Forrest has "gumption"!

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2001)

Gumption: noun; common sense, horse sense, initiative, enterprise (Merriam-Webster). Chop off the back half of that word and you have Forrest Gump, a towering fountain of stand-alone common sense in a nonsensical world gone crazy.
In a recent letter, a friend told me that she had just watched "Forrest Gump" and that she "loved that movie." Although it had been some seven years since I had seen it, her comment to me reminded me that I, too, had once "loved that movie." When it suddenly showed up on TV last night, I felt the urge, the need, for a refresher course on what it is like to be a Forrest Gump in a world of schlumps, myself included. Moreover, I needed the sanity and serenity of Forrest Gump the man to assuage the insanity and unserenity that has been the month of September of 2001. I have been assuaged.
By now, almost anyone who watches movies has seen "Forrest Gump." At least once. Thus, we all know that it cannot be classified as a comedy. Nor as a drama. Nor an adventure. Nor a charmer. Nor a tearjerker. And yet, it is all of those things, all in one movie. "Forrest Gump," when and as you are watching it, reminds you constantly that there IS good in the world. Even as you are watching bad events transpire in the movie, you seem to know that somehow, good will eventually result. That is because Forrest Gump is nearby -- around -- somewhere -- and wherever Forrest goes, goodness follows.
My favorite movie actor is, was and always will be Jimmy Stewart. With Jimmy gone and no longer with us, Tom Hanks has taken his place. In my heart. Just as Jimmy was in so very many of his famous and fabulous roles, Tom has become the American Everyman. He's the guy for whom you always root. You want him to triumph. You want him to get the girl. He HAS to get the girl! Even if the worth of the girl to be gotten is open to question, you STILL want him to get her, if only because he has always loved her and will always love her so unfailingly and so unconditionally. And when, at last, his unrequited love for his beloved Jenny (Robin Wright) is finally so deservedly rewarded, you feel as if you want to jump up and shout ... "HALLELUJAH!!!" Then, when Jenny tenderly tells Forrest that he is the father of her sweet little Forrest Jr., you think to yourself and you say to yourself, "Yes, Self! That is right! That is as it should be!"
And that is right and that is as it should be about this entire movie. Even Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise), Forrest's self-loathing and loathable army buddy, is unable to avoid Forrest's goodness wearing off on him. Forrest "touches" everyone. And he doesn't even know it! He's just a guy living his life. He just ... is ... Forrest Gump, a guy with gumption in a gumptionless world.
I am so very glad and happy that my friend told me she saw "Forrest Gump" and that she "loved that movie." She spurred me to watch it once again. Having now done so, I feel that Forrest has restored both peace and love to my troubled mind and heart over the awful events of September of 2001. He is a reminder to us all that no matter how many Hitlers, Stalins and bin Ladens may rise and fall, we will always have a Forrest Gump to help pull us thru the evils that these evil men do. Peace and love to you, Forrest.