When Alan Silvestri wrote the score to Forrest Gump, he set out to capture Forrest’s innocence and childlike character … like a nursery song.
The Feather Song is a piano melody that begins the movie as the feather floats lazily from the sky and comes to land at Forrest’s foot. That melody repeats itself throughout the movie as Forrest tells his life story. Silvestri said, “at the end of the film even after all Forrest had been through he wasn’t any different.” The song perfectly captures Forrest’s childlike innocence.
That is one of the main reasons the movie connected with audiences and remains popular today – Forrest’s childlike innocence.
Despite enduring ridicule, rejection, and disappointment throughout his life – Forrest endured. He succeeded. He loved. Most importantly, he maintained his childlike innocence throughout his life journey.
While many of the people he encountered expressed emotions of outrage to bitterness to resigned complacency, Forrest remained optimistic. Hopeful.
While those closest to him succumbed to earthly temptations, Forrest maintained a faith in his special purpose.
How do we remain optimistic and hopeful in the face of disappointment?
How does a person discover and maintain their life’s special purpose?
How do you rediscover your childhood innocence lost but so alive in your own child?