Forrest Gump
Scott McKenzie Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some gentle people there

For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
In the streets of San Francisco
Gentle people with flowers in their hair

All across the nation
Such a strange vibration
People in motion
There's a whole generation
With a new explanation
People in motion
People in motion

For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there





If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there

Overall Meaning

The song Forrest Gump by Scott McKenzie is an anthem for the flower power generation of the 1960s. The song is a call to visit San Francisco, where the "gentle people" with "flowers in their hair" live free and embrace love and peace. The lyrics tell the listener that if they are going to San Francisco, they should wear flowers in their hair to fit in with the culture and expectations of the city. The song also speaks of the strange vibrations and movements that were happening during the 1960s, where the younger generation was embracing new ideas and philosophies.


The song is essentially an invitation to join a community and lifestyle that was emerging in San Francisco during the 1960s. The reference to "summertime love-ins" speaks of the cultural climate in San Francisco at the time, where people would gather in parks and open spaces to celebrate the new ideals of peace and harmony through music, art, and poetry. The song is a poetic reminder of a time when people tried to create a better society through love and non-violence.


Line by Line Meaning

If you're going to San Francisco
If you plan on visiting San Francisco


Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
Make sure to wear flowers in your hair as it's a symbol of peace and love in the city


If you're going to San Francisco
If you're traveling to San Francisco


You're gonna meet some gentle people there
You'll be welcomed by kind people in the city


For those who come to San Francisco
For those who visit or travel to San Francisco


Summertime will be a love-in there
Summer in San Francisco is filled with peaceful protests and gatherings for love and peace


In the streets of San Francisco
In the city streets of San Francisco


Gentle people with flowers in their hair
You'll see gentle people wearing flower crowns


All across the nation
Across the entire United States


Such a strange vibration
A unique energy


People in motion
Many people are on the move


There's a whole generation
An entire generation


With a new explanation
With a new way of thinking and explaining things


People in motion
Many people are on the move


People in motion
Many people are on the move


For those who come to San Francisco
For those who visit or travel to San Francisco


Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
It's recommended to wear flowers in your hair as it's a symbol of peace and love in the city


If you come to San Francisco
If you decide to visit or travel to San Francisco


Summertime will be a love-in there
Summer in San Francisco is filled with peaceful protests and gatherings for love and peace




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN EDMUND ANDREW PHILLIPS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@raidenarmstrong5888

EDIT: One other observation, even if I'm maybe reading too much into the story, I came to realize from the conversations in the comments (lots of great responses everyone, love the discussions!) is how I can see where the dissonance with observing Jenny's character comes from. Jenny is a realistic person. Forest is not. Now that isn't a bad thing at all!

I love Forest, he has a lot more depth than people give him credit for, and is the perfect protagonist for this story, but he basically wouldn't exist as is in any real life sense. He's more of an idea of the American myth rather than anything real.

And like Jogoso2014 basically pointed out, if Forest is the idealized version then Jenny is the antithesis. So having this perfect pure boi that is an ideal with this tragically flawed realistic person can feel a bit weird and make her actions seem much more malicious than I think was intended by the filmakers. You want to protect Forest and believe his reality is emblematic of real life.

But if you accept Jenny as she is and are sympathetic you may unintentionally have to accept that 20th century America was pretty crappy for a lot of people especially if they weren't white men. And that's a hard pill to swallow even now in modern discourse. This may be getting a bit too meta but I think it's an interesting observation.

EDIT 2: I see how a lot of people think that Jenny took sexual advantage of Forest. I genuinely disagree as outlined in my OP and comments but I understand the perspective. And arguably she may not even have the foundation to understand true consent, as her first sexual experiences were unconsenting and abusive by the one person who should have protected her in this world. So even if she did, that adds to her tragity and depth imo, sins of the father creates a cycle of abuse.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.

I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.

There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).

Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and relentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.

So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.

And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.

I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.

And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best person morally to be a great character.

And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all those times gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.

Though I can't help but feel my heart break every time I see the scene when she leaves one of the times and Forest is with his mom by the lake and rests his head on her shoulders. Pretty relatable to me especially in my younger dating life. It's just a sad reality of life that the people you love may not be able to love you the same way.

