What Forrest Gump Gets Right About Life, Trauma and Destiny

What happens when you watch Forrest Gump for the very first time — and walk away unsure how you feel about it?

In Episode 35 of You Can Call Me Karen, Steph, Manny and Karen break down one of the most iconic films of all time. From its emotional storytelling and deeper meaning to its unforgettable quotes and real historical moments, this is part first-time reaction, part movie analysis and part honest podcast conversation.

In this episode we cover the plot and meaning of Forrest Gump, its key themes and life lessons, famous quotes and why they still resonate, the historical references woven throughout the film, and what it's like watching it for the first time versus being a longtime fan.

We also kick things off with our usual Karen segment — and yes, there's another attempt by Karen to retire the name, to which Manni and Steph retort, "nice try!" 

Lastly, please follow us on Instagram (@youcancallmekaren), TikTok (@YCCMKPod), and like/subscribe wherever you get your podcasts!

As always - a big thank you to Steve Olszewski for the art and images, Calid B and SJ Fadeaway for the musical mixings, and huge credit to Malvina Reynolds (writer) and Schroder Music Co. (ASCAP) (publisher) of the song “Little Boxes

Transcript

Welcome And Forrest Gump Preview

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of You Can Call Me Karen. Steph has been looking forward to this one since probably the beginning of all of our recordings. So we are covering Forest Gump this week. My co-hosts Steph and Manny in true educator fashion take me to school, teach me the themes, and help me better understand a film that everyone but me has seen. So you'll hear my initial interpretation and their lovely and patient coaching as we review the key themes and why this is such a beloved film. So join us this week. Join me in my new campaign for Nancy as the new Karen. We are taking other suggestions of names that might be better suited for Karen on all of our social media platforms. And here we go.

90s Nostalgia And Movie Setup

SPEAKER_04 1:26

Hi. Welcome to the Even Call Me Karen podcast. This is Steph, and I am joined by the peace of my carrots, Manny.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Oh Lieutenant Dan ice cream.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Oh, I'm so excited for Karen. Sorry.

Airport Karen And Line Rage

SPEAKER_04 1:51

Hi. Welcome. So the 90s actually has the best music, fashion, TV shows, and it is also when one of the best movies of all time was born. Today we will be discussing none other than the Academy Award-winning film for Scump. We're gonna be discussing the memorable quotes, the historical references, the heartwarming moments, and the social significance. But first, we gotta know who you calling Karen. Who are you calling Karen?

SPEAKER_01 2:26

I feel like my Karen stories are going downhill lately, which might be a good thing. The only one I could think of today was this time in Cleveland, uh, in the airport, not too long ago. Oh, all of my Karen's are airport Karen.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yeah, I was gonna say you have a lot of travel Karen's, which is good.

SPEAKER_01 2:47

Um, but this was Chad. And it was the most, it was like the most benign moment, but it, you know, when you're in the airport, everything is extra frustrating. And so this guy, it was like an older Chad guy, and he was like messing around. So he had gone through the metal detector, it buzzed. So then he like comes back and like pulls something out of his pocket, goes through, it buzzes. So he comes back and like takes off his belt and on and on and on. And so I'm like waiting there patiently while this guy is trying to figure out what is buzzing the metal detector. And this woman just like walks right in front of me, just like as if I weren't standing there waiting my turn. She just walks right in front of me, goes through, and and then I go through and I get stopped for a random screening. And I'm like, no, you guys. I was being so nice, and then Karen just pops in front of me, and now I have to get stopped because I could be a bomb threat. So, anyways, it was just the you know, that's it. That's my Karen.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

Um now I see why you added that context in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

I'm running out of Karen's here. Well, I literally I should show you my list here, but like I have my list of Karen stories. It's quite long, but they all are crossed through because I've told all the good ones.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

It's too bad you don't watch movies, so you could have some fictional Karen's in there. Yeah, it is too bad.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

I am um Bob and I started watching Stranger Things. Oh yeah. And from the beginning or we're about a decade behind everybody on everything. I got it. Oh um, but like the the one girl's name is Nancy, and I feel like Nancy could be Karen. I mean, not that character, just the name, Nancy. I'm like, that is so Karen. You're just trying to get out of it. I'm trying to get rid of this name.

SPEAKER_02 5:03

Campaign is last week it was Jessica. Today it's Nancy.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Every week I'll have a new idea for an alternate for Karen.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Nice try. Sure, Jan. Um, all right. Well, that was my campaign for the week. I will say that that is annoying when you are you're not adjusting or like forcing anything because you're like being patient and somebody like behind you interprets that as like you're not paying attention. And it's like actually, I'm paying attention to the entire thing happening right now. Being overly polite. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and so I'm gonna need you to back up. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Or like the universal Karen. That just made me think when you're like uh deplaning, and you know, you taste why row one goes, then row two goes, and the universal Karen of the person who's like, yes, I'm more important than everybody. I'm gonna go when it's not my turn. Like, yeah, sit down and shut up, just wait your turn. There is an order to this chaos, and you're ruining it.

