1994 was a great year for American cinema and one of the standout movies of the year was the Tom Hanks starrer Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump came only second to one of the most popular animated films of all time, The Lion King, at the box office grossing $678 million. It also faced heavy competition at the Academy Awards from exceptional films like The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction.
The film won six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth. Forrest Gump was based on Winston Groom’s novel of the same name, however, writer Eric Roth changed a lot of the original story. Further, Roth’s script had to undergo several changes according to director Robert Zemeckis’ vision.
The Biggest Change In Script In The Tom Hanks Movie
Robert Zemeckis changed the focus of Eric Roth’s script away from the elements of fantasy and fictional history, instead using Tom Hanks’ character to take the audience through real American history. However, one of the biggest changes, which could have changed the audience’s perception for the worse, involved Robin Wright’s character Jenny Curran.
Several fans of the movie viewed Jenny, who was Forrest Gump’s love interest, as a villain. Jenny was the only lifelong friend Forrest had, who accepted him for who he was. But Jenny had a terrible childhood with a s*xually abusive father which made her abandon Forrest and run away. In a discussion at a USC panel about Forrest Gump, Zemeckis revealed Jenny’s deleted scene from the movie.
The scene implied that as a young girl, Jenny was responsible for her father’s death, although the actual killing was not shown on screen. Zemeckis had filmed the scene but ultimately chose to delete it from the final cut. The producer of the film, Steve Starkey, agreed with the decision, considering it too dark and graphic for a film like Forrest Gump.
Why Was Jenny Hated So Much In Forrest Gump?
While Tom Hanks was loved for his portrayal of Forrest Gump, people hated Robin Wright’s Jenny. Calling Jenny’s actions “selfish”, a section of the Internet described her as one of the worst villains in cinema. According to them, Jenny always abandoned Forrest when he needed her the most, but only appeared in his life when she needed him.
With the hate surrounding Wright’s character, the director’s decision proved right as the deleted scene would have attached the tag “murderer” to the unfairly villainized character. Eric Roth agreed with Zemeckis’s decision:
“Bob always said, I think he was probably right in the long run, if she kills that man, as bad as that guy is, the audience will never recover from it. They won’t ever let her off the hook.”
Although Jenny’s intentions were in the right place, her trauma and low self-esteem made her think that she was unworthy of Forrest’s love. Further, only Forrest Gump’s perspective was explored in the film which had less screen space for Jenny. The limited version we see of Jenny over the years could not explore the entire struggles that the character underwent.
Forrest Gump is available for streaming on Paramount Plus.
Source: Twitter