But it's all part of the depth of the story, Jenny torn between giving forest his space (she tells him numerous times she thinks she's bad for him) but unable to ever completely relinquish that love he has for her. Neither Forest nor Jenny have been given their fair share of direction in life to love in a healthier way (Jenny being broken by her history and Forest not having been taught to move on from unrequited love).

But I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves and put all the onis on Jenny. Kind of like many people in the movie undermine his intelligence (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions being stupid. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.

The man is a captivating storyteller, was an ideal soldier when things were explained in clear unambiguous ways, yet still knew to break rank to save his platoon in Vietnam, he understood everything that was happening in Vietnam and it's dangers, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her or her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, also understands and sympathizes with Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo), etc.

He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is regardless of what she thinks. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.

I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.

Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.

And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.

As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".

But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved tbh



@JohnDoe-xw7ij

@@baonguyenxuanthai711 I mean this is over-reaching and your mentality is very dangerous thinking, it's like analyzing song lyrics, you probably make an argument in any sort of favor psychologically a love song could be interpreted as a heartbreak song etc.

You can't really cry about racial depiction when the movie is set in the 1950s-1970s in one of the most conservative/old school states in America (even today 50+ years later)

It's also clear forrest is mentality handicapped, a lot of his success was due to dumb luck or right place right time, it's very unrealistic, 99.9% of boats being destroyed by hurricane, being able to shrimp commercially with zero experience other than bubba stories, being D1 Athlete like it's nothing, the Ping Pong etc.

The childhood scenes could be interpreted as love but as they grew into their teens and Forrest's mental handicap becomes more obvious when socializing, it turned more towards her being a big sister and pitying him because of his IQ, she cared for him, but did not see him as a potential romantic partner, because realistically women are not attracted to men like Forrest, how many women that are good looking blonde etc. in real life do you see married to someone like Forrest? I'm talking mentally and emotionally, forget about his success and finances because it is unrealistic.

The sex she had with him, seemed more like pity, because Forrest was a great guy, and he never judged her and always loved her she had turned down this great guy so many times, to the point where she just gave in because maybe there was some feeling there, but she never wanted to be with him, hence why she left the next day. (you see this in multiple interactions because she feels like she is talking to a brick wall, FOrrest does understand her but he says the wrong things or acts weird"

Only on death bed, and when gone from young good-looking to mature and older aged, does she call upon Forrest, ironically this is a period in most peoples lives when they realize that security means more to them than real love for example, how many women do you see with 2-3 kids settling down with the biggest sleezebag ever? because he has a house and a job.

And if you really believe that Jenny truly loved him, just think about it for a second, the man had to be told when and where to run and what to do, could you imagine him in the bedroom? it's so obvious that she does not share the same feelings towards Gump because, he can't meet Jenny on an emotional level in the relationship aspect the way Jenny wants him to, that doesn't mean he can't understand emotions because he can. (something that people like forrest struggle with in real life)

Also your tag line is disgusting thinking and it is clear you haven't thought about it very well, since in your first paragraph you mention that perhaps forrestt intelligence is underestimated but then say "even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country" Did you not take anything away or watch this movie?

Your shrimping example is really digusting too, because you're basically assuming at that point in time shrimping wasn't already commercialized but instead was run by black sole-traders, which I just do not think is true, God is emphasized in the movie because he is from ALABAMA and that place is fking old school.

Would you rather there be no blacks or 50/50 racial depiction? and then it would be equal to having like a movie set in the 1800s America with no slaves or white slaves. It's just weird.

I swear you people will ruin movies, we will never ever get another movie like Forrest Gump because we're going to have super unrealistic depictions of people relative to the time, in the name of equality.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

@CBunye Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.

I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.

There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).

Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and relentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.

So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.

And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.

I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.

And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best person morally to be a great character.

And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all those times gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.

Though I can't help but feel my heart break every time I see the scene when she leaves one of the times and Forest is with his mom by the lake and rests his head on her shoulders. Pretty relatable to me especially in my younger dating life. It's just a sad reality of life that the people you love may not be able to love you the same way.

