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Dear God, Make Me A Bird
Acrylic and Digital  |  Edition of 30 Prints, Signed & Numbered

"Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far. Far, far away from here."

Portrait of Jenny from Forrest Gump, for Hero Complex Gallery's "Quotes, Lines & Lyrics" show.

Heavy bird symbolism accompanied the character of Jenny Curran throughout the film. Her prayer to become a bird is punctuated with a flock of doves taking flight towards the end of the scene. This imagery is mirrored at the end when birds alight over her grave, as if to take her spirit with them. Her grave, as it so happens, also rests at the base of the tree where she and Forrest spent much of their childhood perched up in the branches.

After Jenny unsuccessfully chases her dream to become a singer (songbird), she leans over a bridge and reveals her desire to "fly" off of it. Later on, she contemplates suicide again by leaping off a tall building as "Freebird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd played in the background. And finally, there is the iconic feather that bookended the film and served as the primary framing symbol in the movie. Though one can debate that the feather symbolized Forrest's life and its "floating around accidental-like on a breeze", there's an undeniable connection to Jenny's bird symbolism as well.

Whereas Forrest runs, Jenny flies.
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