>

While I think this is an excellent point, it is also OP’s main contention with Jenny. Whether it is deliberate or not she repeatedly hurts Forrest, who is only ever kind and loving towards her.
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^Delta System Explained ^| ^Deltaboards >

Jenny was sexually abused by her dad.
Forrest shows up, and after having sex, she feels like she might have done the same thing to Forrest. In her mind, she sexually abused Forrest because he is not mentally capable of consenting. Do you see the parallel there?
That's the root of her internal conflict. She's terrified she's going to become her father and continue his cycle of abuse.
She eventually comes to realize that Forrest is more capable than she thought. However, she's a walking bomb of self-destruction at this point, and she knows it.
With the last ounce of selflessness she could muster, she leaves her child with Forrest. It was painful for her to lose the only two people who still love her, but any other action would ruin the child's life. At least, this is what she believes.
In the end, Jenny is a selfish and destructive person, but she abandoned love itself in order to save her child from her cycle of abuse. >

For the most part I agree with what you're saying, but what you're saying is the explanation for why she did the things she did, not justification for those things.
Someone can have really shitty reasons to do a good thing and really good reasons to do a shitty thing, but the end result is whatever actions were taken.  "Perception is reality" and "actions speak louder than words" basically, because ultimately we can't get in to other peoples heads for the exact reasons or motivations why they did something.  Sure we can guess, even take an educated guess if you know the person well and/or are a mental health professional, but no one except the person who's the subject, really knows the exact details of why someone does a particular thing.
The reasons explain the why, but they don't necessarily justify the actions.  Outside of her relationship with Forrest, Jenny continually makes really bad life choices and shows her self as someone who doesn't seem to place much value in others or herself.  So when you combine those actions with how she treats Forrest, while she may have reasons to do the things she does, the things she does are still ultimately pretty shitty. >

When a child is abused, it's much worse than an adult's excuse or a bad habit.
The abuse becomes normalized. Only strong minds are even able to recognize that their "normal" is wrong.
Most often, the child grows into an adult who doesn't know what a normal life should be nor how to achieve it. They have children, and the cycle continues.
Jenny continuously made bad choices. Yes. She never learned what choices were good.
It was never her excuse for bad choices. She tried making the right choices, but with a broken compass, she never had a chance. >

Sure, but again, saying she had a skewed life that set her on the wrong path is accurate and explains the why and sure, she becomes a more relatable and sympathetic character when you can understand the conditions of her life that helped set her on the wrong path.  You can even see a sort of valid logic to her decisions, given what her experiences in life have been.
But objectively speaking, if we’re judging someone, traumatic upbringing or not, her choices and actions are objectively shitty.  I think that’s partly what makes her such an unfortunate character.  You can see why she had some things working against her that would have skewed her life and feel a bit of sympathy for her,  like “this poor girl never had a chance”, but she so did what she did and has to own that.
Let’s us an extreme example to make a point.  Let’s say someone was brought up by a murderer, who didn’t hide from the family that they were a murderer.  The, the youth, sensed it was wrong, sensed it bad, but had no power to change or stop it.  So they grow, they move on from their parental unit because they know it’s a terrible place to be.
Whether through choice or through conditioning, or some combination of the two, they then take to assaulting others.  Mind you not killing, but assaulting.  On the one hand that person could be like “well at least I’m not my father” and you might even be able to understand that to someone brought up is such a traumatic fashion would normalize violence and so you can understand how they wouldn’t have the emotional development to refrain from some level of the violence they were raised in.  They may have been taught that it’s ok to kill someone who does you wrong, but this person is like “no, I won’t be like that”, so instead, in their skewed version of reality a beating isn’t that bad. 
You could understand why someone who got raised in a fucked up environment might think this way, doesn’t mean you agree, but you could understand that and you could reason it all out, again not justify it, but explain it all from a clinical sense.  But my point is that while you might be right that this persons trauma set them up for failure and that at least they aren’t the monster their dad was, objectively speaking, fucked up childhood or not, this persons behavior and perspective in reality is still messed up and dangerous.  You can sympathize with them for that even, but they’re objectively bad.
That’s an extreme example, but the point is that even through someone might not be the cause of their trauma, they’re still ultimately responsible for their choices and how they behave. >