But it's all part of the depth of the story, Jenny torn between giving forest his space (she tells him numerous times she thinks she's bad for him) but unable to ever completely relinquish that love he has for her. Neither Forest nor Jenny have been given their fair share of direction in life to love in a healthier way (Jenny being broken by her history and Forest not having been taught to move on from unrequited love).

But I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves and put all the onis on Jenny. Kind of like many people in the movie undermine his intelligence (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions being stupid. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.

The man is a captivating storyteller, was an ideal soldier when things were explained in clear unambiguous ways, yet still knew to break rank to save his platoon in Vietnam, he understood everything that was happening in Vietnam and it's dangers, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her or her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, also understands and sympathizes with Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo), etc.

He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is regardless of what she thinks. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.

I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.

Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.

And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.

As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".

But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved tbh



@baonguyenxuanthai711

EDIT: One other observation, even if I'm maybe reading too much into the story, I came to realize from the conversations in the comments (lots of great responses everyone, love the discussions!) is how I can see where the dissonance with observing Jenny's character comes from. Jenny is a realistic person. Forest is not. Now that isn't a bad thing at all!

I love Forest, he has a lot more depth than people give him credit for, and is the perfect protagonist for this story, but he basically wouldn't exist as is in any real life sense. He's more of an idea of the American myth rather than anything real.

And like Jogoso2014 basically pointed out, if Forest is the idealized version then Jenny is the antithesis. So having this perfect pure boi that is an ideal with this tragically flawed realistic person can feel a bit weird and make her actions seem much more malicious than I think was intended by the filmakers. You want to protect Forest and believe his reality is emblematic of real life.

But if you accept Jenny as she is and are sympathetic you may unintentionally have to accept that 20th century America was pretty crappy for a lot of people especially if they weren't white men. And that's a hard pill to swallow even now in modern discourse. This may be getting a bit too meta but I think it's an interesting observation.

EDIT 2: I see how a lot of people think that Jenny took sexual advantage of Forest. I genuinely disagree as outlined in my OP and comments but I understand the perspective. And arguably she may not even have the foundation to understand true consent, as her first sexual experiences were unconsenting and abusive by the one person who should have protected her in this world. So even if she did, that adds to her tragity and depth imo, sins of the father creates a cycle of abuse.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

The hate for Jenny highlights just how ignorant and/or indifferent our general society is about mental health, trauma, and how devastating it can be to a person's behaviors and belief systems. It makes me sad.

Jenny's behavior is being miscast and oversimplified. She's not simply a gold digger and using Forrest. It's clear she has loved Forrest ever since childhood.

Trauma wrecks havoc on a person's belief systems and self-worth.

Jenny grew up in an abusive environment. She did not grow up with the security and love of a Mother and Father. She learned from a young age to run anytime she was confronted with something that was difficult for her. She even told Forrest, “If you ever run into trouble, don’t try to be brave – just run. Just run away.”

I am not saying this was a good or healthy way of living; but nonetheless she learned this unhealthy belief and it stuck with her.

It’s also clear Jenny is chronically depressed. She contemplated suicide by the bridge right before Forrest told her he was going to Vietnam. Later, she nearly committed suicide by jumping off the building. She slept a lot and didn’t talk much when she came to visit Forrest at his home. She had a traumatic, PTSD –like breakdown when she saw her childhood home.

Most people castigating her as a gold-digger, POS, etc in the comments have never experienced one-tenth of what she went through, and it shows. This callous and harsh attitude often makes it even more difficult for people suffering with mental health issues to overcome because so many people instantly demonize them without taking the time to understand their perspective. And it's probably a contributing factor towards why mental illness cases continue to rise in the world – lack of support.

To be clear - I am not defending Jenny's actions. Having sex with Forrest then leaving the next morning was wrong. Not even telling Forrest that he had a son was egregiously wrong. She made a lot of bad decisions in her life, and she suffered the consequences from them, including losing her own life.

