Christ Symbolism in FORREST GUMP

Rating: 9/10 (13 October 2006)

Lieutenant Dan: Have you found God yet, Gump?
Forrest Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him.
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I'm not the religious type. But I couldn't help notice the large amount of New Testament references in FORREST GUMP (which I assume are in the book as well). (BTW, I posted an earlier version of this to a certain progressive website, in case anyone here reads widely.)
Consider: 1) Forrest was born of an earthly mother, with no indication of who his father was.
2) He became a fisherman at some point in the movie. But considering the sea's ability to rehabilitate Lt. Dan, and Forest's ability to attain Lt. Dan's loyalty, I'd consider Forrest to also be a "fisher of men".
3) Remember when Forrest ran and ran across the country for 3 YEARS, collecting followers along the way? Not unlike a certain religious figure.
4) And when he was doing all of that running, Forrest performed various "miracles". Like inventing the smiley-face logo, and the phrase "s--t happens".
5) SPOILER HERE.. By the date on her tombstone, Forrest's wife Jenny was in her early 30s when she died. Since Forrest was about the same age, we can assume he was 30 when he did his "preaching". (Strangely, Jennny - akin to Mary the Magdalene - is the one with the initials "JC" (for "Jenny Curran" according to trusty IMDb). Perhaps Dan Brown didn't quite have it right about the history of women in the early Church.)
Of course, this movie is not at all "preachy", as the quote above attests to. Forrest sort of stumbles upon his situations, but he always dutifully (and sometimes cluelessly) steps up when called. The conveyance of that innocence is what really makes the movie.