Forest Gump.

Fifteen years ago I watched Forest Gump and again last night. It is America’s simple incoherent heart struggling to express itself about recent US history. Watching it it’s hard to not sense one’s own heart rising in unison. It knows nothing of ideals or morals, intrigue and duplicity; it knows only what love requires it to do, and Forest does it as an arrow flies. So what might he be doing now and in the interim? In the 80's he might have stumbled over a group of therapists. As they each expounded the benefits of their own particular model he would take it all in and express it in his uniquely simple, direct way. He would rise to prominence as a person of great congruence and empathy. On 9/11 he would save many lives yet be untouched by the ideologies of terrorists and America’s fearful reaction to them. He would be honoured for his bravery. He would find himself in Iraq captured and talking to Osama Ben Laden. They would have more in common than expected. Ben Laden would connect with Forest’s simple confused view and possibly glimpse America’s heart. He would walk free from his captors and be hailed as helping solve the conflict in a way no politician or general ever could. He would connect with the pain of the planet and act directly, running from place to place and living within simple needs, and because of his prominence be followed by millions of Americans. And in 2008 he would go back to his old shrimp boat and just wait a while and think of Jenny. In 2010 he will become anchor man for NBC News. No reason.