What I AM saying is - one can say that a person's words and/or actions are wrong and ALSO be compassionate and sympathetic towards them at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other - you can be both.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

Some people look down on Jenny for the way she treated Forrest, probably because they’ve had difficult relationships themselves. But when you look at what happens with an objective mind you can see she goes out of her way to not harm him. She stays as far away from him as possible whilst she suffers the effects of having been raped as a child. Indeed the worst thing she does is leave him without saying goodbye and deprive him of fatherhood for some time in a later scene.

It is quite commendable to limit your pain to yourself rather than becoming corrupted by it to the point of harming your Loved ones. It is also quite commendable that Forrest looks past the destructive behaviour she has limited to herself and still sees only the good in her. Whatever limited pain he does experience as an unintentional consequence of her actions he depletes within himself in a productive way through the force of his spirituality - https://youtu.be/tWzbCk18wTw.

This is what Eternal Dharma/Soulmateship is all about, indeed this is what Love is all about. Doing the utmost to not harm the harmless, and depleting the pain you do receive within yourself. But all of that requires great spiritual fortitude that has built up over countless lifetimes. Those who are not so spiritually developed risk intentionally hurting others. For them all you can do is set a good example by living according to Principle, and making yourself available to give them guidance.

But you need to be very careful when you do encounter corrupted persons. On the one extreme you should not judge and condemn them as being worthless. On the other extreme you should not destroy yourself to try and save them. Which is a risk that exists if you’re spiritually driven because you will find something good in them. Instead you should approach everything in life in an intelligent, Balanced way. That means just teach them Principle if they are interested. Without making the mistake of “falling in love” that is actually lust.

Such corrupted persons often suffer from being unloved by those they have loved from a young age, such as their parents. So they have a twisted idea of what love actually is and that can lead to bad outcomes when combined with the greed, hatred, ignorance that arises from their pain. If their love remains unrequited they will destroy themselves trying to replace it with sensual pleasures. Their only hope is to find spirituality and serve the Principle of Love itself rather seeking love from others. And your duty is limited to showing them the way if you have the Wisdom to do so.

All of this means you should never help anyone in a way that indulges their greed, hatred, ignorance, out of your misguided love for them, because that will actually harm them.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

The hate for Jenny highlights just how ignorant and/or indifferent our general society is about mental health, trauma, and how devastating it can be to a person's behaviors and belief systems. It makes me sad.

Jenny's behavior is being miscast and oversimplified. She's not simply a gold digger and using Forrest. It's clear she has loved Forrest ever since childhood.

Trauma wrecks havoc on a person's belief systems and self-worth.

Jenny grew up in an abusive environment. She did not grow up with the security and love of a Mother and Father. She learned from a young age to run anytime she was confronted with something that was difficult for her. She even told Forrest, “If you ever run into trouble, don’t try to be brave – just run. Just run away.”

I am not saying this was a good or healthy way of living; but nonetheless she learned this unhealthy belief and it stuck with her.

It’s also clear Jenny is chronically depressed. She contemplated suicide by the bridge right before Forrest told her he was going to Vietnam. Later, she nearly committed suicide by jumping off the building. She slept a lot and didn’t talk much when she came to visit Forrest at his home. She had a traumatic, PTSD –like breakdown when she saw her childhood home.

Most people castigating her as a gold-digger, POS, etc in the comments have never experienced one-tenth of what she went through, and it shows. This callous and harsh attitude often makes it even more difficult for people suffering with mental health issues to overcome because so many people instantly demonize them without taking the time to understand their perspective. And it's probably a contributing factor towards why mental illness cases continue to rise in the world – lack of support.

To be clear - I am not defending Jenny's actions. Having sex with Forrest then leaving the next morning was wrong. Not even telling Forrest that he had a son was egregiously wrong. She made a lot of bad decisions in her life, and she suffered the consequences from them, including losing her own life.

What I AM saying is - one can say that a person's words and/or actions are wrong and ALSO be compassionate and sympathetic towards them at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other - you can be both.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

Some people look down on Jenny for the way she treated Forrest, probably because they’ve had difficult relationships themselves. But when you look at what happens with an objective mind you can see she goes out of her way to not harm him. She stays as far away from him as possible whilst she suffers the effects of having been raped as a child. Indeed the worst thing she does is leave him without saying goodbye and deprive him of fatherhood for some time in a later scene.