Dance Nationals Crowds And Chaos

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Yeah, like that's the that's Karen. It's like I like rules except for when I they when they apply have to apply to me. In convenience me, yeah. Yeah, but other than that, I need rules except for when I have to follow them. Yeah, yeah. All right, Manning, who's your Karen? My Karen might be kind of a stretch um of a Karen. I maybe it's just me wanting to call out bad behavior, but um we recently just got off of um a very uh intense weekend of college dance team nationals, and the competition has become fiercely competitive, but also wildly popular. And there are some things that happened at the venue that we are not, we haven't really had to experience because we haven't been down in Florida yet. But um, some people have been commenting about um how overpopulated it is. Um, and how like basically varsity is like doing like airlines. Speaking of travel, like they are overselling uh more tickets than they have seats.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

And so that's why we stopped going because it got outrageous.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

We kind of like started to figure that out early. Um, and then there's no places for like family or alumni. Um, the cheer and dance venue switches each day, and um people are like in the aisles, like, and then I guess I heard yesterday like there's like also a soccer tournament that happens the same time, which is like not really impacting it, but it does impact like the amount of food, bathroom service, adds to the congestion, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:57

Yeah, and then sometimes we've noticed the soccer tournament going on, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Yeah. And then sometimes they go in to watch the like some of the competition, you know. So so like this weekend has is is very tense. I can only imagine what it would be like if I was a dancer during that time to like, you know, like it's funny, I saw this TikTok that was like trying to convince people who just got off of watching UDA Nationals to watch NDA in April. He's like, I promise it's fun, you know. Which is also put on diversity, by the way. That makes it so interesting. So varsity is like, yeah. Um, so anyway, so I guess um that is like part of it, right? Is like the the significant pressure that these dancers are under. And like there, how many people do you think attend these events? In person? Yeah, in person. How many do you think it would be? Like, how many do you think that arena really holds? I actually have no idea. I know. Do you know the number? I don't. I was just I just like it just popped in my head of like, could we give some context to people who like have not been there?

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Double-digit thousands, like I know, like 10,000.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Like 100, like something like that.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

Maybe, maybe it's it's a pretty simple. There's so many teams. I wish I knew how many teams I can probably Google this.

TikTok Nitpicks And Mental Health

SPEAKER_02 9:32

Yeah. So while Karen's doing the Google Schmoogle, I just want to say that like this has become like you know, a sporting event. And so, on top of all the people who are there watching the sporting event, there are also people online who are watching the sporting event and giving their commentary. And so, I guess my Karen for the week would be like the people who have to go online immediately after these routines have taken place and nitpick and comment on every last thing that these dancers do. Reese, the the theme of this year was um dancers not turning on releve.

SPEAKER_04 10:11

And that one that is in the future.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Yeah, it is just like taken off on the internet and um specifically on TikTok, and like that actually has really fucked my algorithm more than the Columbine stuff. Um I have two TikTok accounts, one for You Can Call Me Karen and one personally. And like it was so bad yesterday that I went to You Can Call Me Karen just to scroll because I was like, I cannot, I cannot take any more UDA content. Like everyone wants to be an expert, everyone wants to be the first person to drop the story. Everyone wants to um act as though they understand what these dancers are going through. However, to add some levity, my favorite is like the dancers, like when they're when they were back in class on Tuesday, they're like, just in biology class, like nothing happened yesterday. Just in biology class, listening to a lecture, like nothing went on yesterday, like I wasn't just at the Super Bowl of dance.

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Yeah. It's like um, it's like Olympians, you know, they always talk about you the post-Olympics depression, you know, like you prepare your whole life for this moment. And I know I'm equating dance team nationals, which does happen every year, to Olympics, which is world stage, and it's not exactly the same, I know, but like for them it is. I think that's actually a very fair comparison because that's their competition, like that's and on top of that, they're they're students, so they're just like coming back from this weekend and like having to pretend like they care about school, right? After such a moment in their lives.

SPEAKER_04 11:54

I feel like universities are rightfully starting to welcome their dance teams back with praise and celebration because you know, UDA Nationals has been deemed the Super Bowl of dance and it's all over social media. And so, you know, Ohio State, for example, a lot athletics posts about their progress over, you know, it's not just the dance teams account, but Ohio State University Department of Athletics, home of the football team, is also posting our national championship team. And um, so like so when the teams come home and they're wearing their gear and they're walking to class, there's kids who are like, Oh, you're on the dance team, like you know, so it's not really um as isolated, you know. They do have kids look at them like, oh my god, I watched your routine, you know, which is so cool. Like, what I love that.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

So, by the way, over 250 teams participate in UCA UDA events. Wow, yep.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Um, yeah, that's a lot of teams. That's just teams, not even spectators. The teams, yeah. So, what I was gonna say, like to that point, I know we got to get into the episode, but what I was gonna say to that point, Steph, of like the dance team and the culture is like we have to remember that these girls are also like if you're at a major university that has a big football program and you're also competing, like Ohio State last year went to the national championship, which means their dance team was somewhat, some of them, right?

SPEAKER_04 13:24

I don't really know the whole team, but the whole team got to go.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

The whole team was traveling with them throughout the entire playoff season while preparing for to Karen's point of like the Olympics, like like while preparing for their own Olympic sport, they were cheering and dancing on the sideline for every football game. And that's hair, that's makeup, that's travel, that's being out in the elements, that's practice. And then they wake up at like what, four or five in the morning for these competitions that start at like eight o'clock, right? For an entire weekend and they dance back to back to back. There's no sport like this. So for people to get on the internet and talk about a fucking raised releve during a routine where like you're competing, you're gonna make mistakes. Like the equivalent that I heard was like if you're watching a football player and a player drops a pass, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have good hand coordination. He he made a mistake, it's a competition, you know?

SPEAKER_01 14:24

But he's also, by the way, not doing it in perfect unison with all of the other players on the field.

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Like exactly and then you and then you get back on count. Like it would be different if they like sacrificed the releve for the team, you know. Like they're they made a air, they made a bobble and they're trying to get back on count. Like there's just all this pressure on them, and like just give them a break. Not to mention they are freaking 19 and 20 years old. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Except for that, absolutely flawless, you know, like the it's crazy. Um, and also it seemed like I I was I was more distracted this year, so I wasn't, you know, as close to each routine like I usually am. But it seemed like everyone messed up in finals that there was like a floor issue.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Yep. And that was what they were saying about the venue, is that like so the Rutgers coach actually got on and talked about this, and I thought her perspective was really great. It's on TikTok, so you guys will never see it. But she talked about the change of venues and how hard it is, how difficult it is for a dancer to start out in the in the arena with the castle where they start on the flat floor to then go to the raised stage. Um, how do you practice and prepare for that? Like, how do you simulate simulate that experience for your team? You know?

