Forrest Gump is a classic of American and world cinema, a film that captured several decades of American history through the eyes of a simple man from Alabama. While the narrative’s mood is mostly comedic due to the main character’s naivety, kindness, and unshakeable optimism, certain themes in Forrest Gump are portrayed in a serious, dramatic light. Interpersonal relationships are one of those themes: Forrest’s romance with Jenny and friendship with Bubba featured abrupt endings and death. One can claim that Robert Zemekis tried to show the importance of holding friends and romantic partners dearly since one can never know when tragedy may strike. However, such a portrayal of interpersonal relationships also demonstrates that friendship and love do not necessarily follow a general pattern. In particular, analysis of the friendship between Forrest and Bubba shows that a friendship can carry on and never dissolve, even if one of the friends meets an early death.
Initially, their friendship followed the classic sequence of stages, starting with a contact stage. When Forrest entered the bus to the U.S. Army boot camp, several recruits refused to let him take a seat, behaving exactly like the bullies from Forrest’s childhood. Bubba was the only friendly person on the bus; he politely invited Forrest to sit beside him (Nathan Kamps, 2013). This interaction was a perceptual contact, an event of someone seeing and hearing the other person and making their first opinion (DeVito, 2020). Then Bubba made an interactional contact, introducing himself to Forrest and shaking his hand (Nathan Kamps, 2013). As such, Forrest could immediately recognize the openness and friendliness of Bubba through his verbal and non-verbal behaviors.
Their friendship grew stronger at the boot camp, indicating the beginning of the involvement stage. Bubba was passionate about shrimp and had a dream of buying a shrimping boat one day. He talked about the shrimp everywhere, anytime — when the recruits practiced assembling and disassembling the standard-issue rifles or when they scrubbed the floor in the barracks (Movieclips, 2011a). While Forrest always stayed silent, it was evident that he was willing to patiently listen about the shrimp and shrimp fishery, the true passion of his friend. One can qualify these behaviors as the involvement stage, where the sense of mutuality and connection develops (DeVito, 2020). Bubba found a person who listened to him, and Forrest finally found someone who did not call him stupid or try to humiliate him. Ironically enough, Forrest displayed solid emotional intelligence in those interactions to keep that budding friendship going, despite being a slow-witted man in the traditional understanding of intelligence.
At this point, Forrest and Bubba were assigned to the combat unit and shipped off to fight in Vietnam. One can claim that their friendship has reached the intimacy stage, where the individuals consider themselves best friends to each other (DeVito, 2020). While the actual moments of friendship mostly remained off-screen, in the Vietnamese ambush scene, one can see how Forrest cared about Bubba and loved him. When the deadly mortar fire rained down on Lt. Dan’s platoon, killing and wounding many American soldiers, Forrest followed the orders and ran to safety. However, he realized Bubba did not get out of the site of the ambush and returned to save him (Clips Cafe, 2018). Forrest was not afraid of the inbound airstrike of the U.S. fighters. He ran through the jungle and rescued Bubba right before napalm scorched the ground, only to witness how Bubba succumbed to his wounds a few moments later (Movieclips, 2011b). Such willingness to die for a friend can be considered the highest level of interpersonal commitment.
Bubba’s death by the river in Vietnam stopped the development of his friendship with Forrest. A viewer can only guess whether the relationship between them could have deteriorated. However, one can argue this friendship never dissolved since Forrest held Bubba dearly. He remembered Bubba’s kindness and his passion for shrimp fishery. Forrest came to Bubba’s grave and paid him respect, telling how he honored the promise to get into the shrimp fishery business (MovieScenesInHQ, 2011). In that regard, Forrest expressed his gratitude for the friendship of reciprocity, characterized by mutual affection and loyalty (DeVito, 2020). Forrest remained loyal to Bubba, and even death could not dissolve their friendship.
In conclusion, one can state that love and friendship can be a unique experience, a relationship that does not fit standard psychological categories. In the example of friendship between Forrest Gump and Bubba, one can see that a relationship based on powerful intimacy can defy death. Forrest was not the brightest man in terms of academic intelligence. Bubba was a man whose burning passion for shrimp could make him look strange in the eyes of many ”normal” people. However, these individuals matched each other perfectly, forming a friendship of reciprocity based on loyalty, mutual respect, and tolerating the unusual. In the end, such an on-screen relationship transcended human mortality, giving the audience a powerful example of friendship, honor, and kindness.
References
DeVito, J. A. (2020). Social media and communication (10th ed.). Pearson.
Movieclips. (2011a). Bubba on shrimp – Forrest Gump (3/9) movie clip (1994) HD [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Movieclips. (2011b). Bubba Goes Home – Forrest Gump (4/9) movie clip (1994) HD [Video]. YouTube. Web.
MovieScenesInHQ. (2011). Forrest Gump – 02 – the promise to Bubba [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Nathan Kamps. (2013). Forest Gump 1080p: Forest joins the Army [Video]. YouTube. Web.