Toxic or Not? Forrest and Jenny from FORREST GUMP

Forrest: I'm not a smart man.

But I know what love is.

Alan: She's saying, You don't want to marry me,

because she doesn't believe she's worthy of that love.

Cab Driver: Where are you running off to?

Jenny: I'm not running.

Jono: There are aspects of her and Forrest's relationship that are unhealthy.

Jenny: You can't keep doing this, Forrest. You can't keep trying to rescue me all the time.

Jono: But the notion that Jenny is toxic, or even, as some people claim, the true villain of the story.

Alan: Oh [beep] you.

Just [beep] you right to hell.

Young Jenny: I'm Jenny.

Young Forrest: I'm Forrest, Forrest Gump.

Jono: Everything Jenny does from here through the end of the film

is her trying to recover from this childhood.

Jenny: I was messed up for a long time.

Jono: Are there unhealthy dynamics to this relationship? Sure.

But you're dealing with somebody who understands what love is,

but he doesn't understand how love works.

Jenny: Would you marry me, Forrest?

Alan: From what we've seen in the film so far, the only thing I would label toxic...

Jono: This is one of the reasons why good therapy is so crucial.

Jono: Hello and welcome to Cinema Therapy.

I'm Jonathan Decker. Licensed therapist who loves movies. This is...

Alan: Alan Seawright, a professional filmmaker who needs therapy.

Jono: Today we are doing a Toxic or Not.

Alan: Bum bum!

Jono: On one of the all-time great iconic films of the 90s...

[nope]

[nope]

Alan: Forrest... Forrest Gump.

God, I'm surrounded by idiots.

Jono: I was gonna have you say Forrest Gump.

Alan: Forrest Gump.

Jono: Yes, there's a lot of chatter online.

A lot of people have opinions, say that this movie is toxic,

that its portrayal of Forrest and his potential autism

or his intellectual disability is toxic, even that Jenny is toxic,

that her relationship with Forrest is toxic, that this whole movie is toxic!