Essay --

Forrest Gump was written by Eric Roth and stars Tom Hanks in the lead role. The movie portrays the life of a man (Forrest Gump). With an IQ of 75, he goes through everyday life and changing the world around him without even realizing. The life of Forrest takes place in America from the 60’s all the way up to the 90’s. Through his journey he meets various people from presidents to musicians which he influences along with the people around him. He becomes a media icon, and also influences very critical historical events. He does many things throughout the film but due to his mental state he is totally unaware of his impact on the world. During the rest of the film Forrest meets a few individuals all striving for personal dreams and trying to find something bigger than themselves to give meaning to their lives. He meets a military lieutenant whose goal is to follow the footsteps of family members who died as heroes in war, another soldier who dreams of opening a shrimp business and the love of his life Jenny who longs to be famous and touch the lives of others. Sadly, the dreams of those around him end in despair. Meanwhile the main character achieves this success that everyone else wishes fro without even realizing it or caring for that matter. The film is a great display of existentialism and the point that we must create our own meaning to life. â€Å"I don’t know if we each have a destiny or we’re all just floating accidental-like in the breeze.† Is one of the quotes by Forrest that attempts to address the topic of whether things in life happen because of destiny or chance? All the incidents that happen to Forrest during the movie all turn out better in the end. For example, him having to wear leg braces meant he was also teased by ... ...and Forrest on the ship where he decides to â€Å"make peace with God† by throwing himself in the water as a sign of baptism. That is where he realizes and accepts life as something worthy to live, not heroic death. From there questions arise such as â€Å"Does God really exist or is he just an unproven belief?† Forrest is asked by Dan if he has found Jesus and his reply is â€Å"I didn’t know I was supposed to be looking for him†. So if God really did exist and we needed to be â€Å"saved† by him shouldn’t we know we needed to be looking for him? Sarte would say the chance and God would ultimately cancel each other out and leave us with the decision to do what we believe is right; creating your own destiny. The movie doesn’t only cover a lot on existentialism, but does a fantastic job of encouraging people to stray away from the â€Å"bigger picture† and add value to the â€Å"littler picures†.