SPEAKER_01 15:50

I see varsity. Who's the king here? The people online or varsity? Everybody.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Everybody. Everybody.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Everybody.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Everybody. Because if you don't like something that was done, then just don't say it. Like praise what you did like, you know, like you don't have to go on what you don't like, just praise what you did like. Because these girls, again, they're they're in their nine, they're 19 and 20. Like they go on they social media is like their life. So like they're gonna see this stuff, and like I don't know. We just need to protect the mental health of dancers a little bit better than what we're doing. Social media is the devil.

unknown 16:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

So that's my sorry, that took a while, that took a while to get through, but um I think it's a I think I just being that we are dancers and you know, this is a a major touch point for our friendship. I just think it's important to let people know that like you know, just please be careful what you say when you have a microphone and a platform because um I just don't know the experience of these of these groups of kids and they work so hard. So hard, so hard. So thanks.

Share Your Karen Confessions

Why Forrest Gump Matters

Quick Plot Summary And Oscars

First Watch Reactions And Expectations

SPEAKER_04 16:58

Thank you. You just heard our Karen stories, but we can't be the only ones. If you've had a Karen or Chad encounter or confessional, you've been a Karen yourself. We'd love to hear from you. Wherever you listen, click on the link in our show notes and text us your Karen stories. Well, today we're going to be getting into my absolute favorite movie of all time. Um, if you know me, you know that my number one favorite movie is Forrest Gump. I could literally do a one-woman show performing almost every line in this movie. It was released in July, on July 6, 1994, which was the summer before I started sixth grade. The Forrest Gump quotes were heavy in rotation that year, and some of them still still sneak out from time to time for me. It was funny, it was heartwarming and at times gut-wrenching. Um, it had a little bit of everything. It's just perfection. Um, before we get started, for our listeners who don't know, I looked up a short synopsis of the movie. So if you haven't seen the movie, which honestly I can't with you, but um, and no offense, Karen, we're gonna get to that in a second. But I did maybe think we should give a synopsis of the movie without giving away the ending because if you haven't seen it, you must. And I mean you must. So the synopsis said Forrest Gump 1994 follows a kind-hearted, slow-witted Alabama man played by Tom Hanks, who, despite his low IQ, unknowingly influences major US historical events from the 1950s to the 80s. Guided by his mother's advice and his love for childhood friend Jenny, Forrest becomes a football star, a war hero, and mogul, all while navigating life with unwavering optimism. The film is a story of resilience, love, and finding meaning in life, winning six Academy Awards, including best picture, best director, which was Robert Megas, best adapted screenplay, best visual effects, best film editing, and of course, best actor for Tom Hanks. First, we need to start with the obvious. Karen, of course, did not see this movie until preparing for this episode.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Yesterday.

SPEAKER_04 19:19

You saw it yesterday?

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yeah, yesterday.

SPEAKER_04 19:21

I wanted it to be fresh. Okay. So I guess I feel like it's important that we start with you because you're just now seeing it. So I was just curious to know what did you think?

SPEAKER_01 19:33

And I just want to also say, please answer carefully because my whole heart and soul wind up for this makes it really hard for me to give an honest answer.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Wait, so you're about to you're about to dog the best movie ever? Is that what you have to do?

SPEAKER_02 19:51

I just I wish I feel weird right now. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

I'm feeling I know for our one listener, um it's hard because I don't know if there's anybody else of our generation who haven't hasn't seen the movie, and I would love for somebody else in this world who could be watching it for the first time to chime in here as well. But it's not that I didn't enjoy it. Um, it was sadder than I expected. I didn't know that part about it. It was not at all what I thought it was. And at the end, I just didn't get the point. I didn't get, I didn't understand what the point was. There were like this is all gonna be spoiler alerts, but I think I'm the only one. For who? No, I said I'm the only one who hasn't seen it, I acknowledge. But like there were so many things that were completely unbelievable to me, like the running across the country thing. Like, I that part I was like, I didn't get the point. And Bob was afterwards, we were debriefing, and Bob was like, it's about, you know, optimism, and it's about how moments in your life can have a ripple effect that you don't even realize. And so, like, yeah, all of those things, okay, I get that. It's just not what I thought it was. I don't know what I thought it was, it just wasn't what I expected. And that's my honest answer. And I'm sorry, Steph.

SPEAKER_04 21:31

It's like you said you did it's not like you didn't enjoy it. So as long as you enjoyed it but didn't come out with a point, I guess that's fine. I I think we're gonna talk a little bit about some of the meaning and like significance and how it, you know. So maybe talking about it. That's what I'm hoping for. Yeah, like maybe talking about it with someone who knows every word. Oh I can I can help you. The resident expert. Um, so then my next I kind of want to turn it over to you. Manny, because obviously, um, you know, I have a lot of emotional connection to the movie and stuff, and I was just curious to know your perspective from having seen it. Um, you saw it back when it came out, is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 22:14

And like every year since.

SPEAKER_04 22:16

Every year since. And if it's on TV, you stop and watch it.

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Um I have seen moments on TV just um like I'm not living completely under a rock. Like Bob would have turned it on a couple of times over the years, and I saw moments, but I've never watched it front to back, and like clearly missed the point when I was catching little moments of it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:38

It's absolutely why did you love this movie so much? Um, what do you remember about like when it came out? Um, did did you feel like kids were quoting it a lot at school when you when it came out? Like, what was your experience around it?

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Yeah. Um, I do want to say one thing about Karen's point about um the unbelievable part of going across the country. I just want to make note that we are currently witnessing monks travel across the country barefoot and their optimism that we're witnessing and how people are like coming together and they're gaining like a following. That like moment reminded me of like force gump here of like, uh, why are you doing this?

