For the last two weeks, I have been studying the films Brokeback Mountain and Forrest Gump. The only fitting theme to study between them seemed to be their stories of unconventional love. This is where the two films are so similar.

And for no particular reason, I watched Forrest Gump first. The story was wonderful and engaging and starred in the amazing Tom Hanks. It follows a man from his young boyhood to glorious adulthood. Forrest’s accomplishments. Though Forrest was different, society as a whole found him to be innocent and noble for all that he had overcome. As Roger Ebert writes in his review of the film, to describe it would only demean its value. A movie like Forrest Gump should be experienced because it is about the human experience. It’s more specifically about one of the most important human experiences: love. The story of Forrest and Jenny’s love begins in their childhood but is never realized until Jenny is near death. His reluctance in believing Forrest ability to love is both heartbreaking and understandable. In many ways, Jenny used this as a moat because she didn’t believe she deserved to be loved as perfectly as Forrest loves her.

Jenny’s life story is interesting, tragic, and complicated. It is clear that she has good intentions. She is always as good to Forrest as she can be. She takes the time to understand him, look out for him, and defend him. Jenny grew up in an abusive household. Her mother passed away leaving Jenny and her sister in the care of their monster of a father. It is easy to hate Jenny because she seems to go through life ignoring the love of Forrest but she is protecting herself and him from her own demons. It doesn’t make her a likable character but audiences can easily empathize with her chaotic upbringing and how it can affect her relationship with Forrest.

Second, I watched Brokeback Mountain. After watching such a heartwarming story such as Forrest Gump, it was hard to make the switch into a more dramatic movie which involved homophobia and the less than kind look into society’s fears of those who are different. Brokeback Mountain is a place where two men meet and share a deep and connected love in secret from the world. It shows what great lengths these men endured in order to protect their heteronormative identity and avoid persecution. The story is a tragic rollercoaster starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal who plays Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, respectively. Unlike in Forrest Gump, what sets these men apart from society is what society rejects with violence. Their secret love story is painful, touching and tragic as any love story can be. In the end, these two cannot make peace with their true identities and thus they fall to the society that hates them so much.

There is no doubt that the common theme between these movies is their unconventional love stories. Never has a love story between a couple like Jenny and Forrest or Ennis and Jack ever been told on screen with such honesty. Between Jenny’s reluctance to fall in love with Forrest because of his mental disability and Ennis and Jack allowing their spring of whiskey to dry up out of fear, the love stories are honest in their complicated nature. Nothing is black and white and it can be difficult to do what feels right because of societal standards and pressures.

Forrest and Jenny develop their love for each other as childhood friends. Their friendship was always as pure of love as one could get but Jenny and Forrest didn’t love each other in the same way for long. After they grew up, Forrest went off to the Army where he achieves the highest honors and displayed amazing bravery all because he was naïve enough to take Jenny seriously and just keep running. Though Jenny clearly shows love for Forrest, she chooses to withhold that love romantically until she finds herself with him in her dorm room and then again shortly before her death. One reason might be that she knows he is developmentally challenged and though that never deterred her from being friends with Forrest, it presents problems in an adult relationship with him. She doesn’t think he can understand love. Though Forrest disability has not inhibited him in any other way throughout his life, it stands firmly between him and his relationship with Jenny along with her mountain of problems from her tumultuous childhood.

Ennis and Jack developed their love during a summer job which was cut too short. Their time in the mountain ranges, herding sheep, cooking, and falling in love. It’s clear from the moment that Ennis speaks, that he is an introverted kept to himself man. He tells Jack his life story and admits it’s the first time he has spoken that much in a year. What is more astonishing is that he is engaged to a young woman when he tells Jack this. Clearly, Ennis is a repressed soul who does not open up often. His character is evenly balanced with the ever-charming Jack Twist. Jack’s extroverted personality brings out more in Ennis than even his own fiancé. They return to Brokeback Mountain in intervals that are as frequent as they can have without completely destroying their heteronormative lives but beyond that, there is no solution that protects them from society’s eyes. As Roger Ebert says so simply and perfectly in his review of Brokeback Mountain, “But it’s not because of Jack. It’s because Ennis and Jack love each other and can find no way to deal with that.” Jack’s openness ultimately gets the better of him as his risky habit of going to Mexico may have been his ultimate demise. He is killed in a violent attack against his sexuality and identity.

Deeper into the tragedy of Jack’s death is the warnings given to him from Ennis. Throughout the movie, Ennis expresses his fear of Jack’s activities not to mention the horrific account of the tough old bird killed for being gay. Pilar Bermudez wrote “The Social Impact of Brokeback Mountain: A Reception Study states, “As she explains how his death was a result of an accident involving a tire blowout, in Ennis’ mind, Jack is killed by a group of kids because of his sexual orientation, allowing his imagination to fuel his fear of his own feelings”. Though we don’t really know how Jack ended up dying it is clear to the viewer that there is no other possibility in Ennis’ mind: Jack was murdered for being gay.

These two movies showed beautiful love stories. Unfortunately, as with most love stories (even the best ones) it ultimately always ends in tragedy. No matter what, not all of us can be with the love of our lives and even if we manage to find that person, it can’t be forever. Brokeback Mountain and Forrest Gump are two incredible loves stories which in their own ways overcome many of society’s stiff standards.