On Forrest Gump and the American Traditional Family Values

【Abstract】Forrest Gump， the main character of the Forrest Gump， was born with disasters. He， whose IQ is low， is simple， faithful and doing a lot of normal but unexpected matters in the battlefield and market， which has made remarkable achievement. Jenny， Forrest Gumps childhood sweetheart， affected by bad family and social background， suffered a lot of in her childhood. She is beautiful， but she is also treacherous. The difference between them reflects that only those who were born in the traditional family will live a meaningful life. This applied the theory of American Traditional Family Values to analyze the differences between Forrest and Jenny， and draws a conclusion that American traditional family values should not be abandoned as time goes by. Instead， it should be more stressed than before.

【Key words】Forrest Gump； Jenny； Traditional Family Values； Return

【作者簡介】王晨（1996- ），女，汉族，山东阳谷人，研究生学历，聊城大学，研究方向：语言文学和学科教学。

1. Film Introduction

In 1990s， as the spirit of anti-intellectual among the American society is getting higher and higher， Hollywood then delivered a series of films about anti-intellectual which belittle the modern civilization， advocate low IQ and return to the original. The American media called that “anti-intellectual film”. Forrest Gump just is a work of this period. It leads the Americans to survey the past of the whole nation and their individuals， and survey the nature of the American people.

2. The American Traditional Family Values

In 1950s， American family values took an absolutely different way to gender， equality and the family as a whole. Though these are not for everyone， some aspects of traditional ideals will still make good advantages for a wide range of families. They share the familial theories and the vital of conventional homes. The list below shows both common and uncommon values for traditional families： 1. Opposition to pre-marital sex. 2. Opposition to same-sex marriage. 3. Belief in traditional home-based roles for women. 4. Belief in Christian-based values. 5. Opposition to some elements of feminism. 6. Opposition to abortion while actively supporting abstinence education. 7. Belief in adoption as an alternative to abortion. 8. Belief in programs and public policies that shield children from exploitation. 9. Opposition to separation of church and state. 10. Belief in father as head-of-household.

3. The differences of Forrest Gump and Jenny

The difference between Forrest Gump and Jenny exactly exist. First of all， about the personality： He was kind-hearted， and he was also a man with great promise and honest to his friends. On the contrary， Jenny was traitorous and wanted to be free and happy like a bird， but she also was a girl who enjoyed the entertainment in the life； about the attitude to money and reputation： He had no means of money and kept a successful shrimp business just to keeping the promise to his friend Bubba. He never thought about being famous but always known by others. However， Jenny dreamed to be famous from very young. She used many ways to pursue the good reputation even sacrificed to be naked， but still failed； for the attitude to life， He was positive and optimistic even though the social background was so complex which was always filled with violence and pressure. He was never influenced by the dirty environment while Jenny was pessimistic and seemed to lose her confidence and hope to her life many years later. Forrest Gump only did what he wanted to do without any deep thought and always be successful beyond his imagination. However， Jenny always failed no matter what she did and how to do. Jenny suffered a lot， which made her feel disappointment about almost everything； about the friends， Forrest Gump had a few friends， but they were all his true friends such as Bubba and Dan. No matter what happened， he would try his best to help them caring little about his life. Jenny had many friends， but there is only one true friend “Forrest Gump” because most of her friends abused her and just wanted to make fun of her.

4. The reason of the differences of Forrest Gump and Jenny

In the movie Forrest Gump， Gump represents the American traditional values of virtue and is full of individualistic heroism. He is simple， persistent and lucky. However， Jenny is contradictory. Representing the ordinary people at that time， Jenny is complexed but lives truly.

Since there are so many differences between Forrest Gump and Jenny， reasons from different areas must be existed.

4.1 Family background

4.1.1 The difference of the family environment

Forrest Gump was cherished in a family filled with love although he lost his father. His mother loved him very much and always encouraged him caring nothing about his low IQ. He also respected and had a deep love to his mother. But Jenny， who lost her mother， was abused under her father who sometimes made the sexual action to her so that she had to lived with her grandmother. She hated her father very much who made terrible influence to her.

4.1.2 The influence by the family education

Jenny was shown as the childhood sweetheart of Forrest Gump. In her early childhood， she has many problems with her father who abuse toward her and her sisters. These things caused her rough for the rest of life. Afterwards， Jenny sent her father to the prison.

But the family education of Forrest Gump is different from Jenny. Gumps mother not only pays attention to his own thinking but also kept in closely touch with Gump. Although his mother strengthens the communication with Gump and understands him， she never forces him. As a traditional family woman， she knows no one can change or influence ones life. Therefore， it helps Gump to keep a social viewpoint that focus on self-development， and lead Gump to think his own thoughts and opinions， rather than following the others. His independence also was improves. His mother loves him very much， and often teaches him wisdom.

4.2 Social background

Forrest Gump and Jenny lived in a complex society， and both of them get affection of it.

Forrest Gump experienced the Civil War of American. The war took more than 600，000 lives， destroyed property valued about $5 billion and brought freedom to 4 million black slaves.

In the movie， there is a scene that Forrest Gump picked up the book for the black child， which is the moment the University of Alabama began to except both the white and black in 1961. Segregation is still a big problem. Black people were still discriminated in the south and could not go to school with white people.

Meanwhile， Jenny was heavily affected by the new trend hippie. They rejected the material values， fought against the older generation， and “did their own thing”. They violated the conventional attitudes towards virtues， shocking conservatives with bad words and naked body. Some hippies dropped out of conventional society and set up “communes” where they lived in harmony with nature， growing their own food and sharing their property. Many even kept free love and with drugs. Jenny got the bad habitats and gradually lost herself which was opposite with the traditional values.

Forrest Gump meet Dan and Bubba at Vietnam War， in which the America provide military support the South against the North， aroused a great deal of opposition within the United States and polarized the nation. Some critics held the view that the military lacked clear objectives， some thought that the South government lacked legitimacy， and others believed that the war was immoral. On October 15th， 1969， thousands of protectors took part in the anti-war demonstration across the country.

5. Conclusion

Forrest Gump and Jenny are the phenomenon of contrast obviously.

Jenny was affected with nearly all the bad habits， such as drug abuse， sexual liberation and so on. Finally， she died with a virus. However， Forrest Gump always loved her in the film in which shared his innocence and kind-hearted.

Forrest Gump， as a soldier， is more simple and physical powerful in fact， and get the development and success all the time. This is a good reward from the God with hope which includes a keynote： run. Running will bring hope to all the people. Forrest Gump experienced many “wise men” to be outshone， which was like to satire the community through the figure to reflect the social status quo. Interestingly， Forrest Gump was followed by many people who cannot find the truth of life and blindly follow him. It can be said that this is the reality about American society at that time， the reality of peoples disappointment， cannot surviving alone， and only relying on the fate of the others. However， Forrest Gump is always positive to face the world and continue to run， which can be said to be the perfect irony. The end of the film suggests the importance and the backing of the American traditional family values. The film retrieves the traditional family values that are abandoned by the society， which is the historical effect and time significance from Forrest Gump.