily welcome her to do so. And she definitely don't do this for a safety net, otherwise she would never leave him, from very early on he was more successful than her, on the contrary she tried to refuse his help almost everytime he offered it. And while she may be doing very poorly in her sentimental life she did managed to be independant, survived worked etc Money isn't the issue as to why she goes back and forth with him, she never actually took advantage of him in that regard. SO your insinuation about her is the twisted argument here Your comment says it all : Your contempt for feminists makes you confuse Jenny's with your twisted demonized vision of women overall, like they're all arround us just waiting to take advantage of men (and I'm not saying it doesn't happen, of course it happen, but it's not how the world in general work), THat's not at ALL what the situation with Jenny is.
@@jessewright2319 lol where the hell is your comment coming from ? You're hysterical man, seems you're a living proof of why feminism despite its excesses is still relevant today (btw I'm actually very anti feminist but your comment make me consider they have a lot of reason to still be there)
@@Deorman She can feel however she wants! Nothing wrong about that at all...but she only wanted to marry him when she knew she was dying, no one wants her anymore, and knew he is a millionaire. Your comment would be absolutely perfect if that last part in the movie didn't happen.
@@justmeeagainn Well it's neither confirmed nor denied. I've heard people providing arguments supporting Forrest being the father and others that he's not. Ultimately it all comes to which notion you prefer, really.
She named her son after the only good thing in her life. The only good things in her entire sad tragic life; were boys named Forrest. The only ones who genuinely loved her.
Forrest, in his SIMPLICITY, represents everything we COULD be if we just make the best of everything life gives us. Obviously, he's so good natured that he's almost too good to be true. Jenny, in her COMPLEXITY, represents what many of us are. A flawed nature, unwilling to forgive herself and run from everything to try and escape when everything she ever needed was always standing right beside her. She seeks happiness in all the wrong places and, because of her past abuse from her father, she gravitates to men that abuse her when Forrest, of course, would never think of hurting her. Most of us will NEVER know someone like Forrest in our lifetime but we all know a Jenny all too frequently.
The handful of times I've run into people who've never seen it, I just describe it as the most pure human on earth getting taken advantage of left and right but still makes the best out of every situation. It's really a perfect movie.
That line means so much to me. I had to forgive my abusing dad (never seen him after 6y old) to overcome depression at age of 33. Now i am continuing a happy life and not looking for any more rocks i could throw at him.
"Is he smart? Or is he..he.." is an understated but brilliant piece of acting. By not just Tom Hanks but Robin Wright as well. That scene even gets to statues.
Agreed. It hit me in the theaters as a young man and today as a father of two hits me even harder. The idea that your child might suffer something because of the shortcomings you know you have and his obvious fear of that is just incredibly portrayed. I get tears every time.
That moment was one of the lines he read during his audition, and I think it was his performance of that moment that showed how perfect for the role he was
Jenny wasn't motivated by money, she didn't leach off him. She only married forest when she was dying. I think Forest was the only positive thing from Jenny's childhood and she was afraid of destroying that. I think people tend to be very hard on Jenny and fail to understand how hard Jenny's childhood was.
My childhood sweetheart was taken advantage of by her father the same way. She never let me know about the abuse, but before 5th grade ended in 1969, she told me she had a surprise for me. Next day at school we went behind the 4th grade which was near a sugar cane field and she told me to pull my pants down. (We used to hide from everyone by that cane field). I objected and told her people would see us but she insisted and told me no one would see me because she'd cover me up with her skirt. That afternoon her best friend told me I had to marry her, and I should bring a ring tomorrow to school. At recess the next day we had a pretend wedding ceremony with her best friend Becky officiating as pastor. I put a bubble gum cigar band on her finger, and we walked around arm in arm singing Sugar Sugar till the bell rang. Thursday I carved Michael Loves Dana Forever in a small live oak in front of the school. After school Friday we were saying goodbye and she told me; "I'm gonna try to keep daddy off me." She climbed in the back of her mother's Fairlane station wagon hopped in the rear seat and waved blowing kisses as her mother drove away. That Saturday night her father put her, her mother, her baby sister & her two brothers in that station wagon and drove them all off the I-10 overpass near Crowley. All six perished in twenty feet of bayou water. Most people can't begin to imagine what Jenny went through, and even though she is a fictional character these things do happen, and the amount of harm they can cause is devastating. I was eleven and Dana was ten when we said goodbye for the last time. God bless Dana Thibodeaux's soul, and forgive us all. None of us have the right to judge.
Exactly this - if Jenny was in it for the money she would have been on him as soon as she learned she was pregnant with his child. Instead she worked as a waitress and single mom. She never showed one bit of interest in his money.
the thing that always hits me is when Lt. Dan shows up at the wedding, he got his life together, accepted his situation, made te best of it but above all: he is married to a Vietnamese girl. He let go of all his grudges and hate, he has grown into a new better man. That is one of the most emotional moments for me
I like his arc, but I felt that element had something missing. Maybe it was a cutting room floor thing or something that was in the book, but nothing about Lt Dan's personality ever gave me the impression that he had any resentment towards the Vietnamese. I can certainly understand why someone would, but he just struck me as the type that were he to meet someone he knew was a Viet Cong soldier, he wouldn't react in anger/hatred/whatever. That element of that scene always seemed like the payoff for a completely different character.
@@ApesAmongUs it’s not always so obvious but the “vietnam vet that marries a Vietnamese girl “ is a understatedand rarely used trope in the Hollywood industry but is fairly consistently used to imply reconciliation of some issue between the military veteran and the people of the nation he was sent to do battle other examples are rhyme movies Emperor, Last Samuri, a Chuck Norris movie I can’t remember the title of….
@@MrSheckstr Yea, I'm aware. I just think it's a weak theme if it only works for the meta-narrative and doesn't mean much from the standpoint of the individual characters.
I seen several reactions to this movie and it just floors me the hostility towards Jenny. She was being raped by her father and for some reason people expect her to just snap out of it. She lives in an era where 'mental health' wasn't phrase du jour and talk of rape and child abuse was forbidden. People mistakenly think Forrest is okay, he's not. Jenny is running and so is he. It's just he literally runs, which Jenny had to tell him to do and she's emotionally running and he's unable to stop her. It's a great love story and isn't it wonderful that these two broken people found each other. And Jenny's not a bitch. Her actions aren't malicious. She loves him and she thinks she's unworthy of his love.
I will understand if when the movie was released and a few years later people had that kind of reaction towards Jenny'a character, but not in this day and age when there's so much talk and information about mental health, cases of rape, child abuse and so on, it's not mention literally in the movie but they put all the facts in your face to simple figure it out.
@@mr.ilikespam6081 what did she do to Forrest? In the movie I watched he obsesses about her and is devoted to her entirely on his own initiative; she’s not romantically interested in him for most of the movie and generally keeps him at a healthy distance as a well-loved friend. As far as I can tell she made countless terrible mistakes in her own life but her behaviour towards Forrest was generally perfectly nice.
Hey Matthew Baker, I agree with you 100 percent! My experience with this movie is that it is SO engaging and well-acted that it feels like it is a quick watch even though the movie is almost 2 1/2 hours long. And despite it being a fictional story, I still find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. An additional reason that I connect with this movie is because my brother actually has Autism (I know Forrest Gump did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled). I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique. If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day Matthew, and stay safe!
I'm so, so glad you finally got to see this gem. Forrest's reaction when he learns he has a son and then chokes up while asking "is he smart or is he [like me]" gets me every damn time. That single line of dialogue reveals so much about how he sees himself and the fact that he's hyper-aware about his perceived lack of intelligence... It kills me every time.
Everybody's talking about the scene that got them. For me, it was when Lt. Dan showed up for Forrest's wedding and greeted him by his first name. That was the first time he called Forrest by his first name and the first time he smiled at him. He was looking at Forrest with admiration and you could tell that Dan realized how fortunate he was to have him as a friend.
I got this excuse before and it is an absolutely selfish thing to say... they decide for themselves and for the other person what is right for them. They leave no choice and no say. It means running away which is in itself a egocentric decision.
@@nothingtobeconcernedabout7477 Thats a very easy thing to say. But when you hate yourself you cant understand how someone you love so much could love you in return. Almost like they love a version of you that doesn't exist and only you know how bad you are. Jenny is abused and has a lot of emotional and self hatred issues. To say she's selfish when she's probably doing what she believes to be the kindest thing for her friend is a simplification of everything Jenny has ever gone through.
@@thelibertini3757 exactly, people who have not gone through what jenny went through have a problem with how she dealt with things. Unfortunately I understand her too well.
i never understand why people hate so much on jenny.. jenny was obviously abused as a child by her father.. she was broken and deeply damaged.. not understanding why she is how she is and why she keeps repeating these bad patterns seems like a lack of empathy and understanding to me... it's like this bullshit some people say that words never hurt anyone, while in reality some people get hurt so much by bullying and verbal/physical abuse that it shapes their whole life.. i worked a few years as social worker and i have seen how this shit can shape people and destroy any kind of self-confidence/self esteem they had... if they had any to begin with.. and pls people spare me the nonsense about them being weak.. they are not, they are just human.. what makes one person stronger can break another person.. just stop trying to find excuses for behaving like an a-hole
There are so many reactions to this movie where people don't recognize who's in the clips or understand the references. It's an absolute pleasure to watch one where you get them!!
What bothers me is that people don't understand the significance of 21:09. Those white stars on that blue field? The significance of it cannot be overstated. If you don't know what a medal that looks like that means--I mean TRULY means--then piss off.
This, right here, is why Matt and Emily are two of my favorite reactors. It's not hard to spot the difference between a bullshit "OMG, I am shocked...so shocked by this emotional scene, and now I shall cry" reaction, and a real, visceral reaction like Emily's.
Everyone is hard on Jenny. You have to remember Jenny was so messed up by her father’s sexual abuse. Forrest was loved and encouraged. I think that the point is what someone’s potential depends as much on if and how they are nurtured along the way.
