Running: Forest Gump Style

Whenever a person feels scared or uncomfortable, the first inclination is to walk away or run away. A frightened person’s tendency is to get away from the threat. Running is the easiest way to escape incoming danger. A high school friend once asks me if what I will do if I encounter bullies or robbers while I am on my way home. With a grin in my face I answered, “First I will hold my bag tightly, loosen my polo shirt (uniform) so I can swing my arms comfortably look at my enemies, turn around, and clinch my fist and…. run away from the enemies!” My friend laughed at me and says that my decisions are “gayish” and very cowardly. Maybe for him it’s a cowardly act to run, but for me it’s a wise choice.  Every one of us gets bullied once in our life directly or indirectly. Even those who bullies other persons were bullied in their past. With this, I ask myself, “Is it okay to run?”

As a multimedia student, it is required to watch films, read books and play games for the students to be oriented to the world of multimedia. In search of possible films that includes running I stumble upon the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is a 1994 American epic romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom. According to the plot of this movie, Forrest is a low I.Q. man who uses his “running” skills to have an epic life adventure and touch the lives of those people he met. Forrest receives a scholarship in the University of Alabama as a football player, become a war veteran who saves his wounded allies by running back and forth the war field, ran across America  and start the whole running craze in the seventies even though Forrest only run because he was only heartbroken.

"Run, Forrest run!"

There are two remarkable scenes in the movie that are very iconic and heartwarming. The first scene is when Forrest Gump was being chased by a group of bullies. As a child Forest wears leg braces, he is ridiculed by bullies. In this scene he was chased by the bullies, the infamous line by Jenny, “Run, Forrest run!” as Forrest hear Jenny’s cry Forrest runs as fast as he could. Eventually the braces fall off and Forrest was now free. The other scene was when Forrest got heartbroken, he run to be occupied and to forget his problem. This started a three year marathon across America,

 make Forrest a celebrity and draw a lot of followers.

"I just felt like running"

Newsman: Sir, why are you running?
1st Reporter: Why are you running?
2nd Reporter: Are you doing this for world peace?
3rd Reporter: Are you doing this for women's rights?
Newsman: Or for the environment?
Reporter: Or for animals?
3rd Reporter: Or for nuclear arms?
2nd Reporter: Why are you doing this?
Forrest Gump: I just felt like running.

Forrest Gump runs for several reasons; to escape from bullies, to have a college scholarship, to help save his wounded allies and to forget about his problems. To answer my question, “Is it ok to run?” I can now say that it is a wise decision on my part to avoid trouble. If I stay and engage in a fist fight with those bullies I know it will be more complicated. Like what Forrest Gump did, he run away because he knew that fighting and being aggressive will make his life more difficult. As an old idiom says, do not put fuel to the fire.

People who are afraid to run are like Forrest Gump in a way, these people need a little push to start running. An inspiration or maybe a purpose to keep on going. When Forrest Gump loses his leg braces, it opens a whole new world for him, an adventure that he can talk about with random people in a bus stop. Running is like having freedom, an escape from stress and other ambiguities in life. Some people does not need a deep reason to run, they just felt like running. But for others running must a have a purpose and objective. In conclusion, it does not matter who you are, where you from it is a matter of a personal preference. Running can help people achieve their dreams, running can also be a start of self awareness, running is a repetitive activity that has beneficial effect on someone’s’ mind and body.