It is quite commendable to limit your pain to yourself rather than becoming corrupted by it to the point of harming your Loved ones. It is also quite commendable that Forrest looks past the destructive behaviour she has limited to herself and still sees only the good in her. Whatever limited pain he does experience as an unintentional consequence of her actions he depletes within himself in a productive way through the force of his spirituality - https://youtu.be/tWzbCk18wTw.

This is what Eternal Dharma/Soulmateship is all about, indeed this is what Love is all about. Doing the utmost to not harm the harmless, and depleting the pain you do receive within yourself. But all of that requires great spiritual fortitude that has built up over countless lifetimes. Those who are not so spiritually developed risk intentionally hurting others. For them all you can do is set a good example by living according to Principle, and making yourself available to give them guidance.

But you need to be very careful when you do encounter corrupted persons. On the one extreme you should not judge and condemn them as being worthless. On the other extreme you should not destroy yourself to try and save them. Which is a risk that exists if you’re spiritually driven because you will find something good in them. Instead you should approach everything in life in an intelligent, Balanced way. That means just teach them Principle if they are interested. Without making the mistake of “falling in love” that is actually lust.

Such corrupted persons often suffer from being unloved by those they have loved from a young age, such as their parents. So they have a twisted idea of what love actually is and that can lead to bad outcomes when combined with the greed, hatred, ignorance that arises from their pain. If their love remains unrequited they will destroy themselves trying to replace it with sensual pleasures. Their only hope is to find spirituality and serve the Principle of Love itself rather seeking love from others. And your duty is limited to showing them the way if you have the Wisdom to do so.

All of this means you should never help anyone in a way that indulges their greed, hatred, ignorance, out of your misguided love for them, because that will actually harm them.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.

I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.

There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).

Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and relentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.

So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.

And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.

I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.

And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best person morally to be a great character.

And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all those times gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.

Though I can't help but feel my heart break every time I see the scene when she leaves one of the times and Forest is with his mom by the lake and rests his head on her shoulders. Pretty relatable to me especially in my younger dating life. It's just a sad reality of life that the people you love may not be able to love you the same way.

But it's all part of the depth of the story, Jenny torn between giving forest his space (she tells him numerous times she thinks she's bad for him) but unable to ever completely relinquish that love he has for her. Neither Forest nor Jenny have been given their fair share of direction in life to love in a healthier way (Jenny being broken by her history and Forest not having been taught to move on from unrequited love).

But I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves and put all the onis on Jenny. Kind of like many people in the movie undermine his intelligence (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions being stupid. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.

The man is a captivating storyteller, was an ideal soldier when things were explained in clear unambiguous ways, yet still knew to break rank to save his platoon in Vietnam, he understood everything that was happening in Vietnam and it's dangers, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her or her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, also understands and sympathizes with Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo), etc.

He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is regardless of what she thinks. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.

I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.

Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.

And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.

As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".

But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved tbh



@raidenarmstrong5888

Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.

I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.

There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).

Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and relentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.

So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.

And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.

I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.

And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best person morally to be a great character.

And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all those times gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.

Though I can't help but feel my heart break every time I see the scene when she leaves one of the times and Forest is with his mom by the lake and rests his head on her shoulders. Pretty relatable to me especially in my younger dating life. It's just a sad reality of life that the people you love may not be able to love you the same way.

But it's all part of the depth of the story, Jenny torn between giving forest his space (she tells him numerous times she thinks she's bad for him) but unable to ever completely relinquish that love he has for her. Neither Forest nor Jenny have been given their fair share of direction in life to love in a healthier way (Jenny being broken by her history and Forest not having been taught to move on from unrequited love).

But I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves and put all the onis on Jenny. Kind of like many people in the movie undermine his intelligence (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions being stupid. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.

The man is a captivating storyteller, was an ideal soldier when things were explained in clear unambiguous ways, yet still knew to break rank to save his platoon in Vietnam, he understood everything that was happening in Vietnam and it's dangers, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her or her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, also understands and sympathizes with Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo), etc.

