Last Friday, I attended Rose’s screening of the heavily praised but heartbreaking film Forrest Gump. Although I did like the titular character, I was more intrigued and interested in Gump’s love interest, Jenny. Jenny and Forrest served as foils to one another. While Forrest grew up with a great support system facilitated by his unconditionally loving and proud mother, Jenny’s childhood was burdened by a sexually abusive, malevolent father. Forrest grew up to be the classical version of a stand-up guy – he saw his mother very often and did not take part in sexual activity or drug use. Meanwhile, Jenny grew up to be a promiscuous, hallucinogenic drug-using, depressed, and, at times, suicidal character. Forrest becomes unbelievably successful, getting a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, being awarded the Medal of Honor for selfless service in the Vietnam War, becoming a Ping-Pong celebrity, and becoming very wealthy from shrimping and successful investments. In sharp contrast, Jenny suffers and eventually dies after contracting an unnamed virus, presumably HIV.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Forrest and Jenny had such different lives, but it can be inferred that their childhoods made them who they were. Forrest’s support system allowed him to become confident enough to succeed, while Jenny’s depressing childhood may have lead her to a lifestyle in which she used drugs to forget such a horrible past, and in which she didn’t feel she deserved to be happy or successful. It’s unfortunate that Forrest Gump’s screenwriters took this plot direction. I think it would have been much more interesting to have Jenny rise above the tragedies that she suffered and the odds she was against. It would have been nice for the movie to not imply that our childhoods and upbringings determine how successful we are in life.