Forrest Gump MPAA: Rated PG-13 for drug content, some sensuality and war violence Synopsis The story follows the life of low I.Q. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) and his meeting with the love of his life Jenny. The film chronicles his accidental experiences with some of the most important people and events in America from the late 1950's through the 1970's including a meeting with Elvis Presley, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, fighting in Vietnam, etc. The problem is, he's too slow to realize the significance of his actions. Forrest becomes representative of the baby boomer generation having walked through life blindly. A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events - in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. Yet, despite all the things he has attained, his one true love eludes him. "Forrest Gump" is the story of a man who rose above his challenges, and who proved that determination, courage, and love are more important than ability.   The Message  Theme: Any time is a good time to make a fresh start. Set Up: Forrest and Lt. Dan sit in a bar on New Year's Eve, waiting for midnight. Carla and Lenore join them. Lenore says she loves New Year's because everyone gets a second chance. Forrest thinks about Jenny in California, and we see her leaving a deadbeat boyfriend and making a new start, as the ball drops in Times Square to ring in the New Year. God Point: New Year's is not the only time for resolutions. God grants a second chance to all who seek one, take a moment and search your hearts about any bad habits you want to lose or good habits you want to start. Ask God for the help to make these changes happen any time of the year. Discussion Questions:    -Do you make New Year's resolutions because you might get a second chance? Why or why not?    -What are some popular New Year's resolutions that people make? Have you ever made a resolution? If so, did you keep it? Why or why not?    -Why do so many people fail to follow through on their resolutions? Why do they continue to make resolutions even though they rarely succeed? Scripture: Jonah 3:7-10 And he made proclamation and published through Nin'eveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?" When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it. ASK:    -Why did God offer the people of Ninevah a second chance? How did their resolution change their lives?    -What's one habit you'd like to either quit or start this year? How would making a commitment and following through with it make your life better? Glorify God?    -How can you remain steadfast in following through with your commitment?   Other Topics for Discussion Theme: To be Christ like means to offer acceptance to every person. God Point: Forrest Gump exemplifies the value of accepting other people, no questions asked. It's easy to recall similar situations in Jesus' life, like when he broke every social rule in the book by touching a leper. It's even more astonishing to consider the way the sinless Son of God made himself completely approachable to destitute sinners. Adopt an attitude similar to Jesus' (and Forest's)-making everyone they meet feel comfortable, equal, and accepted. Discussion Questions:    -Has an "important" person ever treated you with unexpected respect or consideration? If so, how did it make you feel?    -How would you define "acceptance"? What does it really mean to accept someone?    -What motivates us to withhold acceptance from people? When have you experienced not being accepted? What happened? Scripture: Mat 8:1-3 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ASK:    -How do you think the people of Jesus' time reacted when he touched this leper? What do Jesus' actions reveal about him?    -What do you think he was trying to tell us?    -What reasons do Christians have for not accepting certain types of people? Did Jesus ever withhold acceptance from anyone? Why or why not?    -What's the hardest part about accepting everyone? being forgiving? letting go of being "right"? letting go of being "cool"? what others will think of you?    -What's a specific way you could extend acceptance to someone you know who needs it?   Theme: We can't force others to love us. God Point: "I can make him/her love me." People may think this way, but rarely does it come true. Avoid the shattering pain of rejection by learning the true nature of love. Love shouldn't be coerced or manipulated for personal gain. Jesus modeled pure love-a servant's love that never wavers, no matter what the response. Love that gives without expecting anything in return is rare (and ridiculed in the world), but it brings fulfillment in the end. Discussion Questions:    -What things might someone do in an attempt to win another's love?    -Do you think it's possible to make someone else love us? Why or why not?    -How would you feel if you knew someone wanted to make you love them? Explain.    -What motivates a person to attempt to force love from someone else?    -Naturally we want those we love to love us in return, but if feelings of love aren't mutual, what can help us deal with this reality?    -Would loving others as Jesus does ultimately protect our hearts from pain? Why or why not?    -How can a person live with confidence and without fear in matters of love?   Goofs for Forrest Gump  The feather is visible on Forrest's shoe and floating in the air at the same time, when the camera is approximately ten feet above Forrest's head. Forrest's hands on the swing ropes when listening to his mother entertain the school inspector. The girl behind Forrest and Jenny on the school bus disappears and reappears between shots. Forrest claims that Jenny died on a Saturday, and yet her gravestone says 22 March 1982, which is a Monday. The letter from Apple Computer is dated 21 September 1975 Apple Computer was not incorporated until 3 January 1977, and didn't become publicly traded until its initial public offering (IPO) on 12 December 1980. In 1975, one of Forrest's shrimping attempts yields, among other pieces of garbage, a Mello Yello can. Mello Yello was introduced in 1979, and the can bears the revised logo introduced circa 1989. The ramp outside the stage door at the Dick Cavett show as seen over Forrest's shoulder is clear of snow, yet moments later it covered with snow as Lt. Dan slides down it. When the bullies first throw rocks at Forrest, the second one clearly hits him below his eye, but he starts to bleed up on the top of his forehead. When Forrest is giving his speech about the war in front of the reflecting pool and he runs down to meet Jenny, he walks by the same guy twice. When Forrest is originally running from the bullies he is in a plaid shirt, the shirt then changes, and he ends up in the same plaid shirt by the end of the shot. When Forrest jumps off his boat to swim to Lieutenant Dan, the boat is heading to the left. Yet, the boat ends up crashing into a dock on the right. Forrest paints the name "Jenny" on the side of his shrimping boat. However, in just about every subsequent scene, the name is gone from the side of the boat. When Jenny is playing guitar naked you can see the outline of a skin toned thong. When the bullies are chasing Forrest in the pick-up truck they appear to be right up to within a foot or so of him, but in the very next shot from behind, Forrest is about 10-12 feet in front of the truck, just before he turns left, running into the field.   Review Forrest Gump in a movie before, and for that matter I've never seen a movie quite like "Forrest Gump." Any attempt to describe him will risk making the movie seem more conventional than it is, but let me try. It's a comedy, I guess. Or maybe a drama. Or a dream. The screenplay has the complexity of modern fiction. Its hero, played by Tom Hanks, is a thoroughly decent man with an IQ of 75, who manages between the 1950s and the 1980s to become involved in every major event in American history. And he survives them all with only honesty and niceness as his shields. And yet this is not a heartwarming story about a mentally retarded man. That cubbyhole is much too small and limiting for Forrest Gump. The movie is more of a meditation on our times, as seen through the eyes of a man who lacks cynicism and takes things for exactly what they are. Watch him carefully and you will understand why some people are criticized for being "too clever by half." Forrest is clever by just exactly enough. Forrest is born to an Alabama boardinghouse owner who tries to correct his posture by making him wear braces, but who never criticizes his mind. When Forrest is called "stupid," his mother tells him, "Stupid is as stupid does," and Forrest turns out to be incapable of doing anything less than profound. Also, when the braces finally fall from his legs, it turns out he can run like the wind. It could be argued that with his IQ of 75 Forrest does not quite understand everything that happens to him. Not so. He understands everything he needs to know, and the rest, the movie suggests, is just surplus. He even understands everything that's important about love, although Jenny, the girl he falls in love with in grade school and never falls out of love with, tells him, "Forrest, you don't know what love is." She is a stripper by that time. Using carefully selected TV clips and dubbed voices, Zemeckis is able to create some hilarious moments, as when LBJ examines the wound in what Forrest describes as "my butt-ox." And the biggest laugh in the movie comes after Nixon inquires where Forrest is staying in Washington, and then recommends the Watergate. As Forrest's life becomes a guided tour of straight-arrow America, Jenny goes on a parallel tour of the counterculture. She goes to California, of course, and drops out, tunes in, and turns on. She's into psychedelics and flower power, antiwar rallies and love-ins, drugs and needles. Eventually it becomes clear that between them Forrest and Jenny have covered all of the landmarks of our recent cultural history, and the accommodation they arrive at in the end are like a dream of reconciliation for our society.