Intelligence Labels And Hidden Gifts

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Yeah, no, it's not just that bit. There was just a lot of moments of like the ping pong thing, and then him like carrying all of these men out in war, and you know, there was just like lots of things where I'm like, if you did one of these things in your lifetime, fine. But when they put it all together, I was like, I don't, I didn't understand what they were going for with him being incredibly talented at so many different things over the course of his lifetime. That was the part where I was like, why? If the if the point was optimism and kindness um and kind of a simple view of the world, why does he also need to be exceptional at all of these things? That was that was the bit that I kind I didn't get.

SPEAKER_02 24:16

I think because he was like iced out because of his uh academic IQ, they're trying to show that like it doesn't have to be about his brains, like he had other acuities in various areas and and also like the time period, right? Of like it's not uh it those people who generally had uh what we would call like intellectual disabilities, I would say that that's what he added, were institutionalized. And so I feel like there that's also like a theme of the movie of like, you know, um human ability isn't just in our like like academic intelligence or in like our um conversations, like like what you know, the what I don't know what I'm trying to say, but I just feel like that was also part of it of like the humanity of people, people's abilities beyond just um like intellectual abilities.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

IQ though yeah, they kept referencing like IQ, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:18

Actually, I have a um quote because I and sorry, did you get to say your initial reaction to the movie movie?

SPEAKER_02 25:24

No, I did not. I did not I was because that was one of my initial reactions, is that like I wasn't trying to be defensive of Karen, I was just gonna say like that's where my point started of like when la I think it was like a couple weeks ago when you were like, where what do you want me to say for this episode? I wanted to like say that part, but you know, it's not my episode. So um, you know, however you come to your notes and whatever it is you want to prepare for the episode um is what what we go off of. But that was like my initial like thinking of like, I think about maybe it's like I think about this movie more often than I really realize. And that was one of those points where it was like, wow, this is giving very like the only the last time I can like visualize something like this or seeing something like this is actually in the movie for Skump where he's like running and he has this t-shirt and he the face, you know, and like all the cultural, like all the cultural iconic um moments that are highlighted through each generation. Just historically, I really, whether it's fictional or not, I just really appreciate the reference to the time periods. Um, particularly, I was drawn to um the 70s. I don't know, there's just something about that, and maybe because it's the climax of the movie, I don't know, but like there's just something about that era that I really love. I think um with the Black Panther scene and the arch on Washington, um, Dead Main de Rowan, your Black Panther Party, you know. Um and then like, you know, the um portrayal of Jenny, like I think she's like such a to your point, Karen, like I think she's such a like sad character. And I almost really see the movie through her eyes more than I do Forrest. Um I feel like the point is like that Jenny got lost and it was like Jenny's childhood and what like that abusive childhood did to her and her trajectory in life. Like I just feel like yes, Tom Hanks got best actor, but like what's the woman's name who played Jenny?

SPEAKER_04 27:32

Robin Wright.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

Robin Wright. Robin Wright. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like she did such a phenomenal job of like the evolution of that childhood, that abusive childhood to um teen, to college, to adult, like that whole portrayal of a woman like that, really.

SPEAKER_04 28:02

Gosh, man, you just touched on absolutely every single thing that I had listed out to discuss. I so I don't even know what to do next, but you've said kind of a little bit of everything. So I kind of feel like first I want to go back to um Karen, you said about um like, for example, him being like exceptional about bringing them in out of the war zone in Vietnam, right? And you're like, and um, so that made me think about this quote. So, first of all, I pull a reference that I linked is Roger Ebert's um film review that was written in 1994. You guys remember like Ebert? Was it Sisko and Ebert? Sisko and Ebert. So this is Ebert's writing about Forrest Gump, like back in 1994. And so he says, and yet this is not a heartwarming story about a mentally challenged man. That cubby hole is much too small and limiting for Forrest Gump. The movie is more of a meditation on our times as seen through the eyes of a man who lacks cynicism and takes things for exactly what they are. And so, like, that really resonated with me because like he did lack cynicism, like he didn't um come into anything with any, you know, cynical negative view. And um, and this that last part when it says takes things for exactly what they are. You know, if you remember him in the movie, he um got the Congressional Medal of Honor for saving all those men um in Vietnam. And then he gave it to Jenny when he saw her, and she was like, You can't give me this. And he's like, I was just doing exactly what you said. If you are in danger, you run. And so he went kind of just literal, and his simple perspective earned him the medal of honor. So, like, like he just took life at face value, he didn't question, he didn't, you know, and that earned him the medal of honor, or it um caused him to meet the love of his life, or it caused him to um, you know, like when the guys told him when he became a ping pong star, all he said was keep your eye on the ball. Boom, eye on the ball. Like that's all it took, and he became great. If you flush out all the commentary and all the negativity, I don't know. That's kind of where what I got from that.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

I love that. It's like the simplicity of a skill in order to achieve mastery, which is like maybe why running was the choice of athletic prowess for this character because it's like such a simple act. You it doesn't require a lot of equipment or tools, and everyone can do it, and we've been doing it since the beginning of time. And so that motif of simplicity and running being like a part of that motif, I I never thought of it in in that um fashion. So I I like that. That's very beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

I did like the simplicity of life, you know, like I feel like our lives are so busy and complicated with work and technology and all of the things that we need to do every day. And I liked the vision of a slower life where you know you had time to just be. Maybe that's more just me wishing for more of that these days, but that part I I enjoyed. I just felt it was sad. I think I alluded to this last week as well. It's like I'm feeling a little down right now, and that was not. I thought it was gonna be more uplifting and happy and simple, and it was sadder than I expected it to be.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

I feel like too though, like the exceptionality of Forrest Gump was part of what made brought humor. Like, how funny, like, this guy ends up running so fast with a football in his hand and plays for the University of Alabama, or like you know, he can run for three years back and forth across the United States of America, and he can, you know, I think that that some of those moments is what brought some levity while he was kind of living this painful life, or you know, or supporting someone through a painful life to Manny's point. Um I kind of have a separate segment about Jenny Um I did want to talk about. Um but the unbelievability is what brought joy because um Iber also said he was like it was a comedy question mark, drama, it you know, it was everything. Yeah, like he made a comment about that.

