Forrest Gump screenwriter confirms dark theory about the film's ending

Updated on October 15, 2023 at 6:03 PM

A classic among classics, Forrest Gump has brought tears to many eyes. But the particularly tragic ending has seen one of its mysteries confirmed, and you're going to need tissues.

Forrest Gump jenny death reason revealed

In 1994, Robert Zemeckis made a film that would become a monument: Forrest Gump. The story of a simple-minded but endearing child who becomes a man of 1001 adventures. The film features exceptional music, Tom Hanks at the top of his game, and a series of tragic deaths... All these elements helped the film win no less than six Oscars, including Best Picture. However, one element of the denouement has not been clearly explained, and remains particularly tragic.

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thumbnail — Forrest Gump (1994) Paramount Pictures

Jenny, Forrest's true love

It's Forrest's eternal love. From his early childhood, bullied by other mean-spirited students, to his adult life, the life of the character played by Tom Hanks revolves around Jenny. But if she was present at the beginning and then at the end, the 'bird' that is the young woman, will fly away and live incredible adventures, abandoning Forrest who will go off to fight in the war or create his own shrimp company, an unrealized dream of the touching Bubba.

Towards the end of the film, however, Jenny returns temporarily to the arms of the man who has always loved her, spending a few weeks with him before setting out on her own life.

The reason for her death revealed

But the strength of Forrest Gump is undeniably the emotion aroused by each of the characters' deaths. From Bubba, who died in the arms of our hero, to the latter's mother, in her Greenbow mansion, going 'ALABAMA!', it will surely be that of Jenny, who became the mother of little Forrest. In the last quarter of the film, we learn that she is ill and has a 'virus the doctors know nothing about'. Two theories subsequently emerged: Aids or Hepatitis. The film's screenwriter, Eric Roth, put an end to the debate in 2019 in an interview with Yahoo.

Jenny died of AIDS. The tragedy of this ending is compounded by the possibility that young Forrest has also been infected. What's more, a sequel to the film was in the works in 2001, and intended to show the life of the boy, as a carrier of the disease. However, the film never went into production.

This article has been translated from Gentside FR.