Question: In regards to the Black Panthers meeting, why were Jenny and her boyfriend (at the time) hanging around with them? Also, why didn't they (the Black Panthers at the meeting) step in when she was getting hit and abused by him?
Answer: Jenny and her boyfriend were radical, anti-government activists, whose goals were aligned with the Panthers'. As to why they didn't intervene, Forrest reacted before anyone else could, and sadly, people tend to look away when they see a woman being abused.
Question: When Forrest is introducing the members of his Platoon in Vietnam all of the character names are the names of cities, he then tells where each solider is from but their hometown is different then their nick name. (for example "Dallas from Phoenix") why would each person have a name of a city as their name?
Answer: This is just a bit of incidental humor. For example: Dallas is the young man's real name. Why would his parents name him Dallas if he was from Phoenix? Same with Cleveland.
Theyre just nicknames aren't they? Like Bubba.
Tex seems to be an obvious nickname, but Dallas and Cleveland are more than likely their real names since many people have those names.
Answer: Forest is mistaking their nicknames for their actual names, and misremembering where they were from. The soldiers are given nicknames based on where they are from. Tex from Texas, Dallas from Dallas. Etc. The funny bit is that Forest isn't putting it together.
There's nothing to indicate Dallas and Cleveland aren't their real names, just like Dan is his real name. The joke being he's remembering where those two are from but when it comes to Tex, an obvious nickname, he can't remember where he's from. Plus, why would a guy from Texas get the nickname Dallas and another guy from Texas get the nickname Tex and not the city he's from?
Question: During the part of the film where Forrest sits on a bus bench and tells various strangers his life story, what year is it supposed to be?
Answer: It's April 1981. He had received Jenny's letter where she says she's watching the news about the Reagan assassination attempt, which was March 30, 1981.
Answer: 1981.
Question: Why did Jenny's grandmother take Jenny into her home, but not the sisters?
Answer: Some possibilities are: either the sisters' situations were discovered before Jenny's, and they are already there (or living with someone else), or the sisters are older and moved out on their own. We never hear of the sisters living at the house during the film so it's hard to pinpoint the actual situations with them.
Question: How did Forrest change clothes on his cross-country but didn't take any with him?
Answer: He buys them, and/or people, such as those running with him, give him new clothes to replace his old ones. He's got plenty of money, no reason he can't have a debit or credit card on him to cover his expenses (like he says, he stops to eat, sleep, and so forth).
Question: There's an entry mentioning when little Forrest's foot gets stuck in a drain and how the leaves are there, then not. I've seen this movie at least 20 times but don't ever recall seeing that scene in the movie. Did some countries get an edited version?
Answer: Perhaps. It's near the beginning right after Forrest explains how he got his name.
Answer: He gets his foot stuck at 6 minutes and the leaves never move. The shot shifts up in the second shot so you see less leaves but they don't move or disappear.
Question: Was anything actually wrong with Forrest mentally? Is is possible that he was "normal" but had just been sheltered, hadn't socialized with any kids at a normal age, etc.? In addition to the IQ test from the school, Forrest's mother apparently hid things from him or lied. She did not tell him what "vacation" really means.
Answer: Gump is stated, in the book at least (can't honestly remember about the film) to have an IQ of around 75. While IQ ranges are somewhat subjective, this would usually be considered to indicate a mild or borderline mental deficiency. It also certainly wouldn't have helped that he's been relatively sheltered.
Answer: 8 minutes into the movie, the principle shows his mother a chart of IQ's and points to Gump's IQ being 75.
I know, but I was considering how his mother has sheltered him. His low score could be partially due to her not always giving him accurate information. For example, she told him that "vacation" means "you go somewhere, and you don't ever come back." Maybe his test results were low because of her sheltering; at least partially.
Question: Why would Forrest be drafted into the military? Wouldn't his low I.Q. cause him to be rejected?
Answer: As we see earlier in the film, his mother "persuades" the school principal to increase Forrest's test results to the minimum required to attend school. At that point he was on record as having a normal I.Q.
Answer: He also wasn't drafted, he enlisted.
Question: By the buses, when Jenny's boyfriend apologizes for hitting her and mentions "that lying S.O.B. Johnson", who is the Johnson he is referring to?
Answer: Johnson refers to Lyndon Johnson, the US President.
Answer: He's referring to president Lyndon Johnson AKA the guy Forrest shows his gunshot wound to.
Question: Unless he's carrying a lot of money how does Forrest get those different clothes while he's running those several years?
Answer: Or he bought them cheap from discount stores or charity shops, or they were given to him. There are lots of possibilities and this is in a movie deliberately loaded with coincidence and spectacle. It's speculation to go into more detail.