Assassinations Motif And Meaning

SPEAKER_01 32:58

Maybe that's part of why it left me feeling unsure of the point, because yeah, it was sad, there was silliness, it was war, it was like there was so many, it felt disjointed to me, which was unsettling. The other thing that I wanted to ask about today was because Bob brushed over this when I was debriefing with him, was like there was throughout references to people being shot, and I wasn't sure if there was a significance to that. There was John Lennon, there was reference to Reagan being shot, there was reference to Kennedy being shot, there was reference to, and it was always kind of fleeting. Like it was always him being like, and for no reason at all, somebody shot him. Was there any rationale for that? Oh, Martin Luther King uh was the other one.

SPEAKER_04 33:57

I felt like that was part of like that statement where he lacked cynicism that in that quote. Like he would always just be like, you know, someone shot that poor man. Like, yeah. You know, I don't, and I don't know why. And for no reason, for no reason at all. And I feel like that let us, the audience, you know, take us back to you know how we understood that to be, like, without discussion, you know, it just let you be like, Well, I know the reason. And I don't know. I felt like those are the things that gave the movie texture for me. Cause I would, you know, drift off to think about like, you know, Martin Luther King was assassinated while you know that you just kind of it just made you think about the world and that Forrest Gump was living in this world with so many happenings, and he was not oblivious. He didn't understand.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

I would argue that he does understand because why would for no reason at all, for no reason at all, we're shooting people, you know? Like it might be a reason, but it's not a good enough reason. You know what I mean? You can unpack it for days of like this is the reason why, but like why is the reason why of that, you know? Like, I don't know. I feel like that's kind of also like goes back to that motif of simplicity, you know, of like at the end of the day, if you really think about it, like like there is no reason why to kill somebody like that. Um, I also think to what Karen is describing, this makes me want to watch this movie with Brielle, which she will never do because I've been begging her to watch Selena with me for a little bit, and she's like, just if I beg her to watch the movie with me, it just like doesn't work. So I'll just have to like quietly put it on in the background and see if she shows up. But like I think there's I think that you may have missed something in watching this in your adolescence that like there was a there's like a curiosity or a purity, or maybe it was just something about like again, the time period of the 90s where like movies didn't have to have a purpose. We just went to watch movies for entertainment or community, you know, to just the Hollywood culture hadn't yet hit us the way that it is now, and we weren't analyzing entertainment in the way that we are now. I just feel like during that time when the movie came out, it was just, I don't know. I don't know if it was the how old I was, and I like felt connected to my parents who had seen all this stuff happen during their lifetime. You know, like I felt like very connected during the Vietnam scenes, like my dad is a um veteran of Vietnam. And so um he was somebody who pulled multiple men out of the jungle and earned a purple heart for that behavior. He was a world-class boxer. He was supposed to go to play minor league baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates before getting drafted for the war. Like he was a very versatile man before the war happened and then, you know, all the other stuff that came with it. So, like those scenes of like, you know, seeing culturally what my parents experienced while they were growing up, like I felt really connected to my, to my to that generation, to the boomers when I watched that, because it was like a tragedy that I had never experienced. And like again, that goes back to like now that you're watching it as an older person, like you have experienced some of those tragedies. Like we hadn't yet experienced 9-11 when this came out. I don't think Columbine had happened. You know what I mean? Like, as a generation, we didn't have any of those real dark, um moments that perhaps you now know um to happen and impact a generation that we just call it naive or whatnot, didn't experience when we when we went through watching it.

How 90s Viewing Shapes Interpretation

SPEAKER_01 37:55

Something you said there though, I want to take a moment on because like you started about, you know, the movies in the 90s didn't necessarily have to have a purpose. But like I actually feel the opposite. I feel like I thought that was a recent phenomenon where movies just like there was one with um Jesse somebody and from Facebook movie and Macaulay Culkin's little brother. The one where they travel, where he's like a mess and yeah, they like go to Europe and the one kid is kind of like depressed, and they find where their grandma lived or something like that in Italy. It was like up for all these awards last year, and I watched it, and I was like, that had no point. It had no point. It's just two people living their lives, which are quirky, which is like everybody's lives. But I feel like that is something that feels very recent to me. So it was interesting because I feel like the movies in that I grew up with always had some like moral or you know, um, like you said the climax of the movie was like the 70s or something like that. And I was like, there was a climax to that movie. I just like I don't know. It was just not, I think partially just not at all what I expected. And so I was just kind of waiting for the punchline, and there was, you know, there wasn't one. I don't know how to explain it. It just was very unsettling to me and sad. I can't overemphasize. I just thought it was gonna be more uplifting.

SPEAKER_04 39:34

I felt like when Manny, like when you were saying no point, I didn't feel like you felt like the movies, I thought you were saying like when we were going to the movies in the 90s, we were not going because to analyze and walk out with some deep meaning. We were going to just digest and enjoy, and then the movie was over, and then we were off to the next thing.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

Like, yeah, that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_04 39:59

I think that that's a product of being younger, too. And that's what that I thought like that was that was Mandy's point. Was like we first saw the movie as 13, you know, yeah, 11, 12, 13. Yeah, so the way that you're so the way we took the movie in it, yeah, consumed it was not as analytical.

