Is Reality Truly What We Make it to be? A Forest Gump Review

I saw Forest Gump again. I lost count of how many times I have seen this movie a long time ago. I saw it about five times in the movie theater alone, it’s important to note that movie tickets weren’t as expensive back then. And it doesn’t matter how many times I see this film, I will always feel moved by the scene in which Forest says good bye to his very best friend Bubba, or when he runs into Jenny in the middle of the fountain in Washington and when he sees his son for the very first time in Jenny’s apartment.

It only took one person for him to believe that he wasn’t different than anyone else, and that he could do anything he set his mind to as long as he persevered; his mother. And he goes about life with that mindset. It didn’t really matter what everyone around him said to him, about his “condition.” He was very resolute and soundly logical, I mean it really is true that “stupid is as stupid does”, right?

In light of many considered New Age movements, perspectives about life and existence, raising awareness, and “revolutionary” concepts which claim that it is our mind what creates our reality on a daily bases, (I think about The Secret ®) it makes you wonder if maybe Forest Gump was one of those masters at manifesting their desires in their everyday life and that he ultimately realized, before many of us, that it was what he set his mind to that determined what he would accomplish and not what others assumed. I know that many consider his accomplishments exorbitant or far-fetched, but if you think about it, many have achieved all those things presented in the film..

And I know that it is one of those sentimentally packed, emotionally charged tearjerker movies, (award-winning tearjerker) but I still like it and find it inspiring. The acting in the leading role as Forrest by Tom Hanks is just simply superb. I am not a big fan of Hanks, I have to admit, but he sure does deliver a great convincing performance, comparable maybe to that of Dustin Hoffman in Rain man. But Hanks does it so naturally that you would almost think that he is not even acting, and that if you happen to run into him walking down the muddy roads of Alabama he would say hi to you very nonchalantly, and genuinely interested in you with a “Hi, my name is Forest, Forest Gump” with a twangy southern accent.

I remain a fan, what can I say? With memorable photography, amazing directing and smooth editing, Forest Gump is one of those films that leave more that a brief sensation of wellness. It leaves just a little bit more, and I recommend a little bit of that “it” to everyone any day of the week.

Equal?

It is so easy to forget that there is a very large community of individuals with special needs. I know I often do. To a large extent, we seem to forget about a lot of issues because we are too worried about our own issues, like getting to work on time, what’s for lunch or dinner, the credit card bill, car payment, and the list goes on and on.

As I think about it a little bit more, I think that in a way we all have special needs, it just so happens that a few have very specific ones, significant differences in the way they think, walk or not walking, going about life.

What if my child had a very specific difference?

Maybe if that were the case I would notice the specific areas in which we as a society are failing to provide everyone with equal opportunities. Maybe I would notice the lack of ramps on sidewalks, or how difficult it is to get around in a college campus, or any public venue if my child needed a wheelchair to go around.

As with anything in life, there is a lot of effort needed to get things done. We have a certain way of looking at things, and when what we see doesn’t fit our model we find opposition. It may be some form of selective appreciation. We see what we like to see, and when we don’t understand something, it’s always easier to look away.

But there is only so much looking away that we can do. Reality can be avoided, but sooner or later, it will catch up with us. We can’t pretend that there aren’t any problems because that only makes things worse.

I guess all I’m really saying is that we have to see the reality that we are living. The fight for equal rights hasn’t ended. There is still a lot of work, and progress to be made, and the more people are aware and involved in finding solutions, the easier it will be to reach them.

The Path We Choose

Do we have a life of growth and learning?

Are we humble to knowledge and different perspectives?

Or do we stop learning at some point and just repeat the same messages over and over again?

Do we presume to know an absolute truth without even knowing of the other possibilities in this vast existence?

Which are we?

Who do we want to be?

If there ever was somebody who knows how you feel…

There isn’t a single day in which I don’t see some reference to the power of the will, or to how much WE are in control of our lives. Hardly a week goes by without me hearing somebody utter indiscriminately and at the very first chance they got “You are in control of your destiny” or some variation to that effect.

If they keep that shit up, I’m going to start believing it. If I keep seeing more people actually doing what they love and be recognized for it, I might get the impression that I can do it too. If I read one more novel that is so absolutely exquisite that it makes me feel like I’m barely writing at grade-school level, but at the same time teaches me something new, I might even get the delusion that I can write something that can teach someone else something too.

I’ve found out that I am a master of sabotage. And my favorite victim is I. And I am ruthless with me. I can totally keep myself from doing stuff all day long and I can say things to myself to keep me from being productive.

Q: What’s keeping me from writing at least one thousand words each day?
A: Me.

If I did that… let me do the math, although I’m not too good at it (←See what I mean?). Well, a thousand words each day for a whole month is 30,000 words. Mmm, that’s half a novel right there. So technically I can write an average of 6 novels in a year by writing one thousand words everyday. So far I have written 285 words in this little ramp, and it has taken me exactly ten minutes. If I keep writing at this pace, I can have as much as 1700 words on paper, if I do this everyday I can have a full length novel manuscript in 45 days.

Q: Who’s keeping me from doing it?
A: Well, you get the idea.

Me, me, me, me, and no one else but me, and that’s it.

Am I going to write the next great American novel in this fashion in the next 45 days? Maybe not… but maybe yes. Will I know if I don’t give it a shot? Definitely not. What if it takes me more than one shot at it? What if it takes me ten years? Well, I can spend the next ten years (or twenty) writing about one hour a day and see what comes up. As it is I already spend about 8 hours in a job that I don’t really care for. Why not spend some time doing something I actually love?

So there, I said it, I don’t care for my job (although it does pay the bills) but I’ve had jobs that pay the bills for the last 12 years. I really need to get my self to write. Hey look, I just made it to 500 words in half an hour. Not bad.

So it may be up to me after all.