Your comparison isn't fair.  Said simply, her dad harmed her, and this became her normal.
She knew that harming others was wrong, and she avoided harming others. In your comparison, the harm was "less" than the murderer, but he still intentionally harmed others. That's a key difference.
She tried living life doing the right thing, but the choices were always self-destructive because she didn't know what the right thing was. 
Her "normal" was self-destruction, which often hurt others close to her, but hurting others was never her intent.  She ran away from loved ones in order to "protect" them from her own self-destruction.
That's the key distinguishment.  Jenny intended to do good, but with a broken "normal," she often failed.
IMO, if she had stayed with Forrest, she would have likely ruined his life. >

So I agree with you in as much as she doesn’t ever display malice towards others in her life and so she’s never seemingly intentionally hurting anyone.
And I agree that her actions are mostly self destructive (though not entirely), or at the very least born out of self destruction.  That said, where I part with you is that, what makes her bad is that, self destruction is still ultimately destructive.  
We both agree that she’s a self destructive person and sure, there might be a sort of honor and empathy for others in recognizing your own self destructive tendencies and taking steps to avoid “collateral damage” to others, but when you get down to the core, self destructive is still destructive and try as you might, just as when a bomb goes off and you can’t make it only affect the thing you’re bombing, when a person is self destructive there is fallout that affects others.  
I’m not saying that intent doesn’t matter.  If you consider Jenny’s intent, she’s mostly trying to save others from herself and again, I can recognize a sort of honor in that and it does demonstrate she’s not a sociopath, she does have empathy for others.  My point is that, self destructive or not, she is ultimately destructive and thus she does shitty things, even she recognizes this about herself and seeks to save others from her shiftiness.
And again based on her upbringing and life overall you can see what led her down that path, you can understand the reasons behind that, and that makes her an sympathetic, unfortunate character in many ways, but at the end the day, abuse, self destruction, she still has to own her choices and the fallout of that self destruction. 
Good intent or not, her overall actions are still really shitty. >

But knowing all of this history, would you still call her a "monstrous POS" as in the OP? >

"Monstrous POS" no, again, I don't see malice on her part,  but a broken, destructive person, who lived a shitty life and made shitty choices that negatively affected others, yeah. >

I actually saw a video about that I cannot find anymore... the gist was that Jenny is actually quite the tragic character, because she is so defeated for most of the movie that her self-esteem is incredibly low, which in turn pushes her towards a bad crowd.
Forest, in her head, is someone that isn't supposed to exist - someone who loves her unconditionally. In her eyes, she is unlovable, so a large part of the movie is trying to bring out the worst in Forest because she beleives that he, like everyone else, will use and then drop her. Only at the very end does she realize that she had been a fool all along - at a point when it is much too late for her to make amends, so she at least tries to do the best for her son.
The overarching idea is that Jenny is broken and, to some extent, severely depressed, being unable to accept her own worth as a human worthy of love. 
Now, I don't know how well that is supported, but it is certainly a way to look at it. I also don't know if that would excuse her behaviour, but it would certainly explain it and put it in a very different perspective. >

I agree and want to add the Gary Sinse(?) was broken too. Yet Forest stayed the course with him and turned his life around. >

These are both great comments and it makes the most sense to describe Jenny that way. Forrest was the one who people saw as “the broken one” because of his condition and mental handicap.  But in the end he saved the people around him and motivated and inspired them. >

I think all the main characters are "broken" in some way. >

In a way Forrest is the only character who isn't broken. His continuous and unconditional love for his friends, faith and trust in others (Football coach in college, Bubba with his life in Vietnam, Lt. Dan with his company and money, Jenny with his romantic feelings the whole of his life) and continual striving and positive outlook demonstrates that of all of them, our neurodivergent friend is the least broken of them all. >