Answer: Forrest would not need to carry large amounts of cash with him, which would be dangerous. His business partner, Dan Taylor, could wire or transfer money to a bank wherever Forrest would be that would cover any expenses. Forrest could also be using a credit card, or a better option, a debit card that could have a small balance that Dan would add to as needed. If it was ever stolen, having a small amount on balance would protect Forest.
Question: Three questions here: Why does Jenny insist Forrest touch her chest, why does she go all the way with him then leave, and wouldn't this be considered a crime on her part as he's only got an IQ of 75?
Answer: Jenny loves Forrest and cares about him deeply. She knows he's in love with her, so she gives him that "gift" before leaving. They were both consenting adults, so unless there was a third party who insisted Forrest couldn't give consent there wouldn't be a legal issue.
Answer: As for the last part of your question, it's usually viewed that a person with a mental handicap can still legally give consent for sex so long as they display knowledge and voluntariness when it comes to the encounter. (Aka, they have a basic understanding what is happening, know the positives and negatives, and want to proceed.) Given that Forrest has been shown to be pretty high functioning (he's quirky and slow, but can do a lot of the things other people can, and has shown a lot of fields of talent), and would obviously consent because he loves her, Jenny shouldn't be in any legal trouble. If Forrest was more severely handicapped or showed a bigger lack of awareness, then that might be an issue. I actually read up about this years ago because I'm in the autism spectrum, and a previous (non-disabled) sexual partner I had expressed their concern about this very topic.
Question: If Jenny dies of AIDS or Hepatitis C then does her son Forrest have it?
Answer: In the sequel novel 'Gump and Company, ' it's revealed that Jenny died of Hepatitis C. The odds of passing that to a child are about 1 in 25, so Forrest, Jr, is likely in the clear (and it's possible she contracted it after he was born). Https://www.hepatitis.va.gov/hcv/patient/faqs/index.asp.
Question: Would the army really take a guy with a low I.Q., much less one with a cleft lip?
Answer: The Army doesn't issue IQ tests upon enlistment. Given that Forrest had a college degree, and passed basic training with flying colors because of his amazing ability to follow orders, he would be allowed in just fine. And Bubba didn't have a cleft lip, just big gums.
Answer: I can't even guess why you think a cleft lip would disallow someone from being admitted into the Army, or anything/anywhere else for that matter.
Because an unrepaired cleft lip is a disqualifying disability. You can't join the US military if you have one.
Question: Forrest reveals (in the voice over) that Jenny was taken from her father's home and sent to live with her grandmother. He indirectly indicates that Jenny was sexually abused by her father. My question is who would have reported the abuse to the police so that Jenny could be removed from the situation? And where would her sisters have gone assuming they were also sent away and, like Jenny, were minors?
Answer: It's never explained. Perhaps the grandmother or a teacher reported the abuse. It's possible the abuse was never reported, maybe Jenny simply asked her grandmother if she could move in with her. Maybe there was no proof that the other girls were being abused, or they didn't want to leave, or they were moved to foster families or other relatives.
I think this is accurate. I have in-laws whose children have been taken away, and the children went to households of different relatives. It's also possible that Jenny's sisters were older and left home on their own. During this time, it would have been easier for teenagers to leave town and not be discovered.
Answer: I think you're reading things into it. He was certainly talking about real life sisters.
Answer: It doesn't matter who reported it to the policeman. It doesn't have to happen on the same day. And regarding Jenny's sister, there was never a sister. When the policeman send the kid to her grandmother, it was only Jenny. The 'sister' word was from the voiceover of Forrest who didn't really understand what kind of misery happened. The 'sister' was Jenny's privates. Her father touched them improperly.
I'm approaching middle age and have lived in the southern USA for my entire life. I have never heard of "sisters" being slang for a person's private parts. At least not around here. Also, Jenny understands that Forrest is mentally slower than than the other kids at their school. I don't think she would use such a term when speaking to him. And I can't imagine him choosing to use it.
Answer: In the past, (perceived) "dumb" students were more likely to be placed into vocational rather than academic programs because it was assumed they had limited ability and would not "amount to much" in life (make much of themselves). Therefore, they could at least be trained to perform something almost anyone could do with little or no training. Once someone is trained how to re-tread tires, for example, he should be able to repeatedly do the same thing everyday for years and be "productive." A variation of re-treading tires was learning how to make "birdhouses and ashtrays" - non-essential products in society that some people still might want to buy.
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More recently, the trend has been to "mainstream" such students - keep them in classes with their peers.
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