He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is regardless of what she thinks. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.

I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.

Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.

And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.

As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".

But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved tbh



@baonguyenxuanthai711

@Trellie s.s. Rose The hate for Jenny highlights just how ignorant and/or indifferent our general society is about mental health, trauma, and how devastating it can be to a person's behaviors and belief systems. It makes me sad.

Jenny's behavior is being miscast and oversimplified. She's not simply a gold digger and using Forrest. It's clear she has loved Forrest ever since childhood.

Trauma wrecks havoc on a person's belief systems and self-worth.

Jenny grew up in an abusive environment. She did not grow up with the security and love of a Mother and Father. She learned from a young age to run anytime she was confronted with something that was difficult for her. She even told Forrest, “If you ever run into trouble, don’t try to be brave – just run. Just run away.”

I am not saying this was a good or healthy way of living; but nonetheless she learned this unhealthy belief and it stuck with her.

It’s also clear Jenny is chronically depressed. She contemplated suicide by the bridge right before Forrest told her he was going to Vietnam. Later, she nearly committed suicide by jumping off the building. She slept a lot and didn’t talk much when she came to visit Forrest at his home. She had a traumatic, PTSD –like breakdown when she saw her childhood home.

Most people castigating her as a gold-digger, POS, etc in the comments have never experienced one-tenth of what she went through, and it shows. This callous and harsh attitude often makes it even more difficult for people suffering with mental health issues to overcome because so many people instantly demonize them without taking the time to understand their perspective. And it's probably a contributing factor towards why mental illness cases continue to rise in the world – lack of support.

To be clear - I am not defending Jenny's actions. Having sex with Forrest then leaving the next morning was wrong. Not even telling Forrest that he had a son was egregiously wrong. She made a lot of bad decisions in her life, and she suffered the consequences from them, including losing her own life.

What I AM saying is - one can say that a person's words and/or actions are wrong and ALSO be compassionate and sympathetic towards them at the same time. It doesn't have to be one or the other - you can be both.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

@Trellie s.s. Rose Some people look down on Jenny for the way she treated Forrest, probably because they’ve had difficult relationships themselves. But when you look at what happens with an objective mind you can see she goes out of her way to not harm him. She stays as far away from him as possible whilst she suffers the effects of having been raped as a child. Indeed the worst thing she does is leave him without saying goodbye and deprive him of fatherhood for some time in a later scene.

It is quite commendable to limit your pain to yourself rather than becoming corrupted by it to the point of harming your Loved ones. It is also quite commendable that Forrest looks past the destructive behaviour she has limited to herself and still sees only the good in her. Whatever limited pain he does experience as an unintentional consequence of her actions he depletes within himself in a productive way through the force of his spirituality - https://youtu.be/tWzbCk18wTw.

This is what Eternal Dharma/Soulmateship is all about, indeed this is what Love is all about. Doing the utmost to not harm the harmless, and depleting the pain you do receive within yourself. But all of that requires great spiritual fortitude that has built up over countless lifetimes. Those who are not so spiritually developed risk intentionally hurting others. For them all you can do is set a good example by living according to Principle, and making yourself available to give them guidance.

But you need to be very careful when you do encounter corrupted persons. On the one extreme you should not judge and condemn them as being worthless. On the other extreme you should not destroy yourself to try and save them. Which is a risk that exists if you’re spiritually driven because you will find something good in them. Instead you should approach everything in life in an intelligent, Balanced way. That means just teach them Principle if they are interested. Without making the mistake of “falling in love” that is actually lust.

Such corrupted persons often suffer from being unloved by those they have loved from a young age, such as their parents. So they have a twisted idea of what love actually is and that can lead to bad outcomes when combined with the greed, hatred, ignorance that arises from their pain. If their love remains unrequited they will destroy themselves trying to replace it with sensual pleasures. Their only hope is to find spirituality and serve the Principle of Love itself rather seeking love from others. And your duty is limited to showing them the way if you have the Wisdom to do so.

