In the article, Berlant makes a point of mocking the story of “Forest Gump” by speaking of how the character of Jenny was portrayed as she went through the later stages of AIDS. Berlant uses “Although the disease goes unnamed, Jenny seems to die of a special strain of AIDS that makes you more beautiful as your immune system collapses (Berlant).” This snide remark focuses on how the movie underplays AIDS, and takes a jab at the creators for portraying Jenny’s beauty. While this may be an accurate statement if we had not been gaining an understanding of Forest’s world views; unfortunately since the audience does, the statement is false.
In my view, the only reason Jenny seems to get more beautiful is that Forrest sees her as gaining beauty. Perhaps Forrest may be “too stupid” to see her deteriorating, as Berlant says; I however see it in a much simpler light (Berlant). Forrest will always see her beauty, no matter what shape she is in. And the purpose of making Jenny more beautiful was to make and audience member focus of Forrest’s view of life, love, and the World.
Article from: The Queen of America Goes to Washington city: Essays on Sex and Citizenship
By: Lauren Berlant
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