Jennys poor (but understandable) life decisions and the audience's negative reactions are reflective of how many individuals IRL react to people that make similarly poor decisions. It's easy to watch someone make a decision and notice how it is a poor or horrible one, especially when you may not know the trauma that contributes to the persons poor decision-making. Its VERY EASY to expect everyone to just "pull yourself up by your bootstraps". Past trauma is one of those invisible mental wounds that people seem to not want to be empathetic about.
Jenny's philosophy and Forrest's philosophy were both based on that feather from the beginning/end of the movie. Jenny wished to be a bird so that she could fly far far away to avoid all the things that used & hurt her. Forrest just let the wind carry him wherever it took him...and he made the very best of wherever he ended up.
Jenny is a very tragic broken character. She is running as far away from home as possible to find a place in this world. Since her childhood home is a nightmare for her. However, in the end, the home gives her the one person that truly loves her. Forrest Gump. She fights it all her life. Till she finally gives in and realizes that she should be with Forrest. Many broken people go through this process of self-discovery. Often many don't live long enough to reach the journey.
My favorite scene is Forrest in boot camp. "GODDAMMIT GUMP YOU'RE A GENIUS!" I'm not sure anyone not related to him appreciated him more up to that point than his Drill Sergeant.
Drill Sergeants train people to respond to commands given. Forrest does exactly what he's told, when he's told, how he's told for no other reason than he was told to. You couldn't ask for a more perfect recruit. He's already at the place that they try to get recruits to. He is a dream. It makes so much sense why the military in that sense would love him.
Top 3 for sure, but there's been a couple reactions to comedians this year that were pretty damn great too (won't plug anyone else here, but one was doing Chris Rock "Black people vs N*****" at the time and the other was watching Norm MacDonald doing Coronavirus jokes. Btw, you should do both of those as shorts on a day you don't have much time to film in the future, each one is only like 5-10 minutes and almost no editing needed.)
One of my all time favorite dramatic movies. I hated a lot of Jenny when I saw this as a younger gal until I saw it as an adult and realized she was a product of an abusive home as a child so she's not going to make all the best decisions. I understand her better now. Forrest was so good to everyone, he's so wholesome.
Jenny is easily my favorite character (other than Forrest, obviously). I empathize with her a lot. I came from an abusive household and everything about how she acted felt familiar to me. I didn't go down the paths she did, but I was no angel either. Thankfully, I had the Army to provide a little structure to keep me from spiraling. In fact, I saw this movie at an improvised outdoor theater in Guantanamo Bay as a pre-release. You think you were bad? Imagine 3-400 GIs bawling their eyes out.
I agree with you ltdano- I too came from an abusive household and growing up a gay man, have fought my own inner demons of not feeling worthy of love and pushed people away. Nice to see another guy relate to this.
We all have different paths but some are similar and we're all trying to go the same place. Nobody does it alone, and sometimes all we need is to know is that someone else knows and understand. I hear and acknowledge you, brother. Love you.
Jenny of course being the most complex, and thus the most misunderstood character in the movie. She didn't just run from Forest, she ran from every relationship in her life, starting with her father. That was her defense mechanism from what her father did to her.
It's hard to see since overall a lot of their interactions feel the same, but there is a very notable progression with Jenny. First, "You don't know what love is." Later, "You don't want to marry me." By then, she's accepted that he does love her and that she loves him (she says it herself in the next scene), but she believes that he isn't mentally mature enough to understand how fucked up she is. She doesn't see herself as lovable. An important point I've seen made, is that it's highly possibly that the reason she left after the one night stand is that she felt like she'd somehow abused her friend the way she was abused when she was little. Shortly after, he goes running for years, and is presumably difficult to get into contact with. This turns out to be a good thing, because she uses this time to get her shit together. By the time he sees her again, she's in a strong enough place to feel like she could actually be a good wife to him, and I think she had plenty of time to consider that maybe it was okay that he doesn't understand what she went through-that he can be supportive and love her exactly as she is. Unfortunately she's dying. But hey, their son deserves to be with a great dad, like she never had.
For many years, I identified so much with her "you don't want to marry me" line. In that moment, you really see exactly how Jenny views herself and how much she thinks of Forrest.
I always liked (and it' a subtle moment), when the camera pushes in on Lt. Dan at the bar during New Years. He looks so sad. I know that's probably an oversimplification of the emotions his character was feeling, but for some people, New years is an all-too-painfully melancholic event, myself included.
Your sensitivity and empathy for a young girl who was sexually abused by her father, who doesn't feel worthy of the only good person in her life, leading her into a lifetime of toxic relationships, brings tears to my eyes.
Yeah I was wondered if during his years in the army and after his injury he had racist beliefs towards Vietnamese people but overtime he got over it and ironically married a Vietnamese woman
Watching the scene about Forrest's mom dying hit me hard enough to have to pause for a bit - it reminded me of losing my own dad to cancer (actually, on a Tuesday as I'm thinking about it). It's a really good film that hits so many different emotions, good and bad. Thank you for watching it and sharing your reaction
My dad (stepdad, but I always referred to him as dad) died from the after affects of lymphoma and the drugs he wasn’t supposed to have from the hospital. I miss him so much and it’s been nearly a year since he’s been gone, including my grandparents on my biological father’s side and my grandfather on my dad’s side.
I watched this when I was in my Teens and I used to HATE Jenny so much, I thought she did nothing but bring pain to Forest and was just one annoying character. However as an adult i viewed the movie 10+ times and I finally understood Jenny and no longer feel the same way. We learn that she was abused by her father and to escape from his drunk outbursts she would run into the cornfield or far away from home. Notice how during the scene where young Forest was getting bullied the only solution/advice she knew was to "RUN". As she grew older she never settled in on place it always resulted in running away from one place to the next etc. Its all part of her Mental health that brewed from her childhood, her father abused her and as she grew older all guys ever wanted from her was her body etc. She was mixed in the bad part of society and the world she lived in was Parallel to Forest Gump. She truly felt she was not good enough for him, rather she didn't value herself let alone think another man would LOVE HER. The beauty in it all is Forest was the one GOOD thing in her life and although she didn't have a home to come back to she had a person to go back to
Hey AnimeBloodSamples, your comment here is very well put! I think part of understanding Jenny's character is us having empathy, which is often a trait we acquire as we experience more in our own lives. And at the end of the day, I guess none of us are perfect. We all have our flaws....As far as the storyline of this movie goes, I just find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. Also, my brother has Autism, which makes me connect with the movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled). I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique. If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
Jenny went through to much growing up and had very low self esteem, she thought Forrest deserved someone better but still wanted to be in his life in some way.She was his best friend growing up always supported him as well, I just don't get why reactors are so hostile towards her.
Poor girl always gets a bad rep. It's hard for ppl to understand what she went trough in life if you haven't gone trough some serious shit in your life as well and the kind of mental trauma that leaves you with, it scars your for life and you spend your entire life with incredibly low self esteem issues, scared of commitments, it eschews your way of thinking and seeing life, it's fucked up.
As someone else said, she represents the self destructive tendencies, as does Dan in a way, holding onto negativity and letting it control you. I feel like a lot of the hate is from people angry at the helplessness you feel seeing someone hurting themselves over and over. You just want to yell "Stop being so f-ing stupid and stubborn!", but in the end, nothing helps until they themselves make the choice to get better.
Don't be sorry girl. I saw this movie in the theater on a first date, and I made it to the Jenny grave scene before I balled my eyes out. Seeing your reactions, both fun and sad, was amazing. You got me crying early. BTW, the date didn't go anywhere. 👍
Jenny's journey was similar to that of the prodigal son; She makes every attempt to sabotage herself with each opportunity, but always comes back. And Forrest is always there.
The comment before mine in response to yours is appalling, so I will be bypassing it entirely. Now I'm an atheist, but I still live my ethical codes based in common decency and morality. One aspect of the bible I have always had the utmost respect for on those terms was the Summit on the Mount; each of the parables taught by Jesus. I agree, 100%. He shows the absolute best humanity has to offer, and Jenny offers the dim reality so many go through, and what it can make of them despite the best of intentions or cruel ironies placed upon them. He forgives without thought every time because he sees in her WHO she truly is, not WHAT she portrays herself to be...And as seemingly unrealistic and risky as that can be in real life, I think we each owe it to ourselves and each other to let go of that worried sentiment once and a while and, in all honesty, be more like Forrest Gump. Even just a little bit here and there; imagine how much brighter our lives would be, and what willingness we'd have to wake up each day knowing that other's were out there as well...Anyway, just a mild rant.
As great as "Forrest Gump" was, I still preferred "The Shawshank Redemption" even more which was also nominated that year. That is one that should be given a review.
I have seen this film countless times since it came out and no scene hits me like the one where he is watching little Forrest at the TV and asks Jenny if he is smart of if he is like him. He fully knows his own shortcomings and the only concern he has in the world is that his child might somehow be harmed by being his son. That concern he has as a parent hit me when I first saw it and, as the years have passed and I have had my own kids, hits me harder now. Tears every time.
Please continue exploring Robert Zemeckis films that you haven't seen: Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Romancing the Stone, Cast Away, etc...
Netflix has a great documentary on the making of this movie (The Movies that Made Us) that just came out. One cool tidbit was that Tom Hanks really didn't know what kind of speaking style he should use, but after the kid that played young Forrest (who had never acted before) started speaking in his normal voice, it was clear that Hanks should imitate it. The studio execs were against it at first, but I can't imagine the movie being as successful without that particular speaking style.
dam I was shocked she knew ALA great coach Bear Bryant, but I guess she had to since she and family prob grew up in that Area of Tremendous SEC TEAMS and saw highlights
Y’all both nodding y’all head after Forrest said “sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks !!” I just about fell out that was just too adorable this reaction was just so awesome 😊 😂
This movie just hits different. I remember seeing this with my family at the theater and crying through the entire thing. Hanks is goddamn a national treasure and it's curtains for anyone putting salt on his name!