All of this means you should never help anyone in a way that indulges their greed, hatred, ignorance, out of your misguided love for them, because that will actually harm them.



@baonguyenxuanthai711

Just rewatched Forest Gump for like the 5th time: I laughed, I cried, I shrimped, etc. It's one of my favorites. But when reading the discourse of the movie most of the critisism is always with Jenny. Like everyone seems to genuinely think that 30 second Family Guy joke actually is what happens in the movie.

I think it just shows how a lot of people don't have experience or knowledge with sexual abuse victims. Jenny is portrayed fairly tragically and realistically.

There's a reason this part of her life is clearly pointed out as it's integral to her actions. There are so many movies that have Jenny like characters without that background and the depth, but here when it's being done so accurately, is the time people get the most upset about it (probably bc Forest is so lovable everyone wants to protect him).

Yes she isn't the best person (I wouldn't judge Forest if he didn't want anything to do with her) but even watching now I see the internal struggle she always has regarding Forest. But his unconditional and relentless love is something hard to let go of for someone who's been through what she has, growing up in a time where she was unable to get the help from mental health experts she would need.

So she tries filling her life with sex, drugs, adventure, etc to keep her mind occupied. And being with all those abusive boyfriends is a very common action for someone who's suffered from abuse.

And critics ignore that Jenny seems aware of all this and does try to get away to let Forest live his life without her, that's part of why she keeps leaving. But codependent relationships are much more common and harder to leave without unbiased intervention than people think. And every time she sees Forest or gets too deep in her choices she runs back.

I think the perspective it just helps play into this subconscious heteronormative idea that women can be a succubus who will use men who love them and drain them of their love and money but not really care about them. Instead of seeing women as actual people with depth and complexity and especially ones who have been through what she has.

And they also ignore how the movie portrays her, breaking it down to small bits that obfuscate the complexities. If a woman isn't a completely altruistic character in a story then she is generally considered a bad person (look at how complicated bad men are treated by audiences in media vs women) and then going further with Jenny being more damaged than that makes her hated. I don't personally think a character has to always be the best person morally to be a great character.

And furthermore she indirectly helps Forest succeed. His love for her is what often kept him passionate and moving to be successful. And her leaving all those times gave him space to pursue those activities. I'm not saying she's responsible for his success but she definitely didn't undermine it.

Though I can't help but feel my heart break every time I see the scene when she leaves one of the times and Forest is with his mom by the lake and rests his head on her shoulders. Pretty relatable to me especially in my younger dating life. It's just a sad reality of life that the people you love may not be able to love you the same way.

But it's all part of the depth of the story, Jenny torn between giving forest his space (she tells him numerous times she thinks she's bad for him) but unable to ever completely relinquish that love he has for her. Neither Forest nor Jenny have been given their fair share of direction in life to love in a healthier way (Jenny being broken by her history and Forest not having been taught to move on from unrequited love).

But I also think people undermine Forest's intelligence more than he deserves and put all the onis on Jenny. Kind of like many people in the movie undermine his intelligence (fancy that...). Forest isn't stupid, he just treats and perceives situations in more simplistic and naive ways. A big factor of why he thinks he's stupid is that people keep telling him he is rather than his actions being stupid. He's a product of a time before we understood nuero divergent intelligence, yet still succeeds in spite of all that.

The man is a captivating storyteller, was an ideal soldier when things were explained in clear unambiguous ways, yet still knew to break rank to save his platoon in Vietnam, he understood everything that was happening in Vietnam and it's dangers, starting a shrimping business (how many of you could get a boat and start shrimping without YouTube tutorials), didn't let the prostitute sleep with him bc he didn't like her or her breath, understood he was lying in an ad for money, also understands and sympathizes with Jenny's trauma (the not enough rocks line is very underrated imo), etc.

He also knows Jenny doesn't love him the way he loves her. He literally calls her out for it and says he understands what love is regardless of what she thinks. He also seems to get that Jenny is dying of Aids (EDIT: It's never explicit what she has) and wants to marry him for the safety and care at the end. Forest chooses this life with her because it makes him happy. I don't really see it as taking advantage of someone cognitively divergent, but two people choosing a situation that works for them.

