Forrest Gump
The story depicts several decades in the life of Forrest Gump, a simple Alabama man who travels across the world, sometimes meeting historical figures, influencing popular culture, and experiencing firsthand historic events of the late 20th century. Forrest Gump though at an early age his principal determines young Forrest possesses an IQ of 75, he has endearing character and devotion to his loved ones and duties, which brings him into many life-changing situations. Forrest interprets everything literally. He does not understand irony or sarcasm. His thoughts are child-like and innocent.
Along the way, he encounters many historical figures and events throughout his life. Physically, Forrest is strong, athletic, and healthy. Since very early childhood he has been classified as “slow” and this has not changed in adulthood. Despite this, he is able to attend college, and graduate, signifying that he does indeed have some cognitive abilities in the classroom. Emotionally, Forrest does experience emotions such as falling in love, grief, excitement, nervousness, and so on. But, the main character with the mood/anxiety disorder would be his good friend Jenny.
Jenny had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which is a life threatening, debilitating disorder that can break down a sufferer’s body through anxiety and stress. Further it poses a significant suicide risk resulting from the brains neurological imbalance and chemical depression. Sufferers often live in denial, thus this community is aimed at helping PTSD sufferers help themselves through others experiences, guidance and education. As a young girl, Jenny was raised by her abusive dad. As a child, she was sexually abused by her father. As kids, Jenny and Forrest once prayed for God to turn her into a bird so she could fly away from her home.
Eventually, however, the police took Jenny away to live with her grandmother, though the abuse she had suffered would stay with her for most of her life. Jenny eventually poses for a picture in Playboy, which gets her expelled from college. She begins playing guitar in the nude as “Bobbie Dylan” at a strip club and gets fired. Jenny then becomes a hippie and travels the country with friends. Jenny’s life then takes a dark turn into a life of drugs and prostitution. Jenny was incapable of sustaining healthy relationships due to the physical/sexual abuse she endured as a child by her alcoholic father.
She reached her lowest point when she nearly jumps from an apartment balcony in a drug-induced haze. Eventually she returns to Alabama to stay with Forrest. Her bad childhood greatly influenced her life, childhood sexual abuse caused post traumatic disorder, the promiscuity was due to the hippie lifestyle and was compounded by sexual abuse from father, then the drugs and fast life style caused by the unresolved pain of her childhood which later results in her trying to commit suicide. By the end of the movie she contracted aids and died. In my opinion because she could never keep a stable sexual relationship.
She just didn’t feel worthy of anyone. Jenny did not receive treatment for her disorder, her whole life was a search to find herself to find a place to belong which eventually lead her back to the place she hated the most. While watching this movie you see all the things wrong with Jenny all of her symptoms were consistent. social maladjustments arising from incest are alcoholism, drug addiction, self-injury, prostitution and promiscuity, which are all the things that happened to Jenny, but she never reached out for help until the end when she wanted Forrest to keep her son.