My older brother tried out for the part of younger Forrest. He still has an alternate script from the scene of Jenny and her dad. In that version of the script, Jenny's dad has a tractor turn over on him, and her and Forrest watch him die.
21:09 - Former US Marine here. Have you any idea what that is? How rare? How much heroism? How much sacrifice? Most only get that post-mortem. If you are wearing that then the US President must salute you first. I cannot overstate what that blue field with white stars means.
DID YOU KNOW?: Gary Sinise who plays Lieutenant Dan, when preparing for his role actually spoke to and spent a lot of time with several Vietnam veterans and wounded veterans where they told him about their personal experiences during the war, dealing with being back home afterwards, dealing with PTSD, dealing with being disabled/crippled, etc...All of that was so moving for him that not only did he channel that into his character for the film but would later become the spokesman & advocate for 'Hope For The Warriors' (a nonprofit organization that helps wounded soldiers, veterans, their families and the families of those soldiers killed in action). ✌️🇺🇲
The more I watch reactions to this movie the more I have come to believe that Jenny's arc is really the main point of this movie. She is the true protagonist. Forest goes through life with things just happening to him, bouncing from event to event never really changing (although I have no desire to see him change). Jenny is the one fighting the battle to overcome her demons, pushing Forest away because she sees herself as unworthy and eventually learning to accept herself.
20:45 actually it was never ANYTHING about the money… Due to all the total and utter crap she’d gone through her whole life, Jenny is one of those inner tormented types who feels they are unworthy of being loved because of their dark past…it just takes her too long to quash her inner demons and accept what Forrest always offered with open heart and arms, pure, simple caring and unconditional love… Forrest was the perfect guy for her, she just couldn’t see it til she managed to sort her life out, then thought it was too late, then managed to reconnect Could she have done better…no one denies that…but you cannot deny that reforming a life shattered repeatedly since a very young age never results in a perfectly “well adjusted” adult…but her saving grace was the stability Forrest always had there for whenever she was ready to take it
The fact that Emily knew who Bear Bryant was adds to the many reasons Matthew is one of the luckiest men on earth, lol Also, I have to suggest The Last Dragon to you guys, I think you two will have fun with it!!
I'm glad you guys came to the same opinion of Jenny as I have over the years. She cared for Forrest and knew she was broken and probably didn't think she was good enough for him. Oh, and the part where Forrest asks "Is he smart? Or is he like..." gets me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! 😭
Jenny's problem is how she was used and abused, 1st by her father, then by every man she met except Forrest. She felt like she was worth nothing and was never going to be worth anything and would just bring Forrest down with her , she had no idea how to love anyone. It wasn't until she had little Forrest and was given one pure good thing in her life she was able to find her self worth to a point and then accepted that she loved Forrest and always had and it was OK to love someone and not expect them to hurt her. It is very complicated and you get snippets of it in every scene she is in. The first thing you see is all she knows how to do is run from anything as she keeps telling Forrest to do , she doesn't know any other way to deal with the pain and bad and it takes her so long to finally figure it out ( unfortunately this is true for too many and some never get to figure anything out) , Jenny deserves pity not hate , she didn't know how to love until it was too late but she gave Forrest 2 gifts before she left, true love and what it feels like , and someone to love and give his life meaning in Forrest Jr. . Forrest might not be a genius but I would lay any bet he is an incredibly loving and good father.
Emily: Two genuinely sweet, simple precious humans, that should be protected at all costs. Me:😟😩😭❤ Need more folks with this kind of empathy and compassion!🙏
Fun fact: There is an actual restaurant next to the Galveston Boardwalk called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. They have Forrest Gump decor and even have it playing on the tv at the front of the restaurant with merchandise. It’s a fun place and the food is good, too.
I think a person's reactions and opinions about Jenny is like a good litmus test of their understanding of abuse, trauma and empathy towards anothers hurt. Frankly still to this day one of the most accurate portrayals of the destructive ripple effect of childhood SA.
One of my favorite Lt. Dan and Forrest scenes is after the storm Lt. Dan says "I never thanked you for saying my life", and Forrest says he was finally at peace with what had happened to him. Also with Jenny it is so interesting when the boys are chasing him on the bikes, and Jenny tells him to run, and then they are again chasing him in high school she tells him to run. Then she tells him if bad thing happen in Vietnam to just run away. Every time she gets into trouble herself her first response is to run away from it.
I gotta say Emily; I really appreciate that you get all the political, & social jokes even down to "it happens", smiley faces, the running phenomenon, ping pong, and even knew who Bear Bryant was. I grew up in the 60's & 70's and saw the rise and fall of all these fads and fashions. When I started high school the Watergate hearings were on TV every afternoon when I came home. Kudos to you, you really know your country's history well.
This is imo one of the best movies of all time. The two storylines of people so different but ending up together after all is a amazing storytelling technique. Lt. Dan is one of my favorite characters of all time. His character developement is so realistic and deep. From a proud army guy to a broken criple and then the happy free man.
Hi Rashadow, I completely agree with you! Whenever I watch Forrest Gump, my experience with the movie is that it is SO engaging and well-acted that it feels like it is a quick watch even though the movie is almost 2 1/2 hours long. And despite it being a fictional story, I still find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. Also, my brother has Autism, which makes me connect with the movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled). I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique. If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
@@5calambres :D Aw Yay, awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my very detailed comment and for taking the time to click on the link and watch the video! I really appreciate it! Have a great day, and keep being you :)
What's to hate about Jenny? First, she was the first true friend to Forrest, when she had nothing to gain from it. Besides being abused, she tries to find herself, and goes through many things her generation did (she symbolizes part of the 60s and 70s experience). Is she to be hated because she doesn't immediately see Forrest as a lover? Just because Forrest wants her to, doesn't mean she should immediately oblige or that she can't be conflicted about it. Later, if she was opportunistic, she would have clinged to him when he was a multi-millionaire. But she leaves Forrest, tries to make sense of things, put herself together and simply works as a waitres and tries to raise the child. Or is she to be hated because she had abusive boyfriends, and had a self-destructive phase? That's to care about and help, not to hate.
Spot on! Of course Forrest is too innocent for this, but a lot of the hate towards Jenny comes from a weirdly “incel” type of attitude. Of course she can choose whether she’s romantically interested in him. And as soon as you recognise that, for most of the movie, from her perspective he is just a really good childhood friend in the background of her life, her behaviour towards him is perfectly fine. People think that because Forrest is obsessed with her, that she must give in to him. It’s not right.
@@haps2019 I said it comes from a weirdly “incel” attitude, not that everyone who hates on Jenny is a total incel. But yes, ultimately it boils down to people resenting Jenny because they think she owes him romantic love just because he loves her, and that’s not how it works. It’s her choice who she loves.
Cool fact about Elvis is that he’s actually voiced by Kurt Russell in the Hound Dog scene which marks the second time he has played the king of Rock with the first being the movie Elvis (1979) directed by John Carpenter who is best known for Halloween (1978), Escape from New York (1981) also starting Russell and The Thing (1982), Kurt actually had a small role in one of Elvis’ movies back in the mid 60s playing a kid who kicked Presley in the shin so he can get a date with a nurse
Forrest acted like he wasn't aware of his limitations or they never bothered him. However, when he asks if his son is... You can see how much he knew and how much it had affected him. Also, everybody thinks Jennay is this evil person. She's not. She's staying away from Forrest to protect him. She knows her life is hell and she stays away because sheh loves Forrest and she wants him to be happy and whole, not broken like she is. I lost one of my great love when I was younger because I did the same thing. I didn't see that he could help heal me, I only saw that I would break him. This movie is a masterpiece, right up there with Shawshank
I'm sorry you had to go through that. You're so right about jenny, I think that part of her actually stayed alive for Forrest, obv ppl with huge trauma like that often take their own lives. I hope you are doing OK, sending love from UK ❤️
@@helenchelmicka7894 Thank you so much for your kind words. I am doing better now, yes. "ok" might be a stretch, but I did stop to try to destroy everything around me and I have let a man in my life. He knows my past and my shortcomings, he knows my 'limitation' and he decided to stay anyway. Hope you are doing good, too, and that 2023 will be the start of amazing things for you
@@foljs5858 Jenny gets a lot of hate, because people are rooting for Forest and she objectively is not a good influence on his life. Also, she keeps making bad decision after bad decision. There are reasons for that ofc, but i'd be shocked if anyone picked her as a favorite character in the movie, because she neither is nor is meant to be likeable. That being said, yes, she is a very tragic character and deserving of utmost sympathy, albeit in sort of a pity-way.
@@frankyhorn2475 You don't have to like a person to sympathize and/or empathize them. I totally get why Jenny is written this way doesn't mean I have to like her or what she continues to do to Forest.
"...so I ran" cutting to that Fleetwood Mac needle drop is one of my two all time cinematic brain-burns; that image and sound are forever intertwined (the other is Clapton's Layla and instantly I see garbage bags fumbling over each other in slo-mo (Goodfellas)). Loved this reaction vid by you both. I really hope you do Cinema Paradiso one day.
Absolutely love the scene where he is describing the landscapes he saw to Jenny. I have physically been at a couple of those locations, and the film doesn't do them justice. (The mountain lake and monument valley, or near it)
I loved your reaction, except for the Jenny-bashing (I'll let others defend her cause I've done it so many times), but you seemed to get her in the outro.
This is one of the greatest films of all time. It's funny, REALLY funny. I've been watching this movie since it came out. I saw this film when it came out, in 1994, with my parents. I shared it with my kids and they loved it. People in their 80's love it. It's just a perfect movie. When Forrest is talking to Jenny after she passed away, ALWAYS draws tears. "He's so smart..." that line gets me every time.