I understand, Jenny had a really shitty upbringing, but that is no excuse for how she manipulated Forest over and over

It's not an excuse, it's an explanation. 
Jenny isn't someone we're supposed to emulate, or someone we're supposed to view as a hero. She is both a victim and a victimizer. She escapes some of the consequences of her bad actions, but those who abused her also escaped consequences. 
I think the only point where I might suggest you change your view is if you think Jenny was intentionally or deliberately a bad person, rather than a person who did bad things and made bad choices because those were the only models of behavior she ever had to work with. >

Hey! I was trying to respond to OPs comment about "reverse the genders" and the comment got deleted.
Since I bothered to type this out I hope you don't mind me piggybacking and responding to you, instead!
The line of reasoning is valid for either sex/gender. 
They aren't excusing her behavior, they are explaining it. When people experience multiple traumas and suffer from addiction, they are probably going to behave badly.
The film Forest Gump was largely a "make lemonade out of lemons" story. Forest faces multiple obstacles and tragedies and yet, he manages to live a more interesting and successful life than most people, arguably.
One of those tragedies is his relationship with Jenny. For much of the story it is the tragedy of unrequited love and then later heartbreak when she leaves him. Finally there is the ultimate loss when she passes away.
However, Forest still ends his story on a positive note. Where before she re-enters his life he is successful but lonely (mowing lawns "for fun") he now has a child to love and fill his time with. A love which will not be unrequited and (it is reasonable to assume) will not abandon him or die before Forest. 
To be fair to the film the relationship between Forest and Jenny resonates well because people often have a love experience like this. Where they care deeply for someone who is too "broken" to love them back properly... And loving them anyway even if you can't be with them.
There's no... reason for us as an audience to need to be convinced Jenny was "good". Jenny was loved, by Forest, despite her many flaws and really, anyone else's opinion of her would be irrelevant in comparison to that. >

!delta
Do you have a graduate degree in Jenny-ral studies? Really good explanation of Jenny feeling that Forest only loved her because he was mentally retarded and if he wasn’t, he would have never cared for her. That’s actually pretty sad. >

I gotta say though, just because she was a victim and a tragic character... She did all the things she did so doesn't that still make her a piece of shit? >

I think the lesson here is that people are far too quick to dismiss others as a piece of shit. The vast majority of humans are more complicated than that. Jenny as a character is a good example. She’s flawed and she fails repeatedly at trying to do the right thing, but she does keep trying and eventually comes out the other end. >

I think that people need to be okay with allowing for multiple descriptions. She can be both a piece of shit and 20 other things. As in, "piece of shit" was just one aspect >

Making what later turn out to be poor decisions, but we're good ones based on the information you had at the time, doesn't make some a POS >

Yeah definitely, not sure that applies to her but I'm the one person who has not read the movie or watched the book so what do I know >

It is Jenny herself who (mistakenly) believes that she is the monstrous POS you accuse her of being. But she isn’t a POS. She truly  wants the best for Forrest, and she him loves him throughout the movie. 
I think the most telling scene is when Jenny rhetorically asks Forrest if the world would be better if she threw herself off that bridge. She can’t image that a POS like herself (in her own mind) could possibly bring joy to anyone. 
Like many people battling too many of their own demons to handle, Jenny doesn’t have the emotional resources to do anything but try to survive. She does what she can (not a lot) with what she is able to give (not a lot).
But she never knowingly and willingly mistreats Forrest while understanding what her actions do to him. In fact, she intends some of her most hurtful actions as a favor to him. She’s not a POS. She’s a troubled person whose heart is in the right place. >

I look at it differently. I think she was afraid of taking advantage of Forrest, afraid that having an adult relationship with a mentally handicapped person would mean that she was abusing him the same way she was abused as a child. It's that fear that caused her to keep pushing him away even though they both wanted to be with each other. 
What messes does she ask him to clean up, before she gets sick? It's him that pulls her off the stage when she's singing naked, she didn't ask for his help. When she visits him she doesn't ask him for anything, and they make love only after he makes his feelings clear to her. Then she flees, no doubt feeling that she's a monster just like her father. She comes back to him at the end when she is dying and needs him to step up for the child. 
I think she's a tragic character. >