I see it as two wayward souls in a world that doesn't understand how to see anyone not completely binary in their mind and abilities finding each other and living their best life at the end. It's not all perfect, Jenny is not a great person, but Forest is happy and successful. I think that matters.

Out of all the critiques on the movie (Jenny, Forest being too pure, coincidences, etc) the only ones that make sense to me now are how weirdly the movie is anti counter culture and pro traditional culture. That anyone can be successful if you pull yourself up by your bootstaps and all the liberals are angry abusive drains in society.

And the total belief in a Christian God. I mean damn, the movie implies God caused a storm to ruin the shrimping boats of a bunch of poor black shrimpers just so 2 white guys can become rich. Can't believe I didn't catch that until this viewing. Gump being so effortlessly successful gives unintended creedance to conservative values.

As much as I absolutely love this movie and it's one of the few 9 out of 10s in my head cannon, I still can't help but laugh to myself when I think a good tag line would be "Even the dumbest white guy has it easier than minorities and women in this country".

But I just blame that on the source material. I mean they fixed up so much from the book (don't read it, I promise you it's not worth it, there's a reason the film rights were sold before the book was published bc the central premise is literally the only good thing about it) it's not surprising some very unuanced anti left aspects stayed involved tbh



@raidenarmstrong5888

EDIT: One other observation, even if I'm maybe reading too much into the story, I came to realize from the conversations in the comments (lots of great responses everyone, love the discussions!) is how I can see where the dissonance with observing Jenny's character comes from. Jenny is a realistic person. Forest is not. Now that isn't a bad thing at all!

I love Forest, he has a lot more depth than people give him credit for, and is the perfect protagonist for this story, but he basically wouldn't exist as is in any real life sense. He's more of an idea of the American myth rather than anything real.

And like Jogoso2014 basically pointed out, if Forest is the idealized version then Jenny is the antithesis. So having this perfect pure boi that is an ideal with this tragically flawed realistic person can feel a bit weird and make her actions seem much more malicious than I think was intended by the filmakers. You want to protect Forest and believe his reality is emblematic of real life.

But if you accept Jenny as she is and are sympathetic you may unintentionally have to accept that 20th century America was pretty crappy for a lot of people especially if they weren't white men. And that's a hard pill to swallow even now in modern discourse. This may be getting a bit too meta but I think it's an interesting observation.

EDIT 2: I see how a lot of people think that Jenny took sexual advantage of Forest. I genuinely disagree as outlined in my OP and comments but I understand the perspective. And arguably she may not even have the foundation to understand true consent, as her first sexual experiences were unconsenting and abusive by the one person who should have protected her in this world. So even if she did, that adds to her tragity and depth imo, sins of the father creates a cycle of abuse.



All comments from YouTube:

@legendarymoviescenes1926

Hey You! Check out my 40+ minute complete retrospective of Forrest Gump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzQmBOLjqnk
Ideal to listen to while relaxing or commuting + You'll learn some new stuff, like what he said when his microphone got unplugged.

@tobyflenderson6972

Imagine physically assaulting a woman and instead of apologizing, you blame it on the president and a war that you didn’t fight in.

@moonchild3558

Shut up Toby

@realniggashit3

Classic liberal "woke" male

@tobyflenderson6972

@MAGA Productions Exactly, I’m sure in the past several years a few liberal men have abused women and blamed it on Trump.

@realniggashit3

@Toby Flenderson "Things got a little out of hand. It's just this George Floyd stuff and coronavirus and THAT LYING SON OF A BITCH TRUMP. I would never hurt you. You know that."

@velvetwatermelon2647

@MAGA Productions Everybody has different political views. That doesn’t make them a bad person. Don’t let politics control your life.

80 More Replies...

@nathanmerritt1581

I realise she was messed up and abused, but she's one of the most infuriating characters in movie history.

@blakewang4070

Yeah...the people who are pathetic always got some reasons behind. Sad thing is people like to destroy beautiful things

@Knowthyself-zf3fy

She was a bitch

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