This is one of those films that will make a 60 year old man cry as much as a 20 year old girl. Few movies can do that. That's how good Forrest Gump is. There's a point in this movie where you just hate Jenny more than anything. When she's shooting up heroin, and then keeps showing up and leaving him, you just want to slap her so hard. Then you realize at the end when she says she's sick that she has AIDS, that they don't know what it is because in the early days of the AIDS epidemic (Late 70s-early 80s) when no one really knew much about the illness, this really covers everything America went through from the 1950s-80s. Gary Sinise (Lieutenant Dan) is one of the staunchest supporters of our military and veterans in real life. He runs Hope For Warriors which provides non-medical care and assistance to wounded veterans and their families. He received the Presidential Citizen's Medal from President Bush for his work with veterans. Gary is also the lead singer and guitar player in his band called the Lt. Dan Band!
Hey there Joe! I guess you could say that Forrest Gump is a "universal" movie, and it has the ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Also, thank you for sharing that information about Gary Sinise! I know Tom Hanks gets so much of the audience's attention for his performance (for very good reason), but I think Gary Sinise does a fantastic job portraying Lt. Dan, and his performance can sometimes be underappreciated. Overall, I just find the movie to be very inspirational, and I think it has moments that most people can relate to on an emotional level. My brother actually has Autism, which makes me connect with this movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled). If you are interested in more content related to Forrest Gump, I actually posted a video on my TH-cam channel back in February that is almost like a tribute to this movie (though I called my video a "Mashup"). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique. If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to my video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
Also fun fact. There's a sequel to this movie. The writer was basically forced to make one after this movie did so well. He purposefully wrote such a batshit crazy story it would never actually get made into a movie. The actual story itself sounds so over the top that I kinda want to see the movie actually get made. There's a video explaining it better than I just did on TH-cam.
The author was screwed out of an agreed-upon percentage of the profit, because the producers used "Hollywood accounting" to show that _Forrest Gump_ **didn't make any profit.** (Think about that for a second.) Then, when they approached him to write the sequel, he declined, saying that, since the first one lost so much money for the producers, he'd feel horrible making them lose so much money again...
C'mon the scene when Forrest meets Tom Hanks and invents New Coke is hilarious.. but if people just thought the sequel book was batshit crazy.. Well so was the first one.. it's just the sequel goes into the 80s and early 90s..
When I need an emotional pick up I watch this , the green mile and the mist reaction of you two...And i usually cry but when it's all said and done I smile. You are one of my most favorite channels to watch on TH-cam And it makes me happy knowing you have another video coming soon...
It's not Forrest who runs the most in this movie, it's Jenny. Learned to run away from her abusive dad and kept running away all her life. Running away from any uncertain happiness for the "comforting" low life she knew.
Fun fact: there was a sequel written for this movie. However the day before Zemeckis and Hanks pitched it 9/11/01 happened and they were like, "Welp this doesn't feel relevant anymore."
Awesome reaction. Now hear me out. Don't shut me out, this is just a shot in the dark --> "Fried Green Tomatoes" ... I dunno if you have ever seen it, but if you haven't, it has a similar vibe to Forrest Gump, but it is completely different. I hope you guys check it out in the near future, or you let me know if this was already checked out before. Looking forward to next time :)
@@sexysadie2901 nothing wrong if you are a chick, but real men get dragged to these type of movies by girlfriends and wives. The movies usually have very little entertainment value for men and often are very emotionally driven. We hate these movies, dont get on my case for speaking the truth
Two lines that had me rolling: "It better be Bubba" "go back to the fireswamp!" ROFL Every time I hear the intro to Sweet Home Alabama, I turn to my gf and say "me and Jenny was like peas and carrots again...."
I remember sitting in the theater in 1994 and watching this movie. Just before the Watergate "reveal", I blurted out WATERGATE! And people in the theater started laughing. It was a total accident on my part. Great memory for me.
Um. This is one of my all time favorite reactions to anything. Ever. Sherpa, how you kept quiet I will never know. Emily, your reactions are so sincere that I just cant. Much love and keep on keepin on J.
Love this reaction. Thank you for sharing. I know you don't want a war movie, and this one is violent, but Hacksaw Ridge has a similar story structure in that it is not about the character arc of the protagonist. Like Forrest Gump it is about the way a morally pure protagonist endures the pressure the world (and in this case war) puts on him.
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Did Jenny give Forrest AIDS at the end of this movie? It's been awhile since I've seen this.
❤️ you guys, I’ve seen this 46 times (roughly) for the first time I was good, then u cry, I cry. Dammit! Every time. 😂
One of my favorite movies
I ordered a Lt. Dan from them, but they sent me a broken one, it was missing its legs.
I was too young when I watched this in 1996. I didn't get some of the references back then. "Jenny's dad was the most loving man he was always hugging and kissing her and her sisters." Oh my God that was probably the darkest part of the movie and my thirteen-year-old brain didn't pick up on it.
I think an underrated scene is the New Years party when Lt. Dan yells at the woman for calling Forrest stupid. It shows he really thought of Forrest as a friend.
def one of the most memorable parts of the movie that stuck with me.
Concur.
Also underrated was how much he talked crap about the Vietnamese and then he married a Vietnamese woman.
You’re right, really underrated!
Yeah bro.
I used to hate Jenny, and its easy to see how one could, but I always want to offer an alternate thought: Consider that she was raped as a child by her father probably multiple times.
When she accuses Forest of "not knowing what love it" its because SHE doesn't know what love is. She isn't rejecting Forest, she's rejecting herself. She doesn't think SHE is good enough for Forest. So I get it, its easy to be mad at her for rejecting such a pure soul as Forest, but i encourage people to go a little easier on her.
Its not easy getting over the trauma that she went through.
People often seem to believe that because Forest is a nice guy he's ENTILTED Jenny's love, which is very wrong in itself,
Yeah of course she's confused and be best of with him, but that doesn't mean she's not free to say no and make mistakes.
@@Deorman I agree she's free to say no. I think the issues that many people have, including me, is the way she invalidates Forests feelings. Remember, she's not saying no to him. She's saying HE doesn't know what love is, (which i believe, though I'm not a therapist that she is really rejecting herself, and not Forest).
@@jessewright2319 NO SHe's not entilted to do so,
BUt Forest happily welcome her to do so.
And she definitely don't do this for a safety net, otherwise she would never leave him, from very early on he was more successful than her, on the contrary she tried to refuse his help almost everytime he offered it.
And while she may be doing very poorly in her sentimental life she did managed to be independant, survived worked etc
Money isn't the issue as to why she goes back and forth with him, she never actually took advantage of him in that regard.
SO your insinuation about her is the twisted argument here
Your comment says it all : Your contempt for feminists makes you confuse Jenny's with your twisted demonized vision of women overall, like they're all arround us just waiting to take advantage of men (and I'm not saying it doesn't happen, of course it happen, but it's not how the world in general work),
THat's not at ALL what the situation with Jenny is.
@@jessewright2319 lol where the hell is your comment coming from ?
You're hysterical man, seems you're a living proof of why feminism despite its excesses is still relevant today (btw I'm actually very anti feminist but your comment make me consider they have a lot of reason to still be there)
@@Deorman She can feel however she wants! Nothing wrong about that at all...but she only wanted to marry him when she knew she was dying, no one wants her anymore, and knew he is a millionaire. Your comment would be absolutely perfect if that last part in the movie didn't happen.
The scene when Forrest finds out that he has a son, and he asks about little Forrest's intelligence. It breaks me every time. Such an amazing scene.
I think, only stones do not cry seeing this scene ...
@@justmeeagainn Well it's neither confirmed nor denied. I've heard people providing arguments supporting Forrest being the father and others that he's not. Ultimately it all comes to which notion you prefer, really.
@K2da_G Right?? "I'm not crying. You're crying!!"
It's my favorite part of the movies because it shows just how much his disability silently effected him.
Forrest's kid sees dead people
She named her son after the only good thing in her life. The only good things in her entire sad tragic life; were boys named Forrest. The only ones who genuinely loved her.
Forrest, in his SIMPLICITY, represents everything we COULD be if we just make the best of everything life gives us. Obviously, he's so good natured that he's almost too good to be true. Jenny, in her COMPLEXITY, represents what many of us are. A flawed nature, unwilling to forgive herself and run from everything to try and escape when everything she ever needed was always standing right beside her. She seeks happiness in all the wrong places and, because of her past abuse from her father, she gravitates to men that abuse her when Forrest, of course, would never think of hurting her. Most of us will NEVER know someone like Forrest in our lifetime but we all know a Jenny all too frequently.
Very well said.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You hit the nail on the head.
well put
something most people missed about jenny
The handful of times I've run into people who've never seen it, I just describe it as the most pure human on earth getting taken advantage of left and right but still makes the best out of every situation. It's really a perfect movie.
"Sometimes I guess there just aren't enough rocks"
I always loved that line.
That line means so much to me. I had to forgive my abusing dad (never seen him after 6y old) to overcome depression at age of 33. Now i am continuing a happy life and not looking for any more rocks i could throw at him.
Yes! Also ‘but I think it was her Grandma’s dog. He was a mean dog.’
@@5calambres Good for you, friend. Hope everything only gets better, from then and here on out.
@@Anino_Makata thanks mate i appreciate it. Greetings from switzerland.
Me too. That line resonates with me a lot.
"Is he smart? Or is he..he.." is an understated but brilliant piece of acting. By not just Tom Hanks but Robin Wright as well. That scene even gets to statues.
Agreed. It hit me in the theaters as a young man and today as a father of two hits me even harder. The idea that your child might suffer something because of the shortcomings you know you have and his obvious fear of that is just incredibly portrayed. I get tears every time.
Wrecks me every single time.
That moment was one of the lines he read during his audition, and I think it was his performance of that moment that showed how perfect for the role he was
My goodness, that is the hardest hitting moment for me out of all the other great tear jerking scenes in this movie.
Absolutely - one of the most emotional moments in the history of cinema.
Jenny wasn't motivated by money, she didn't leach off him. She only married forest when she was dying. I think Forest was the only positive thing from Jenny's childhood and she was afraid of destroying that.
I think people tend to be very hard on Jenny and fail to understand how hard Jenny's childhood was.
My childhood sweetheart was taken advantage of by her father the same way.
