Kyle Caster							critical reflection journal

	The world in which we live in is full of movies in which characters are depicted with physical or developmental differences. There are some movies that depict these characters in a negative view; however, there are some movies that depict these characters in a positive light.  One of these such movies is forest Gump.  This movie represents how people with disabilities can still function in the real world and most importantly they can be just like us.
	In the movie Forest Gump the main character is named Forest.  The movie starts out when Forest was a boy.  Forest was born with developmental and physical differences, because of these differences Forest spends most of his adolescent life dealing with being bullied and picked on because of these differences.  There are, however, a few people that fall in love with Forest and become his close friends.  There characters are a girl he grew up with jenny who falls in love with him.  His war buddy bubba who is killed in Vietnam.  Finally his sergeant from Vietnam whom Forest saves in Vietnam and wins the medal of honor for doing so.
	Forest is represented as being slow but still able to survive in the world even if he does not quite get it all.  Forest’s friends are represented as being people that understand Forest for who he is, and except him for that and embrace him for who he is. For example there are many times in the movie when Forest seems to be down on his luck, he seems to be lost, whenever these occurrences happen there are always people that see Forest for who he really instead of a just another slow person that has no reason to be in this world.  There are people in the movie that are represented as being mean and intolerable to Forest’s condition.  For example there are many times in the movie when Forest is being bullied by people that do not understand him and do not like the way that he is so they take out there aggressions in a negative way by bulling him.
	The meaning’s that are represented by these characters are very realistic.  For instance those people that bully forest through out his life are a representation of those that do not understand people that have differences and look down upon them.  The people that help Forest however have an underlying meaning to what they are doing.  They are showing that all people are special and can be productive and everyone has the right to live there life no matter how different they may be.
	The potential implication of this representation for special needs populations inclusion in society is that all people should be included.  It shows people that people that are a little different can live with other people and can function in a society.
	 	I believe that this movie is a great movie, because it shows people that have problems in a good light instead of from a negative view.  It shows us that people with developmental differences should be included in our society, because they are just as human as the rest of us.