SPEAKER_01 40:18

And so And that's why I started with I hope, I wonder if we could find a listener who could watch this for the first time, like me, because I am curious.

SPEAKER_02 40:28

Yeah, but that's why we but that's also why we put it into our 90s season, is like to analyze it from the perspective of like the 90s and like what we how we exp how we consumed it in the 90s.

The Relationships That Carry The Story

SPEAKER_04 40:43

And like something you enjoyed when you were young, but you watch it as an adult, like like when we, you know, like Karen, you and I won go back and watch Friends, but we watch Friends differently, but we still have that warm, fuzzy feeling of the first time we saw it. And so, and like I feel like I pick up on things in Forrest Gump that I did not pick up on as a young person um when I watch it. My next thing that I like, I so I felt like some of the things that were um special about this movie was like or just kind of a thread throughout was Forrest Gump's relationships, and so I have kind of a segment like you know, his relationship to him and his mom, um, him and Bubba, and Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan. I know. Um, so and then I have a whole separate for Jenny. So should we just go straight to Jenny? Or or would you like to share which of the relationships besides Jenny was your favorite or like interactions between you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 41:50

Yeah, you choose. It's your episode, so you let us know where you want us to react.

SPEAKER_04 41:55

Maybe just a short little like, but aside from Forrest and Jenny, because I feel like that's very layered and there's a lot to say about them. Is there a really another relationship that or interaction that like warmed your heart or that you loved or that was funny between either him and his mom, um, him and Bubba, him and Lieutenant Dan?

SPEAKER_01 42:16

I don't know that there's one that I like more than another. Again, just like not having seen this until now. The mom was complicated. Like there was part of me. Well, first of all, I was really surprised by her sleeping with that guy to like get him into the school or whatever. Yeah. That shocked me because I thought of her as I thought that she was like this pure woman he was always talking about. My mom always says, you know, and then that added a like level of complexity to her that I didn't anticipate. I feel like at the end of the day, she did a really good job with him, considering it was a time where it was probably challenging to have the intellectual challenges that he had and get through life, you know, with that. She was so um empowering. I I think she did a good job in that in that regard. But yeah, like there's something about his relationship with her that bothers me, and I can't quite put my finger on what it is. Like, I just I don't know. I couldn't tell you what it is. Like at the end, though, I'm like, yeah, he did well, and she was kind of the reason, you know. I just there was something there that I couldn't quite grasp. Um there's like something unhealthy about their relationship. I don't know. You thought I yeah, I can't again, I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm sure if I googled it, there's some people who are in that camp that I could go down a little.

SPEAKER_04 43:50

Relationship was did you say inappropriate? She's not unhealthy. Unhealthy. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

No, not inappropriate, no, no, no, I didn't care. That at all.

SPEAKER_04 44:01

Um I don't know, just knowing just being an educator and like knowing, you know, when you have severe disabilities or some to that, you can be in school longer. And um, and so like so I don't know if you're talking about like the fact that he came home a lot or just like needed her so much, but that's I think common. And um, and I felt like what she did to empower him to be independent, and like that he went on to do things independently is like the kudos that you know I know that you said like he went on to do great things and she she had a lot to do with it, and just those little sayings that she said to him to hold on to, like stupid is a stupid does, and you know, just her simple ways of explaining things that he could walk away with as he interacted with the world.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Yeah, and he did always say, like, like mom always has a way of explaining things that like in a way I can understand.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

Yeah, I thought the relationship was so tender, and I feel like all these relationships that you have brought us to consider were that way. Like, I feel like every person, even Lieutenant Dan, like saw Forrest in this very special way that the world didn't and understood him. Like, I feel like their the relationships were um so important to the story because they showed how Forrest was seen and um accepted and how we could accept, even if it's not, you know, each one had a different version of accepting Forrest, but at the end of the day, they still accepted and loved him for who he was. And Lieutenant Dan like tried and tried to change him, but he all but Lieutenant Dan was actually the one who ended up changing because he noticed that like him trying to change Forrest was like absolutely something that he couldn't do, and it forced him to eventually have to change and get new legs. But I love I love Bubba, I love that he got to finally have a friend who they could have these endearing conversations with, um, and who um he could listen to and you could just see, like, I don't know, when they're like scrubbing the floors and memory.

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Bubba was just listing all of the different ways you can prepare shrimp. Oh, that part was hilarious to me.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

Yeah, that's like the comedy, right?

SPEAKER_04 46:56

Yeah, I just loved when he stopped the whole list, and then Horace like looks at him like, and then they like go like that.

History Cameos And Special Effects

SPEAKER_02 47:09

It's so great. Yeah, bless it, bless it. It's so it's so beautiful, and it's such like a just you know wonderful moment of like, you know, humanness and um humanity that an ordinary, I think that's like that's like the whole thing. It's like it's also ordinary, like it's extraordinary circumstances, but the relationships and the interactions are also ordinary, which just made me feel like I was like placed as a background extra in the scene and just like witnessing it, like experiencing like the human tendencies of it all, as opposed to like just like watching a film happen. Like I just felt like I was just naturally like placed in these moments of time and watching people interact, which it was like maybe maybe the casualness of it is like something that is like very endearing to me. I don't know, but I just love that relationship the most, Bubba and Forrest.

SPEAKER_04 48:08

So speaking of the like historical events, so one of the Academy Awards that Forrest Gump won was for special effects. Um and so like inserting forests into these actual existing um historical events, and so I was just curious which like moment um stood out to you or even just commentary on social issues because like I in particular, like Manny already said, like, I'm sorry for interrupting your Black Panther party. Like, I thought that was amazing that he happened to stumble upon a like you know, and that he just thought it was a Black Panther party, and that he interrupted the party. Um, and one one that stood out to me was that he was there when um Governor Wallace stood in the doorway of um to prevent integration of University of Alabama and he's like in the background like holy girl gossip and he hands it to her. Like that that was amazing. Um, because I when I taught eighth grade English, we would read To Kill Mockingbird, and you know, I would pause and you know, I believe To Kill Mockingbird to be a civil rights book, and so we would read um articles about the civil rights movement and stuff, and so um I played the clip of George Wallace speaking in the doorway of University of Alabama, and um, so as an adult, the significance of um someone blocking integration of schools, you know, a 12-year-old seeing that movie, and I don't know, that that one is the historical historical event that really like impacted me or stood out to me the most. Um, what about you guys?