She never let me know about the abuse, but before 5th grade ended in 1969, she told me she had a surprise for me. Next day at school we went behind the 4th grade which was near a sugar cane field and she told me to pull my pants down. (We used to hide from everyone by that cane field). I objected and told her people would see us but she insisted and told me no one would see me because she'd cover me up with her skirt. That afternoon her best friend told me I had to marry her, and I should bring a ring tomorrow to school. At recess the next day we had a pretend wedding ceremony with her best friend Becky officiating as pastor. I put a bubble gum cigar band on her finger, and we walked around arm in arm singing Sugar Sugar till the bell rang. Thursday I carved Michael Loves Dana Forever in a small live oak in front of the school. After school Friday we were saying goodbye and she told me; "I'm gonna try to keep daddy off me." She climbed in the back of her mother's Fairlane station wagon hopped in the rear seat and waved blowing kisses as her mother drove away. That Saturday night her father put her, her mother, her baby sister & her two brothers in that station wagon and drove them all off the I-10 overpass near Crowley. All six perished in twenty feet of bayou water. Most people can't begin to imagine what Jenny went through, and even though she is a fictional character these things do happen, and the amount of harm they can cause is devastating. I was eleven and Dana was ten when we said goodbye for the last time. God bless Dana Thibodeaux's soul, and forgive us all. None of us have the right to judge.
Exactly this - if Jenny was in it for the money she would have been on him as soon as she learned she was pregnant with his child. Instead she worked as a waitress and single mom. She never showed one bit of interest in his money.
Jenny was a saint.
@@michaeldavidfigures9842 Thank you for sharing that.
@@michaeldavidfigures9842 man my heart cries for you. You'll meet Dana someday, just not yet.
the thing that always hits me is when Lt. Dan shows up at the wedding, he got his life together, accepted his situation, made te best of it but above all: he is married to a Vietnamese girl. He let go of all his grudges and hate, he has grown into a new better man. That is one of the most emotional moments for me
I like his arc, but I felt that element had something missing. Maybe it was a cutting room floor thing or something that was in the book, but nothing about Lt Dan's personality ever gave me the impression that he had any resentment towards the Vietnamese. I can certainly understand why someone would, but he just struck me as the type that were he to meet someone he knew was a Viet Cong soldier, he wouldn't react in anger/hatred/whatever. That element of that scene always seemed like the payoff for a completely different character.
@@ApesAmongUs it’s not always so obvious but the “vietnam vet that marries a Vietnamese girl “ is a understatedand rarely used trope in the Hollywood industry but is fairly consistently used to imply reconciliation of some issue between the military veteran and the people of the nation he was sent to do battle other examples are rhyme movies Emperor, Last Samuri, a Chuck Norris movie I can’t remember the title of….
@@MrSheckstr Yea, I'm aware. I just think it's a weak theme if it only works for the meta-narrative and doesn't mean much from the standpoint of the individual characters.
@@MrSheckstr Chuck Norris movie is "Missing in Action ".
Not fair to assume he was prejudiced in the first place
I seen several reactions to this movie and it just floors me the hostility towards Jenny. She was being raped by her father and for some reason people expect her to just snap out of it. She lives in an era where 'mental health' wasn't phrase du jour and talk of rape and child abuse was forbidden. People mistakenly think Forrest is okay, he's not. Jenny is running and so is he. It's just he literally runs, which Jenny had to tell him to do and she's emotionally running and he's unable to stop her. It's a great love story and isn't it wonderful that these two broken people found each other. And Jenny's not a bitch. Her actions aren't malicious. She loves him and she thinks she's unworthy of his love.
Thank you for this comment. 💜
I will understand if when the movie was released and a few years later people had that kind of reaction towards Jenny'a character, but not in this day and age when there's so much talk and information about mental health, cases of rape, child abuse and so on, it's not mention literally in the movie but they put all the facts in your face to simple figure it out.
still doesn't make it right what she did to Forrest malicious or not but to me that's also what makes jenny a good character.
She was a broken person. Is much much more difficult than you can ever imagine.
@@mr.ilikespam6081 what did she do to Forrest? In the movie I watched he obsesses about her and is devoted to her entirely on his own initiative; she’s not romantically interested in him for most of the movie and generally keeps him at a healthy distance as a well-loved friend.
As far as I can tell she made countless terrible mistakes in her own life but her behaviour towards Forrest was generally perfectly nice.
I absolutely love the tonal shifts this movie does. Roughly every 5 mins you're feeling a different emotion. Such a rollercoaster
They could be separate films for each genre, if stretched out, that's how rich they are.
Just like in real life where we all experience different shifts of emotion as we grow and experience life, just like Forrest did.
Hey Matthew Baker, I agree with you 100 percent! My experience with this movie is that it is SO engaging and well-acted that it feels like it is a quick watch even though the movie is almost 2 1/2 hours long. And despite it being a fictional story, I still find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. An additional reason that I connect with this movie is because my brother actually has Autism (I know Forrest Gump did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled).
I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique.
If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html
If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day Matthew, and stay safe!
Gary Sinese's band is called "The Lt. Dan Band," and they play shows to raise money for veterans
I'm so, so glad you finally got to see this gem.
Forrest's reaction when he learns he has a son and then chokes up while asking "is he smart or is he [like me]" gets me every damn time. That single line of dialogue reveals so much about how he sees himself and the fact that he's hyper-aware about his perceived lack of intelligence... It kills me every time.
Forrest was very afraid when he asked that question.
Everybody's talking about the scene that got them. For me, it was when Lt. Dan showed up for Forrest's wedding and greeted him by his first name. That was the first time he called Forrest by his first name and the first time he smiled at him. He was looking at Forrest with admiration and you could tell that Dan realized how fortunate he was to have him as a friend.
Now you got me tearing up again!
And the nationality of Dan's wife is important. It's clear she is Vietnamese
Emily,
I think Jenny realized that she was so broken that she could never deserve someone as good and kind as Forrest in her life.
I got this excuse before and it is an absolutely selfish thing to say... they decide for themselves and for the other person what is right for them. They leave no choice and no say. It means running away which is in itself a egocentric decision.
@@nothingtobeconcernedabout7477 Thats a very easy thing to say. But when you hate yourself you cant understand how someone you love so much could love you in return. Almost like they love a version of you that doesn't exist and only you know how bad you are. Jenny is abused and has a lot of emotional and self hatred issues. To say she's selfish when she's probably doing what she believes to be the kindest thing for her friend is a simplification of everything Jenny has ever gone through.
@@thelibertini3757 exactly, people who have not gone through what jenny went through have a problem with how she dealt with things. Unfortunately I understand her too well.
i never understand why people hate so much on jenny.. jenny was obviously abused as a child by her father.. she was broken and deeply damaged.. not understanding why she is how she is and why she keeps repeating these bad patterns seems like a lack of empathy and understanding to me...
it's like this bullshit some people say that words never hurt anyone, while in reality some people get hurt so much by bullying and verbal/physical abuse that it shapes their whole life.. i worked a few years as social worker and i have seen how this shit can shape people and destroy any kind of self-confidence/self esteem they had... if they had any to begin with.. and pls people spare me the nonsense about them being weak.. they are not, they are just human.. what makes one person stronger can break another person.. just stop trying to find excuses for behaving like an a-hole
@@crappiefisher1331 oh you stated this so well, yes yes yes
There are so many reactions to this movie where people don't recognize who's in the clips or understand the references. It's an absolute pleasure to watch one where you get them!!
What bothers me is that people don't understand the significance of 21:09. Those white stars on that blue field? The significance of it cannot be overstated. If you don't know what a medal that looks like that means--I mean TRULY means--then piss off.
This movie is definitely better if you no a tiny bit of American History...
@@RyanRichardsToby i dont know, im not a us citizen...so i guess i'll just "piss off".
I love how Matt gives nothing away before and during the movie so you can have a real reaction. Great reaction (love your hair color💜).
This, right here, is why Matt and Emily are two of my favorite reactors. It's not hard to spot the difference between a bullshit "OMG, I am shocked...so shocked by this emotional scene, and now I shall cry" reaction, and a real, visceral reaction like Emily's.
Omg yes to all the things! The hair is amazing!
Everyone is hard on Jenny. You have to remember Jenny was so messed up by her father’s sexual abuse. Forrest was loved and encouraged. I think that the point is what someone’s potential depends as much on if and how they are nurtured along the way.
How someone is raised is only part of it. At a point, Jenny is responsible for all of her own decisions.
@@gawainethefirst Don't be that guy.
@@gawainethefirst its called product of environment
@@gawainethefirst spoken like someone who wasn't raped throughout childhood.
Jennys poor (but understandable) life decisions and the audience's negative reactions are reflective of how many individuals IRL react to people that make similarly poor decisions. It's easy to watch someone make a decision and notice how it is a poor or horrible one, especially when you may not know the trauma that contributes to the persons poor decision-making. Its VERY EASY to expect everyone to just "pull yourself up by your bootstraps". Past trauma is one of those invisible mental wounds that people seem to not want to be empathetic about.
Matthew: I'd probably give it like a five or something.
Emily: You died on a Tuesday...
😂
Bwahahahaha
Very few comments make me genuinely laugh.This is one of them. 😂😂😂😂
Jenny's whole life philosophy was "run".
Yep and forrest's philosophy was the opposite.
Jenny's philosophy and Forrest's philosophy were both based on that feather from the beginning/end of the movie.
Jenny wished to be a bird so that she could fly far far away to avoid all the things that used & hurt her.
Forrest just let the wind carry him wherever it took him...and he made the very best of wherever he ended up.
Jenny is a very tragic broken character. She is running as far away from home as possible to find a place in this world. Since her childhood home is a nightmare for her. However, in the end, the home gives her the one person that truly loves her. Forrest Gump. She fights it all her life. Till she finally gives in and realizes that she should be with Forrest. Many broken people go through this process of self-discovery. Often many don't live long enough to reach the journey.
Amen.