Everyone in that movie is seriously damaged. That's kind of the point. Jenny didn't have a chance to be "normal" any more than Forrest did; but her specific damage is different from his, and in a distinctly gendered way. >

Forrest Gump. Slow, yes. Damaged, maybe. Braces on his legs. But he charmed the pants off Nixon and won a ping-pong competition? That ain't damaged. He was a goddamn war hero. >

/r/unexpectedtropicthunder >

The first few adult encounters happened by chance and/or Forest went looking for her. 
It wasn’t until far later when she finally hit rock bottom that she  went to Greenbo, AL. She was his true friend, and there is nothing wrong with seeking help if you are truly in need and want to change. And afterall, she bought him that sweet pair of Nikes. Of course, then she eventually left again. I think Jenny was honestly trying to protect Forest from HER by never staying with him permanently. She was a hot mess and he wasn’t capable of dealing with her lifestyle and problems. 
It was a dick move to just up and leave without saying goodbye though. At that point is appears Jenny dealt with her demons (rock throwing scene) and was ready to eek out a different life. 
Then she reached out again after she got her shit together to ensure Forest Jr met his father. At this point she was dying and re established the relationship for the child’s sake and to be with the one person who never hurt or betrayed her. 
I find Jenny……not guilty. (Taps gavel) >

It is not that she left without say bye lmao, she had his child and never told him.  What gives her that right?  Not only robbing Forest of seeing his son grow, but also robbing the boy of his father in his development years.  What issues did she cause in the boy?  And for what?  Why?
I get that Jenny has problems, but she was selfish.  At a certain point in one's life you need to grow up and act like an adult.  Jenny never did, even on her death bed >

Wasnt Forrest Jr like 9 years old when he met his father? Jenny probably didnt know she was pregnant with Forrest when she left him, i doubt she was selfish because if she was she would use Forrest for the money he had. >

Nah he seemed more like a 5ish year old. >

I think the story leaves a lot to interpretation.
We can see Jenny’s story as a positive redemption story, where she stayed away from Forrest for his own good. We can see Jenny’s story as a development arc where the character starts broken and at times even seems cruel, to slowly mature, learn and make the right decisions in the end. Or, we can interpret a more negative story, where she is a character who took advantage of a intellectually stunted man and only showed up out of convenience due to her impending death. As a viewer, we have 0 evidence Forrest Jr is even his son, so what do we personally want to believe? Ultimately the determinant of seeing Jenny as any of these things is her intent, which we have no way of knowing.
The only thing we truly know is that Jenny was broken due to her traumas. To what extent is really a mystery, which is what makes the movie so cool IMO. You may be right, but you also have to acknowledge that the other possibilities are equally likely. >

while Forrest had a mental handicap it was jenny who was mentally unwell, she only got her shit together late in life, and tried to make things right,  while her actions were bad, the root causes were mental  rather then choice >

IIRC Sally Fields had to sleep with the principal of the school to get Forrest accepted and 'mainstreamed'.
I think that Principal was more shitty than Jenny. >

She also cleaned up and raised her child mostly on her own--and probably would have continued to do so had she not been dying. You could probably make the case that it was "wrong" or "taking advantage" to contact Forrest once she knew she was sick, but also keep in mind that he had offered to essentially take care of her many times throughout--to house her and feed her and support her. She refused each time and walked away. It was only when she was clean, working a job, and a functional member of society that she came back in to his life.
Say what you will about Jenny, but she was Forrest's only true friend, and she always treated him kindly. Just because she couldn't love him in the way he loved her doesn't necessarily make her a bad person. I'm also struggling to find what exactly she "took" from him, aside from staying in his house for that period. Do you mean that she "took" emotional support from him? Because, from what I remember of the film, most of the time when she was in his life it was because he sought her out--not that she came to him for anything. I also can't recall him supporting her in any monetary way until the very end.
I'd also argue that her raising their child on her own was an indication that she did not want to take anything from him. Couldn't she have hit him up for child support? Demanded he marry her the second she discovered she was pregnant? No. Instead she cleaned up and got a job to support herself and the child. >