SPEAKER_01 49:54

The like um reference to Elvis, the like Watergate, this is Watergate is that one was these are the things that I was kind of like, what? Why? Why is this guy instrumental in every moment of history? I think that was the part that I was like, I'm a I'm a cynic, you know. And I'm like, what is how is this possible? But the the part that made me chuckle was when he mooned the president, when the president's like, I'd like to see that or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

And he was like, Well, here you go. Why in the buttons? What does he say? Right in the buttons. In the butt tox.

SPEAKER_01 50:33

I thought that was funny. Yeah, and there was JFK in there too, somewhere.

Jenny’s Counterculture Journey

SPEAKER_04 50:39

Yeah, um, when he when they won the national championship, maybe, and that's another one. Right, he was there twice at the White House meeting three times because he met Nixon, Johnson, and Kennedy, I believe. Okay, I'm gonna read this quote. We're gonna talk about Jenny, and then we can wrap. So, this quote, also from Roger Ebert, like his I read this whole thing, I was like, this was so tender, and it I think what I loved most about it was that it was written then. And so it's not like a oh, this movie's been out for 30 years. Here's a reflection. Like, this was his initial reaction. So that's why I um pulled quotes from it. But as Forrest's life becomes a guided tour of straight arrow America, Jenny, played by Robin Wright, goes on a parallel tour of the counterculture. She goes to California, of course, and drops out, tunes in and turns on. She's into psychedelics and flower power, anti-war rallies and love-ins, drugs and needles. Eventually, it becomes clear that between them, Forrest and Jenny have covered all of the landmarks of our recent cultural history, and the accommodation they arrive at in the end is like a dream of reconciliation for our society. What a magical movie! And I just had never considered the parallel, like they're going through history, but she's experiencing it through counterculture, and he's experiencing it through like the straight and narrow. I have never considered until I read that.

SPEAKER_01 52:19

That's the point I was looking for. I knew there was something that I was like, what is the point? That's yeah, isn't that that's what I needed. That's what I needed, yeah. Yeah, and I did think about that a lot. And Manny, you you mentioned it right at the top of like Jenny lives this sad life. Like she was clearly abused as a child, and like Forrest's interpretation of it is that um her dad seems nice and likes to touch them a lot, or something like that. And that then results in her, I would argue, you know, like her involvement in uh drugs and like her relationships with men seems challenging. But yeah, that's the that's the thing that brings it together for me of like you have this man who has a very matter-of-fact view of the world. It's very simple. He he takes things for exactly what they are, as Ebert says. And then a woman who has grown up in the same space and yet experiences the world in an in a completely opposite way, and that's how they find each other, life, you know.

SPEAKER_04 53:40

Like she, you know, for her to be the one that offered the seat on the bus, like you can sit here if you want. Um and you know, she she was ostracized too. She just seemed othered by the community, and they connected. Being othered led him one way, and being other led her another, but they still bonded and connected over that. And so I told Steve that that's what this we were talking about. This and he was like, Oh my god, you'd love that movie. Um, he was like, But I have seen argument that um Jenny could be considered a villain in this story. What do you think about that thought?

SPEAKER_01 54:25

I mean, I could see that argument. Like, why?

SPEAKER_04 54:28

What are they arguing? That she kind of like led him on kind of a thing, or like ultimately like left him in the dust, knowing that she he loved her, and then when he became a millionaire, then came back and like moved in with I didn't get that.

SPEAKER_01 54:47

He she never took anything from him.

SPEAKER_04 54:50

Yeah, I know. I disagree with the idea. Except his virginity, except for yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:57

Yeah, I mean, isn't that something to be taken? I know we've talked about we've talked about that.

SPEAKER_02 55:03

I it was a joke.

SPEAKER_01 55:05

Um I don't, I mean, I could see the argument of like she some of her behaviors were maybe taking advantage of his love for her, but I also think I don't think that was the intent, right? Like they were childhood friends. She loved him, maybe not the same way, but it was clear that she cared deeply about him and her abusive upbringing um and life challenges would bring her back to him. And then I feel like she realized she wasn't good for him, and so she would leave. And so it was just this constant like push and pull. That's what it felt like.

SPEAKER_02 55:45

I feel like Jenny um didn't think things through ever. Um she was just kind of impulsive and uh selfish um to everybody, though. Like she just was a wild card in a sense, and she just has a wild heart that just like wanted to like just wherever the wind took her, like that's where she was going, you know, like it she was never, she was a vagabond, she was never gonna stay any place long. Um I think Forrest helped ground her in some ways, um, but she never um, you know, and I think and I think this comes to like a conversation about like um people who have intellectual disabilities in society and like how we um what happens to your point, Steph, of like when um uh them being institutionalized or staying in the education system longer. It's like for their caretakers and their friends and their um people who love them, like what does that what does that relationship like look like? Like it's also kind of um ambiguous, I guess is the best word for that. Like of like what what was Jenny supposed to do? You know, like I she's also trying to explore her own life, and I don't think that the society was built for for her to stay. Like, I just I don't know. And that's why like they came back together, I think is like a I love that part of the the quote, you know, but I think it is a deeper conversation around relationships that um people have with um you know communities of people who have disabilities. Like it's um I think that's a greater conversation to have beyond this podcast of like I would love to explore that like a little bit more in the future. Um, I don't have enough experience there to have that understanding. And so I think that's what gives me compassion for Jenny, maybe, and for his mom, you know, of like, wow, I've never experienced this kind of relationship. I will say I know Brielle has a a dear friend. When we first moved here, when I watched Brielle like really tend to that relationship, there was one time where we were gonna let her go in late or something, and she was like, I can't go in late to school. That's my day with Robert, you know? And like I never had any uh friendship like that where I was working with somebody or or working a building of relationship with somebody, you know, my friend, but not in like my like we weren't similar on like a a lot of things, but like there was just like this connection. There was just like this special connection, and like Brielle found that in a friend, and I just remember watching it and being like, this is so beautiful. Like, and she still to this day is like just so fond of him, and you know, and it he he like holds her hand and like kisses her cheek and kisses her face, and it's just like super warming to watch them be so gentle with one another, and so I think that's what I have compassion for Jenny for is just like you know, what was she supposed to do?

