Forest Gump (PG-13)

Are you familiar with the plot of Forest Gump?  Here’s a bit of background for you:
Mama says stupid is as stupid does.” He knows he is different from everyone else. He looks different, he walks different, he talks different. All the other kids remind him that he is different, and they exclude him because of it. All the kids, that is, but one…

This 1994 film from Paramount Pictures is directed by Robert Zemekis and written by Eric Roth from the book by Winston Groom. It is produced by Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch and Steve Starkey and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Sally Field.

• Have you ever done kind act to someone who no one likes? What did you do? How did it make you feel?
• Have you even been in the situation where you are different from most of people or no one talks to you? How did you feel?
• Being empathic or putting our selves in the other person’s shoes provides the foundation for understanding social connections. What is an example of someone who is “different” who you have had an easy time understanding and empathizing with? What is an example of a time when this was very challenging to do? What can you learn from these two very different experiences?
• Why is it easier to be nice to someone who is different when you meet him or her alone than when you are with your friends?
• Have you ever tried to hide your difference from your friends because of fear of exclusion?

• Think of anyone in your school or neighborhood whom no one likes. For one week, observe the person and do any random act of kindness, for example, initiate conversation during lunch or recess for the person. Write a journal about what happened and how you felt about your deeds and his or her reaction. 
• Write a letter to someone who did kind acts to you and share it in group.
• Think about a novel you are reading now. How does the main characters ability (or inability) to be sensitive to others and empathic shape this story?