Absolutely right 👍
My favorite scene is Forrest in boot camp. "GODDAMMIT GUMP YOU'RE A GENIUS!" I'm not sure anyone not related to him appreciated him more up to that point than his Drill Sergeant.
Drill Sergeants train people to respond to commands given. Forrest does exactly what he's told, when he's told, how he's told for no other reason than he was told to. You couldn't ask for a more perfect recruit. He's already at the place that they try to get recruits to. He is a dream. It makes so much sense why the military in that sense would love him.
“Don’t you dare be mean to Forrest or I’ll punch you in the tit!”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Best thing I’ve heard on TH-cam all year 🤣
Yep, sums up my feelings towards Jenny...
Top 3 for sure, but there's been a couple reactions to comedians this year that were pretty damn great too (won't plug anyone else here, but one was doing Chris Rock "Black people vs N*****" at the time and the other was watching Norm MacDonald doing Coronavirus jokes. Btw, you should do both of those as shorts on a day you don't have much time to film in the future, each one is only like 5-10 minutes and almost no editing needed.)
U know she means it when she threatens to punch a tiddy.🤣
@@MrTommygunz420 You sure you're in the right thread?
This is why I watch their reactions to movies I don't like. There will be gems in the comments. Luckily I like most of the movies.
One of my all time favorite dramatic movies. I hated a lot of Jenny when I saw this as a younger gal until I saw it as an adult and realized she was a product of an abusive home as a child so she's not going to make all the best decisions. I understand her better now. Forrest was so good to everyone, he's so wholesome.
Jenny is easily my favorite character (other than Forrest, obviously). I empathize with her a lot. I came from an abusive household and everything about how she acted felt familiar to me. I didn't go down the paths she did, but I was no angel either. Thankfully, I had the Army to provide a little structure to keep me from spiraling. In fact, I saw this movie at an improvised outdoor theater in Guantanamo Bay as a pre-release. You think you were bad? Imagine 3-400 GIs bawling their eyes out.
I agree with you ltdano- I too came from an abusive household and growing up a gay man, have fought my own inner demons of not feeling worthy of love and pushed people away. Nice to see another guy relate to this.
We all have different paths but some are similar and we're all trying to go the same place. Nobody does it alone, and sometimes all we need is to know is that someone else knows and understand. I hear and acknowledge you, brother. Love you.
@@itdano - Thank you and much love to you, very well put btw, always nice to make deeper connections through these channels. :)
I never expected to see a conversation like this in the comments - you guys rock!
The scene when Forrest holds Bubba while he’s dying by the river always gets me. They had the purest friendship.
Jenny of course being the most complex, and thus the most misunderstood character in the movie. She didn't just run from Forest, she ran from every relationship in her life, starting with her father. That was her defense mechanism from what her father did to her.
Even Forrest says it: sometimes there just aren't enough rocks.
When Forrest Gump asking (about his son) "is he smart or" (implied "is he like me")... one of the best movie scenes ever
I love that Forrest's eyes are closed in every picture of him, including the cardboard cutout used to promote ping pong
It's hard to see since overall a lot of their interactions feel the same, but there is a very notable progression with Jenny. First, "You don't know what love is." Later, "You don't want to marry me." By then, she's accepted that he does love her and that she loves him (she says it herself in the next scene), but she believes that he isn't mentally mature enough to understand how fucked up she is. She doesn't see herself as lovable. An important point I've seen made, is that it's highly possibly that the reason she left after the one night stand is that she felt like she'd somehow abused her friend the way she was abused when she was little.
Shortly after, he goes running for years, and is presumably difficult to get into contact with. This turns out to be a good thing, because she uses this time to get her shit together. By the time he sees her again, she's in a strong enough place to feel like she could actually be a good wife to him, and I think she had plenty of time to consider that maybe it was okay that he doesn't understand what she went through-that he can be supportive and love her exactly as she is. Unfortunately she's dying. But hey, their son deserves to be with a great dad, like she never had.
For many years, I identified so much with her "you don't want to marry me" line. In that moment, you really see exactly how Jenny views herself and how much she thinks of Forrest.
I always liked (and it' a subtle moment), when the camera pushes in on Lt. Dan at the bar during New Years. He looks so sad. I know that's probably an oversimplification of the emotions his character was feeling, but for some people, New years is an all-too-painfully melancholic event, myself included.
Your sensitivity and empathy for a young girl who was sexually abused by her father, who doesn't feel worthy of the only good person in her life, leading her into a lifetime of toxic relationships, brings tears to my eyes.
This is a reaction I look for on every channel that does them. This and The Green Mile are must watch films.
I don't think she could handle Green Mile.
Oh she will not be ok watching Green Mile, hell I am not going to be ok watching her watch it.
Better start smaller. Like Shawshank Redemption
LT Dan marrying a Vietnamise woman is pretty nice closure for his war arc.
Yeah I was wondered if during his years in the army and after his injury he had racist beliefs towards Vietnamese people but overtime he got over it and ironically married a Vietnamese woman
I believe the actress is Korean, actually.
Watching the scene about Forrest's mom dying hit me hard enough to have to pause for a bit - it reminded me of losing my own dad to cancer (actually, on a Tuesday as I'm thinking about it). It's a really good film that hits so many different emotions, good and bad. Thank you for watching it and sharing your reaction
My dad (stepdad, but I always referred to him as dad) died from the after affects of lymphoma and the drugs he wasn’t supposed to have from the hospital. I miss him so much and it’s been nearly a year since he’s been gone, including my grandparents on my biological father’s side and my grandfather on my dad’s side.
I watched this when I was in my Teens and I used to HATE Jenny so much, I thought she did nothing but bring pain to Forest and was just one annoying character.
However as an adult i viewed the movie 10+ times and I finally understood Jenny and no longer feel the same way.
We learn that she was abused by her father and to escape from his drunk outbursts she would run into the cornfield or far away from home. Notice how during the scene where young Forest was getting bullied the only solution/advice she knew was to "RUN".
As she grew older she never settled in on place it always resulted in running away from one place to the next etc. Its all part of her Mental health that brewed from her childhood, her father abused her and as she grew older all guys ever wanted from her was her body etc. She was mixed in the bad part of society and the world she lived in was Parallel to Forest Gump.
She truly felt she was not good enough for him, rather she didn't value herself let alone think another man would LOVE HER.
The beauty in it all is Forest was the one GOOD thing in her life and although she didn't have a home to come back to she had a person to go back to
Hey AnimeBloodSamples, your comment here is very well put! I think part of understanding Jenny's character is us having empathy, which is often a trait we acquire as we experience more in our own lives. And at the end of the day, I guess none of us are perfect. We all have our flaws....As far as the storyline of this movie goes, I just find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. Also, my brother has Autism, which makes me connect with the movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled).
I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique.
If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html
If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
Jenny went through to much growing up and had very low self esteem, she thought Forrest deserved someone better but still wanted to be in his life in some way.She was his best friend growing up always supported him as well, I just don't get why reactors are so hostile towards her.
Poor girl always gets a bad rep. It's hard for ppl to understand what she went trough in life if you haven't gone trough some serious shit in your life as well and the kind of mental trauma that leaves you with, it scars your for life and you spend your entire life with incredibly low self esteem issues, scared of commitments, it eschews your way of thinking and seeing life, it's fucked up.
@@Neocoolzero you are seriously spot on. I couldn't of said it better myself even through I've been through the same things as the character of Jenny
because your motives don't impact the consequences of your actions; your sob story doesn't diminish the burden of your sins.
Jenny is not meant to be liked. She is written to spark sympathy for Forrest.
As someone else said, she represents the self destructive tendencies, as does Dan in a way, holding onto negativity and letting it control you.
I feel like a lot of the hate is from people angry at the helplessness you feel seeing someone hurting themselves over and over. You just want to yell "Stop being so f-ing stupid and stubborn!", but in the end, nothing helps until they themselves make the choice to get better.
EMILY is so sweet and the husband is mellow cool, I rate Forest Gump 9 out of 10.
Don't be sorry girl. I saw this movie in the theater on a first date, and I made it to the Jenny grave scene before I balled my eyes out. Seeing your reactions, both fun and sad, was amazing. You got me crying early. BTW, the date didn't go anywhere. 👍
No wonder, women (not all, the large majority) lose respect when they see a man cry.
Jenny's journey was similar to that of the prodigal son; She makes every attempt to sabotage herself with each opportunity, but always comes back. And Forrest is always there.
He was a SIMP before the internet. She was riding that dong life and he was there to pick up the parts and clean her up
The comment before mine in response to yours is appalling, so I will be bypassing it entirely.
Now I'm an atheist, but I still live my ethical codes based in common decency and morality. One aspect of the bible I have always had the utmost respect for on those terms was the Summit on the Mount; each of the parables taught by Jesus.
I agree, 100%. He shows the absolute best humanity has to offer, and Jenny offers the dim reality so many go through, and what it can make of them despite the best of intentions or cruel ironies placed upon them. He forgives without thought every time because he sees in her WHO she truly is, not WHAT she portrays herself to be...And as seemingly unrealistic and risky as that can be in real life, I think we each owe it to ourselves and each other to let go of that worried sentiment once and a while and, in all honesty, be more like Forrest Gump. Even just a little bit here and there; imagine how much brighter our lives would be, and what willingness we'd have to wake up each day knowing that other's were out there as well...Anyway, just a mild rant.
The movie won six Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Visual Effects.
Deserved everyone aswell 👏
They were all totally robbed from Pulp Fiction for sure.
It’s not robbery if it won them fair and square. And Tarantino’s ego is already swollen enough as it is, thanks.
As great as "Forrest Gump" was, I still preferred "The Shawshank Redemption" even more which was also nominated that year. That is one that should be given a review.
A lot of good movies that year. And as good as Forrest Gump was, it didn’t deserve best picture. The Shawshank Redemption came out that year.
I have seen this film countless times since it came out and no scene hits me like the one where he is watching little Forrest at the TV and asks Jenny if he is smart of if he is like him. He fully knows his own shortcomings and the only concern he has in the world is that his child might somehow be harmed by being his son. That concern he has as a parent hit me when I first saw it and, as the years have passed and I have had my own kids, hits me harder now. Tears every time.