You arguing that keeping the child from Forrest and raising them on her own is somehow heroic and not also shitty? >

In this circumstance? Yes. To her, at least. Of course, everyone has a right to know that they have a child in the world, but when you consider that Forrest was mentally disabled and Jenny seemed to view herself as detrimental to him, I'm guessing she thought saddling him with her and a baby probably wasn't in his best interest. Remember that she also kept a scrap book of him running across the US, so I doubt her intent was to cruelly keep their son from him. More like she wanted him to live his best life and figured she'd take care of her issues on her own. 
I really don't get it. The argument seems to be that Jenny is a gold digger and used Forrest, but when she actually could have...making him responsible for her, her pregnancy, and her child, she stepped up and did it on her own. And it seemed her motivation was only not to burden him. >

If you look at the adult encounters between forest and Jenny they can’t really be categorized as Jenny call him to get bailed out.
Forest sought her out in the bar, the DC encounter was by chance, and in end Jenny came to forest - that seems like a mostly even exchange. 
It’s somewhat obvious that Jenny is not contentment to stay in the city she grew up in where she suffered abuse and her passions and interests are not challenged, but she loves as a person (if not as a peer / lover). That’s a reasonable tension and not monstrous. >

Bruh
Any time people say this I just can't help how baffled and mad I feel, because, no, absolutely not.
The man was in love with her, clearly always thinking of her, when she never dragged him into things she was doing, he just wanted to be close to her no matter what. And she literally didn't want anything from him.
The whole time she thought she was undeserving of Forrest and only deserved what was happening to her. Evidenced by her genuinely asking him "Why are you so good to me?" Bruh if that doesn't break your heart idk what does.
Also I don't really understand how someone who went through abuse and drug addiction could just have a normal relationship with another person, especially someone like Forrest. 
Maybe she didn't wanna impose a child onto him cause she didn't think he could handle it, also, she doesn't want to assign any role to him, clearly she sees him living his best life and herself as a broken no-good woman. 
And plus, when she found out she was sick, was she gonna leave her son up to become an orphan or rather have his father take care of him? She made the right decision in the end didn't she. >

She loved him. He was the only purely good person she knew.  She didn't want to sully him with . . . her.  She had to make peace with herself first. She chose him to be the father of her kid for a reason, even though he was slow. Ultimately, he was the only person she trusted. He was her guy, but the relationship was never going to be conventional love and marriage.   
She eventually returned the love by giving him a son. To me, that was her finally learning "what love is," after all, Forrest already knew.  But she hadn't known because of the way she was abused as a child. Loving someone is putting them before yourself.  That was her full circle moment, and only a person like Forrest who loved her so unconditionally and never judged her could bring that out in her.  So the truth was that she had always known what love was, because she had always loved Forrest.  
Great CMV. >

Slightly different subtextual take - Forest is metaphorically Jesus and the story is about Jenny struggling to accept 'Jesus' into her life, its not meant to be about Forest getting mistreated but about Jenny's struggle to eventually fully commit. 
This theme kinda only works if Forest and Jenny don't ever have an actual relationship - then it gets blurry.
Evidence: Many Jesus metaphors - Forest 'heals' Lt Dan, doesn't have a father, is innocent and pure, hangs out with prostitutes (briefly). Is generally somehow a massive force for good in the world almost supernaturally - goes on a 40 days and nights type wilderness run and gets a jesus beard. >


This theme kinda only works if Forest and Jenny don't ever have an actual relationship - then it gets blurry.

Or maybe Jesus did get it on with Mary Magdalene. >

Nah, she tasted like cigarettes. >

There is no excuse for how she treated Forrest and there is no excuse for how she was treated herself. Her whole life was an abuse cycle cut short by AIDS.
She was, as is usual, both a victim and a perpetrator. Hurt people hurt people.