Destiny The Feather And Closing

SPEAKER_04 58:58

I have just nothing but compassion for her just because of her upbringing and like how you deal with trauma, and she experienced such trauma, and for her to ultimately find a little bit of peace before she dies, like with someone who genuinely cared for her, I feel like she was like kind of constantly attracted to abuse, and for her to like have even a moment of peace before she passed, what felt satisfying to me because I just cared for her as a character throughout the movie. Yeah, yeah. Um, I just wanted to like because Karen, you're like, I just didn't like what's the point? Um, I just want to kind of like wrap with um I read something that like the central theme of the movie was like destiny, and um yeah, and so that so in Forrest Gump says this quote at the end, he says, I don't know if we each have a destiny or if we're all just floating around accidental like on a breeze, but I I think maybe it's both, and I think that was kind of the point that's why it started with the feather floating and then it ended with the feather floating, like where the wind blows is kind of a thing, and he and he talks about the fact that you know just being like the wind blowing him one way, or if he was destined, or it was written in the stone, like for him to be who he was. Any closing thoughts or confessions or reactions to the destiny idea?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:39

I'm really trying hard to think of a confession. I think the confession for me is that um this conversation helped to bring the movie together for me. I think I didn't, again, I just didn't know what I didn't know about it yesterday when I was watching it. And I knowing how much everybody loves this movie, I think I was expecting something hugely climactic and epic, and it was just not, you know, it was like a long story, but that obvious climax was missing for me. And so it was my confession is it was helpful to break it down like this. It's kind of like an English class when you read a book and you like look for the themes and stuff. Um yeah, and it was helpful to kind of hear all of these parallel themes to really get to the depth of the story.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

Yeah, I think that that would be, you know, after this conversation, I'm a memory bubble burst for me of like, I used to watch this in like history class, you know, and like and now I'm understanding why, you know, and like why I keep the historical, cultural, iconic moments or were like what you did with To Kill a Mockingbird stuff to like help bring relevance to historical conversations while teaching. And so I I think I just kind of go back to that moment, Karen, of like I wonder if a big part of this is that like you watched it yesterday, so there's a lot to process. It's like a two and a half hour movie, right? Um so there's like a lot, yeah, there's a lot to process. You didn't watch it in community like with other people, um, and you had an expectation, which we all know expectations breed resentments. Unmet expectation breed resentments, right? So um anyway, I just feel like there's like a um, you know, for me, I I guess my confession is that I feel grateful that I got to experience this movie when I did and how I did, because um there is a magic to it that um I don't know, like I said with Brielle, like I don't know if she would be able to understand it. Like if there's an and if it kind of ends at the AIDS epidemic, and we know so much more about that time period now, but they're never gonna make a force gum too, you know. So, like, I don't know if this Gen Z, Gen Alpha would have a similar take on the movie or not. And I'd be curious to see that. I don't think we'll find an adult like Karen was wondering wanting, but maybe um some teenagers might share your perspective because they know so much about the world now that we just didn't when we were um in high school or middle school watching this movie.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:45

Yeah, I did the math. If this movie was released in 1994 and it took us from the 50s, 60s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and end in early 80s. So if a film like this was made today, it would start in 1982. And it'd be 80. It would start in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s, and would end um like at the like like 19 2010. So it would be like the 80s, 90s, like the war on drugs, maybe like it would have um Columbine, it would have um it would have uh 9-11, it would have Silicon Valley, yeah. And so like a movie Obama Obama, yeah. It would actually end probably right around Obama being elected and us start like maybe just like that Hopi changey feeling.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:39

Oh my god, now I want a forest gump too. I want baby forest. We need baby forest, that's why it ended there. Now I want that. Universe, please pick it up.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:50

And my confessional is I'm wearing a t-shirt that Manny got me years ago. It says stupid is stupid does from bubblegum shrimp in Daytona Beach. Um, because I loved going there because they do forest gum trivia and I'd always win that. And I also um have this Daytona Beach.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:11

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:13

I will say that when you see from me. This is also from me.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:18

That's amazing, which is an amazing full circle moment to the dance part, how we started of like Daytona Beach is where we went to nationals. Yes, and that's when I found out that this was like your favorite movie. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:34

Thank you guys for joining us. Um, next week we will be uh discussing Save the Lost Dance. Let's go.

Next Week Plug And Socials

SPEAKER_02 1:05:45

Oh my gosh. Is that me? Am I doing that or Karen? I think you do. You are all right. Hey, bitches. That's a wrap on another episode of You Can Call Me Karen. If you liked what you heard or didn't, go to our show page and leave a review. Just know, we will call you out. And if unlike my two co-hosts, you find yourself scrolling endlessly on TikTok, follow us at you can call me Karen. And if you're still living in the 20th century like a boomer, don't worry. You can find us on Instagram and YouTube at you can call me Karen underscore pod. We love you for listening.