He shouldn't have had a child.
@@azazello1784 So not only have you not seen the film, you didn't pay attention to the reaction video.
Please continue exploring Robert Zemeckis films that you haven't seen: Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Romancing the Stone, Cast Away, etc...
They are all great.
Wilson!
Wait, she hasn't watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit? This can't stand!
@@juliodavila424 I wouldn't be surprised given the existence of this video.
@UCQjwcwIzvsr20Gs17vfUSKQ not Cast Away. It's piece of crap.
This is probably my favorite reaction you guys have done yet, I was so entertained I watched it twice.
Netflix has a great documentary on the making of this movie (The Movies that Made Us) that just came out. One cool tidbit was that Tom Hanks really didn't know what kind of speaking style he should use, but after the kid that played young Forrest (who had never acted before) started speaking in his normal voice, it was clear that Hanks should imitate it. The studio execs were against it at first, but I can't imagine the movie being as successful without that particular speaking style.
This is the kind of comment that happens when the poster doesn't watch the entire reaction video.
so obsessed with her laugh! its so contagious
I’m glad a reactor finally acknowledged Bear Bryant.
Yep, and he is being played by Enos from The Dukes of Hazzard
Emily is so well-versed in American history, she got ALL the jokes and references!
dam I was shocked she knew ALA great coach Bear Bryant, but I guess she had to since she and family prob grew up in that Area of Tremendous SEC TEAMS and saw highlights
When she recognized both Bear *and* the Watergate I was impressed. Most people under 40 probably wouldn't get either.
Y’all both nodding y’all head after Forrest said “sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks !!” I just about fell out that was just too adorable this reaction was just so awesome 😊 😂
This movie just hits different.
I remember seeing this with my family at the theater and crying through the entire thing.
Hanks is goddamn a national treasure and it's curtains for anyone putting salt on his name!
My older brother tried out for the part of younger Forrest. He still has an alternate script from the scene of Jenny and her dad. In that version of the script, Jenny's dad has a tractor turn over on him, and her and Forrest watch him die.
I could be wrong.. But I think that's closer to the book.. It's probably been 25 years since I read it though.
Well, that would have been dramatic. And would have just added another trauma to Jenny's life.
21:09 - Former US Marine here. Have you any idea what that is? How rare? How much heroism? How much sacrifice? Most only get that post-mortem. If you are wearing that then the US President must salute you first. I cannot overstate what that blue field with white stars means.
I haven’t seen this movie in a while now. And god. This still has to be one of the most brilliant movies I’ve ever seen.
DID YOU KNOW?: Gary Sinise who plays Lieutenant Dan, when preparing for his role actually spoke to and spent a lot of time with several Vietnam veterans and wounded veterans where they told him about their personal experiences during the war, dealing with being back home afterwards, dealing with PTSD, dealing with being disabled/crippled, etc...All of that was so moving for him that not only did he channel that into his character for the film but would later become the spokesman & advocate for 'Hope For The Warriors' (a nonprofit organization that helps wounded soldiers, veterans, their families and the families of those soldiers killed in action). ✌️🇺🇲
The more I watch reactions to this movie the more I have come to believe that Jenny's arc is really the main point of this movie. She is the true protagonist. Forest goes through life with things just happening to him, bouncing from event to event never really changing (although I have no desire to see him change). Jenny is the one fighting the battle to overcome her demons, pushing Forest away because she sees herself as unworthy and eventually learning to accept herself.
20:45 actually it was never ANYTHING about the money…
Due to all the total and utter crap she’d gone through her whole life, Jenny is one of those inner tormented types who feels they are unworthy of being loved because of their dark past…it just takes her too long to quash her inner demons and accept what Forrest always offered with open heart and arms, pure, simple caring and unconditional love…
Forrest was the perfect guy for her, she just couldn’t see it til she managed to sort her life out, then thought it was too late, then managed to reconnect
Could she have done better…no one denies that…but you cannot deny that reforming a life shattered repeatedly since a very young age never results in a perfectly “well adjusted” adult…but her saving grace was the stability Forrest always had there for whenever she was ready to take it
"You might cry like one or two times. 🤷"
Like while you watch it, and again while you're editing.
The fact that Emily knew who Bear Bryant was adds to the many reasons Matthew is one of the luckiest men on earth, lol Also, I have to suggest The Last Dragon to you guys, I think you two will have fun with it!!
Sho-Nuff!!!
I just started, yet I already know, this will be heavy.
Thank you for taking us on this journey with you.
Such is life. :D
I'm glad you guys came to the same opinion of Jenny as I have over the years. She cared for Forrest and knew she was broken and probably didn't think she was good enough for him. Oh, and the part where Forrest asks "Is he smart? Or is he like..." gets me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME! 😭
Jenny's problem is how she was used and abused, 1st by her father, then by every man she met except Forrest. She felt like she was worth nothing and was never going to be worth anything and would just bring Forrest down with her , she had no idea how to love anyone. It wasn't until she had little Forrest and was given one pure good thing in her life she was able to find her self worth to a point and then accepted that she loved Forrest and always had and it was OK to love someone and not expect them to hurt her. It is very complicated and you get snippets of it in every scene she is in. The first thing you see is all she knows how to do is run from anything as she keeps telling Forrest to do , she doesn't know any other way to deal with the pain and bad and it takes her so long to finally figure it out ( unfortunately this is true for too many and some never get to figure anything out) , Jenny deserves pity not hate , she didn't know how to love until it was too late but she gave Forrest 2 gifts before she left, true love and what it feels like , and someone to love and give his life meaning in Forrest Jr. . Forrest might not be a genius but I would lay any bet he is an incredibly loving and good father.
thats so true!!!
I see you everywhere
Well said.
Emily: Two genuinely sweet, simple precious humans, that should be protected at all costs.
Me:😟😩😭❤
Need more folks with this kind of empathy and compassion!🙏
Fun fact: There is an actual restaurant next to the Galveston Boardwalk called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. They have Forrest Gump decor and even have it playing on the tv at the front of the restaurant with merchandise. It’s a fun place and the food is good, too.
Tears my heart up to see Emily cry 😢
So much going on in this movie... its hard not to miss the little nuggets. "Sometimes, there just aren't enough rocks". Such a great little gem.
I think a person's reactions and opinions about Jenny is like a good litmus test of their understanding of abuse, trauma and empathy towards anothers hurt.
Frankly still to this day one of the most accurate portrayals of the destructive ripple effect of childhood SA.
One of my favorite Lt. Dan and Forrest scenes is after the storm Lt. Dan says "I never thanked you for saying my life", and Forrest says he was finally at peace with what had happened to him. Also with Jenny it is so interesting when the boys are chasing him on the bikes, and Jenny tells him to run, and then they are again chasing him in high school she tells him to run. Then she tells him if bad thing happen in Vietnam to just run away. Every time she gets into trouble herself her first response is to run away from it.
I gotta say Emily; I really appreciate that you get all the political, & social jokes even down to "it happens", smiley faces, the running phenomenon, ping pong, and even knew who Bear Bryant was. I grew up in the 60's & 70's and saw the rise and fall of all these fads and fashions. When I started high school the Watergate hearings were on TV every afternoon when I came home. Kudos to you, you really know your country's history well.
This is imo one of the best movies of all time. The two storylines of people so different but ending up together after all is a amazing storytelling technique. Lt. Dan is one of my favorite characters of all time. His character developement is so realistic and deep. From a proud army guy to a broken criple and then the happy free man.
Hi Rashadow, I completely agree with you! Whenever I watch Forrest Gump, my experience with the movie is that it is SO engaging and well-acted that it feels like it is a quick watch even though the movie is almost 2 1/2 hours long. And despite it being a fictional story, I still find it to be very inspirational, and it has moments that I think most people can relate to on an emotional level. Also, my brother has Autism, which makes me connect with the movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled).
I actually posted a video on my channel back in February that is almost like a tribute video to Forrest Gump (though I called it a Mashup). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique.
If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to that video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html
If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
@@ollie511 this is amazing! I really appreciate your comment and of corse i am going to watch your video. See you over there :)
@@5calambres :D Aw Yay, awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my very detailed comment and for taking the time to click on the link and watch the video! I really appreciate it! Have a great day, and keep being you :)
What's to hate about Jenny? First, she was the first true friend to Forrest, when she had nothing to gain from it. Besides being abused, she tries to find herself, and goes through many things her generation did (she symbolizes part of the 60s and 70s experience). Is she to be hated because she doesn't immediately see Forrest as a lover? Just because Forrest wants her to, doesn't mean she should immediately oblige or that she can't be conflicted about it.
Later, if she was opportunistic, she would have clinged to him when he was a multi-millionaire. But she leaves Forrest, tries to make sense of things, put herself together and simply works as a waitres and tries to raise the child.
Or is she to be hated because she had abusive boyfriends, and had a self-destructive phase? That's to care about and help, not to hate.
Thank you!
It's interesting to see that everybody thinks she HAS to be his girlfried.
Spot on! Of course Forrest is too innocent for this, but a lot of the hate towards Jenny comes from a weirdly “incel” type of attitude. Of course she can choose whether she’s romantically interested in him. And as soon as you recognise that, for most of the movie, from her perspective he is just a really good childhood friend in the background of her life, her behaviour towards him is perfectly fine.
People think that because Forrest is obsessed with her, that she must give in to him. It’s not right.
@@phueal So Emily is an "incel"? Interesting take...
@@haps2019 I said it comes from a weirdly “incel” attitude, not that everyone who hates on Jenny is a total incel. But yes, ultimately it boils down to people resenting Jenny because they think she owes him romantic love just because he loves her, and that’s not how it works. It’s her choice who she loves.
