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Robin Wright Defends Her Character In ‘Forrest Gump’ Against Being Painted As Anti-Feminist

Robin Wright defended her character Jenny in Forrest Gump against interpretations that she was an 'anti-feminist' archetype.

In a new interview for The New York Times alongside Here co-star Tom Hanks, Wright was asked what she makes of discussions surrounding Jenny’s seeming “punishment” for living a life of freedom. The six-time Oscar winning romantic drama and historical fiction tale shows Wright’s leading woman embarking on a “freewheeling” life — an upbringing filled with child abuse contributed to her drug use, sex work and overall flighty nature — ultimately ending in her death from an unnamed illness (later said by director Robert Zemeckis to be related to AIDS). In recent years, conversation around Jenny being an antagonist to Hanks’ Forrest has taken on a more nuanced tone, as fans have noted that the nature of childhood abuse paints her personality and decisions in a more empathetic light.

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