Yep, this thread again.

Rewatching Forrest Gump as an adult, it seems to me that Forrest and Jenny were like two sides of the same coin, in that they were both impressionable beyond that of a reasonable person. Nearly everything Forrest does in the movie comes directly from someone telling him to do it. For example, Jenny tells Forrest if he ever gets in trouble, just run. He runs in Vietnam, and he runs for three years when she leaves. Even the ridiculousness where the Alabama crowd and band has to yell STOP! when he gets in the end zone, and he was so good at ping pong because he was told to keep his eye on the ball. Forrest's exception to this rule is when he believes he is doing right. He continues to beat the crap out of the frat jerk in the car and the goofball at the Black Panther meeting while Jenny tells him to stop. He disobeys Lt. Dan telling him to leave him, saving his life and several other members of his platoon.

Jenny's impressionability comes from Popular America. As a child in the 40s and 50s, she still prays to God (no inkling of religion at any other time). She is right at home with hippies in the 60s and disco in the 70s. Had she been born later, she would have been a Motley Crue groupie, followed by a grunge girl in Seattle, then tripping to Moby. Jenny was shown dropping acid and later shooting heroin. If the film was based on today, she might be working on meth.

I think American pop culture had a rough time finding an identity, starting with McCarthyism, and moving right through the Vietnam war. It became popular to hate aspects of America (Jenny hates herself quite often), free love was seen as the best way to be happy. Disco, and later hair bands, was a way to overcompensate and rebel against what your parents stood for. Jenny ran because she was confused about her feelings. She was afraid of what settling down would turn her into. I think we finally grew out of that in the late 80s and 90s. Parts of society will always be anti-good, but it became more popular to work hard in school, get a good job and pay off your mortgage instead of buying a more exotic car.

Jenny's son was born right around the time it became much more common to see a single mother raising children. The strength was applauded, and less blame was placed for failed relationships. Her diagnosis made her take a deep breath and reflect on her life. The last step of the grief process is acceptance. Just as America was accepting our faults caused by the baby boomers and external forces, Jenny accepted her past (why the scene of her throwing rocks at her childhood home is so vital).

Since she loved her son so much, she was finally able to love herself, opening the door to allowing someone else's love into her life. It wasn't the money, she left Forrest after he was already rich. She put an end to ulterior motives and wanted happiness for herself, her son and the man who loved her his whole life. They were star-crossed lovers, and in the end, nothing could keep them apart, not even the AIDS. Thanks for reading!