Cool fact about Elvis is that he’s actually voiced by Kurt Russell in the Hound Dog scene which marks the second time he has played the king of Rock with the first being the movie Elvis (1979) directed by John Carpenter who is best known for Halloween (1978), Escape from New York (1981) also starting Russell and The Thing (1982), Kurt actually had a small role in one of Elvis’ movies back in the mid 60s playing a kid who kicked Presley in the shin so he can get a date with a nurse
Tom Hanks waited until "young Forest" did his lines then modeled his speech pattern after the kid.
Forrest acted like he wasn't aware of his limitations or they never bothered him. However, when he asks if his son is... You can see how much he knew and how much it had affected him. Also, everybody thinks Jennay is this evil person. She's not. She's staying away from Forrest to protect him. She knows her life is hell and she stays away because sheh loves Forrest and she wants him to be happy and whole, not broken like she is. I lost one of my great love when I was younger because I did the same thing. I didn't see that he could help heal me, I only saw that I would break him. This movie is a masterpiece, right up there with Shawshank
I'm sorry you had to go through that. You're so right about jenny, I think that part of her actually stayed alive for Forrest, obv ppl with huge trauma like that often take their own lives. I hope you are doing OK, sending love from UK ❤️
@@helenchelmicka7894 Thank you so much for your kind words. I am doing better now, yes. "ok" might be a stretch, but I did stop to try to destroy everything around me and I have let a man in my life. He knows my past and my shortcomings, he knows my 'limitation' and he decided to stay anyway. Hope you are doing good, too, and that 2023 will be the start of amazing things for you
I know Jenny gets a lot of hate, but as an abuse survivor myself, I just feel bad for her.
Jenny gets a lot of hate from people who don't understand humans, and just wants an easy fairytale ending immediately...
Same
@@foljs5858 Jenny gets a lot of hate, because people are rooting for Forest and she objectively is not a good influence on his life. Also, she keeps making bad decision after bad decision. There are reasons for that ofc, but i'd be shocked if anyone picked her as a favorite character in the movie, because she neither is nor is meant to be likeable. That being said, yes, she is a very tragic character and deserving of utmost sympathy, albeit in sort of a pity-way.
@@spacemonkeyentertainment6413 that's what sympathy means. To pity someone. Empathy is understanding
@@frankyhorn2475 You don't have to like a person to sympathize and/or empathize them. I totally get why Jenny is written this way doesn't mean I have to like her or what she continues to do to Forest.
"...so I ran" cutting to that Fleetwood Mac needle drop is one of my two all time cinematic brain-burns; that image and sound are forever intertwined (the other is Clapton's Layla and instantly I see garbage bags fumbling over each other in slo-mo (Goodfellas)).
Loved this reaction vid by you both. I really hope you do Cinema Paradiso one day.
Just found the channel. As a vet, I would love to see the reactions for:
Band of Brothers
Saving Private Ryan
We Were Soldiers
Absolutely love the scene where he is describing the landscapes he saw to Jenny. I have physically been at a couple of those locations, and the film doesn't do them justice. (The mountain lake and monument valley, or near it)
I loved your reaction, except for the Jenny-bashing (I'll let others defend her cause I've done it so many times), but you seemed to get her in the outro.
This is one of the greatest films of all time. It's funny, REALLY funny. I've been watching this movie since it came out. I saw this film when it came out, in 1994, with my parents. I shared it with my kids and they loved it. People in their 80's love it. It's just a perfect movie. When Forrest is talking to Jenny after she passed away, ALWAYS draws tears. "He's so smart..." that line gets me every time.
"WHOOORE!"
I felt that rattling through every ounce of my body. 🤣
This is one of those films that will make a 60 year old man cry as much as a 20 year old girl. Few movies can do that. That's how good Forrest Gump is.
There's a point in this movie where you just hate Jenny more than anything. When she's shooting up heroin, and then keeps showing up and leaving him, you just want to slap her so hard. Then you realize at the end when she says she's sick that she has AIDS, that they don't know what it is because in the early days of the AIDS epidemic (Late 70s-early 80s) when no one really knew much about the illness, this really covers everything America went through from the 1950s-80s.
Gary Sinise (Lieutenant Dan) is one of the staunchest supporters of our military and veterans in real life. He runs Hope For Warriors which provides non-medical care and assistance to wounded veterans and their families. He received the Presidential Citizen's Medal from President Bush for his work with veterans.
Gary is also the lead singer and guitar player in his band called the Lt. Dan Band!
Hey there Joe! I guess you could say that Forrest Gump is a "universal" movie, and it has the ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Also, thank you for sharing that information about Gary Sinise! I know Tom Hanks gets so much of the audience's attention for his performance (for very good reason), but I think Gary Sinise does a fantastic job portraying Lt. Dan, and his performance can sometimes be underappreciated. Overall, I just find the movie to be very inspirational, and I think it has moments that most people can relate to on an emotional level. My brother actually has Autism, which makes me connect with this movie even more (I know Forrest did not have Autism, but him and my brother can relate a bit in that they are both disabled).
If you are interested in more content related to Forrest Gump, I actually posted a video on my TH-cam channel back in February that is almost like a tribute to this movie (though I called my video a "Mashup"). You see, there's a band named Family Of The Year, and they used their hit song "Hero" for Richard Linklater's 2014 movie called Boyhood. For my video, I used "Hero" as background music while showing various scenes from Forrest Gump. Aside from matching song lyrics with movie scenes, my intention with the video was to try and create something unique.
If you have a few minutes sometime and are interested, here is a link to my video: th-cam.com/video/Or-sIiNANYg/w-d-xo.html
If you don't check it out, no worries at all! I won't be offended! But thank you so much in advance if you do see it! Have a great day, and stay safe!
Also fun fact. There's a sequel to this movie. The writer was basically forced to make one after this movie did so well. He purposefully wrote such a batshit crazy story it would never actually get made into a movie. The actual story itself sounds so over the top that I kinda want to see the movie actually get made. There's a video explaining it better than I just did on TH-cam.
Really?!
That’s wild!
I read the original long before this was made...It was mighty bat-guano crazy, too. Just frikkin hilarious.
The author was screwed out of an agreed-upon percentage of the profit, because the producers used "Hollywood accounting" to show that _Forrest Gump_ **didn't make any profit.** (Think about that for a second.)
Then, when they approached him to write the sequel, he declined, saying that, since the first one lost so much money for the producers, he'd feel horrible making them lose so much money again...
C'mon the scene when Forrest meets Tom Hanks and invents New Coke is hilarious.. but if people just thought the sequel book was batshit crazy.. Well so was the first one.. it's just the sequel goes into the 80s and early 90s..
When I need an emotional pick up I watch this , the green mile and the mist reaction of you two...And i usually cry but when it's all said and done I smile. You are one of my most favorite channels to watch on TH-cam And it makes me happy knowing you have another video coming soon...
It's not Forrest who runs the most in this movie, it's Jenny. Learned to run away from her abusive dad and kept running away all her life. Running away from any uncertain happiness for the "comforting" low life she knew.
They were both running. She ran from her problems. He ran through his.
@@gawainethefirst True enough.
Emily's reactions are so sweet & genuine; melts my heart whenever she says " baby..."
You guys are awesome together.
Fun fact: there was a sequel written for this movie. However the day before Zemeckis and Hanks pitched it 9/11/01 happened and they were like, "Welp this doesn't feel relevant anymore."
I believe that we still should leave it like how it is. no sequel is needed
Back in my day, my mama took me to an airport. Turns out, jet fuel can melt steel beams.
- Forrest Gump
"It's like me when I give you candy."
"Yupp and that's why I like it."
Lmao I love genuinely heartfelt moments in life.
I almost cried at THAT! ❤❤❤
The greatest reaction to one of the greatest movies.
Her laugh sold me on your channel. New fan! Thanks guys.
Awesome reaction.
Now hear me out. Don't shut me out, this is just a shot in the dark --> "Fried Green Tomatoes" ... I dunno if you have ever seen it, but if you haven't, it has a similar vibe to Forrest Gump, but it is completely different.
I hope you guys check it out in the near future, or you let me know if this was already checked out before.
Looking forward to next time :)
Good movie even if it is a chick flick
@@gdiaz8827 What's wrong with chick flicks? What a sexist comment.
@@sexysadie2901 nothing wrong if you are a chick, but real men get dragged to these type of movies by girlfriends and wives. The movies usually have very little entertainment value for men and often are very emotionally driven. We hate these movies, dont get on my case for speaking the truth
"dont do anything stupid like get killed"... "I sure hope I dont let him down!!" ... One of my all time FAVORITE lines of dialogue in any movie!!!
If you haven't seen it yet, you really need to do the movie "Shine" staring Geoffrey Rush. Amazing movie based on a true story.
Oh yes. Another of my all time favorites. Still can't get why English Patient won over Shine that year...
This is one of the better reactions I’ve watched on TH-cam. Glad I stumbled upon yall.
Two lines that had me rolling:
"It better be Bubba"
"go back to the fireswamp!"
ROFL
Every time I hear the intro to Sweet Home Alabama, I turn to my gf and say "me and Jenny was like peas and carrots again...."
Your joy and emotion as you watch this classic, is why I keep coming back.... And that "kackle" is infections...
I remember sitting in the theater in 1994 and watching this movie. Just before the Watergate "reveal", I blurted out WATERGATE! And people in the theater started laughing. It was a total accident on my part. Great memory for me.
Did they clap too?
@@davisgrendel9448 I just recall laugher. Treasured memory.
Um. This is one of my all time favorite reactions to anything. Ever. Sherpa, how you kept quiet I will never know. Emily, your reactions are so sincere that I just cant. Much love and keep on keepin on J.
Love this reaction. Thank you for sharing.
I know you don't want a war movie, and this one is violent, but Hacksaw Ridge has a similar story structure in that it is not about the character arc of the protagonist. Like Forrest Gump it is about the way a morally pure protagonist endures the pressure the world (and in this case war) puts on him.
I second this, it's an awesome movie AND based on a real person. Plus Andrew Garfield gives a terrific performance.
"Whoooooorrrreee!!!!" LOL