Embracing The Weirdness With Bubba And Forrest
When Forrest Gump writes letters to his beloved Jenny while stationed in Vietnam, he reports to her everything he sees and experiences in the jungles of the Far East. He tells her everything he experiences in that strange foreign country: the rain, the people, the food and his inability to fathom why the war was happening in the first place. In one of those letters, he tells the love of his life about a man named Benjamin Buford Blue, aka Bubba. Throughout their time in the oriental nation, fighting the locals, saving their hides, Bubba and Forrest develop a very likely friendship.
It is a friendship defined by each person’s ability to accept the facets of the other person that they do not understand. It is defined by the ability to be a silent listener to what the other has to say without judgment or interruption. In the backdrop of mass killing and repression, Forrest and Bubba become each other’s support in a place where both of them are branded idiots. While Forrest does remain always focused on the task at hand, Bubba is less so and always seems distracted by the idea of one day owning a shrimp boat. Eventually, it becomes a shared dream after they shake on it.
In Robert Zemeckis’ film, Forrest Gump, it is easy to think that the story is about Forrest who, through a myriad of strange coincidences, lives a life filled with amazing achievements and impressive milestones. But that is not all that the film is about. The film is a ponderance on the nature of wisdom. It is about the power of humility. It is an experience that teaches the viewer the all-important lesson of staying grounded. Even though Forrest breaks records, wins medals and becomes the inspiration for a dance move that defined a generation, he always pines for the good health and happiness of a select few people in his life.
In a way, Forrest Gump embodies all the values of a good human being that are heard in every religion and faith ever known. He is the perfect candidate to be the eternal servant for a cause. His mission is not to be the most decorated or the most traveled. His mission is to do what it takes to keep things going. At the end of each of these missions, the objective is to simply return home to the loving arms of his momma and his forever love, Jenny.
On one of these missions, he meets Bubba. An Alabama-resident whose family has a history of serving rich white folk, Bubba dreams of one thing and one thing alone: shrimp. He lists them, knows recipes for them and can identify places where they may be present in huge swathes. Bubba and Forrest share a good rapport from the first moment they interact. The quirks of one are complemented by the quirks of the other. They stick together and watch out for each other, even leaning on each other to sleep in the marsh pits of Saigon. They even make a promise to run a shrimp boat together once they get back from the war.
Their friendship represents honesty and frankness that is very difficult to find anew in the current world. Even though their relationship is exactly what is prescribed for a thriving and connected society by those heavenly figures we call Gods, it seems like in the modern context, they are an anomaly. The essential requirement for any relationship to work is a clear understanding of each other.
In the case of Bubba and Forrest, it is this respect for each other that leaves an indelible mark on Forrest who cannot rest without doing justice to the memory of his friend. After Bubba succumbs to his injuries, Forrest realizes who he has lost. He goes to Bubba’s hometown and buys a shrimping boat. Joined by his lieutenant, Forrest forms the Bubba Gump Shrimping Company and sails off on another adventure in honor of his one and only friend.
People turn to holy books and science to understand their reasons for isolation and a seemingly incomplete existence. People give many names to their reasons for isolation and being disconnected. It may all be true and justified. But somehow the relationship between Bubba and Forrest is the perfect case study for the increasingly-anxious millennial generation to understand how a pure friendship works. It is one where there are expectations without any expectations. There are promises that cannot be broken. There is love that cannot be ignored.
When Forrest finally holds Bubba in his arms as he breathes his last, Forrest does not try to calm him or tell him that it will be better. The damage is considerable and there is no way Bubba will survive till the helicopter comes. He holds his friend and in the silence, they exchange a glance that says it all. Their longing for that moment to be erased from their lives. The many conversations about shrimping and the open waters. Their desire to go home. And as Bubba says the words (“I want to go home”), an honest Forrest Gump, without saying a word, promises to honor his friend in some way.
There is a great lesson to be learned from the example of these two. A lesson that friendship is not about and take. It is not about who was there for which moment of life. It is about just one thing: Respect. Not all friendships remain the same throughout the course of one’s life and even fewer survive for that long. And the secret ingredient to ensuring that it does is by having respect for their quirks and reasons of the other person. As Forrest would say, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get”.
