How do we love each other: insights from "You've got mail

Relationships in Finding Forrester

Human beings are by nature social and therefore seek a state of connectedness to other like-minded people. This state of connectedness and how it can enrich the lives of people is a theme that is brilliantly explored in Finding Forrester. Offering a wealth of insights into the state of human loneliness and the power of relationships in helping a person get back in touch with one's past and self, Finding Forrester is a film that literally teaches the very technique of living.

The film, in fact, provokes the viewer into exercising her or his critical thinking skills on the subject of both social and personal relationships. Exploring the development of a close relationship between a reclusive, Pulitzer Prize winning author, and a young African-American student from the Bronx, the film succeeds in taking the viewer on a delightful journey of friendship and self-exploration by an unlikely duo. Indeed, it is probably the use of a wide gap in social background and age between William Forrester and Jamal Wallace, which makes the closeness of the bond that the two develop all the more striking. For here is an abject lesson in the universality of human emotion irrespective of age, race, social and cultural background. If one of the most important gifts of the humanities is to help us broaden our consciousness, then Finding Forrester is a great example (Janaro & Altshuler, Chapter 1).

The relationship between Forrester and Wallace begins by accident when Wallace accepts a dare to break into the mysterious recluse's apartment. In his rush to escape when Forrester confronts him, he leaves behind a backpack full of his half-completed stories and writing attempts. The next day, when Wallace's backpack suddenly drop's from Forrester's apartment, he is taken aback to discover that his work has been edited. With his curiosity now thoroughly aroused, Wallace approaches Forrester and though he is told to stay away, persists in his attempts until he discovers Forrester's identity as a famous Pulitzer winning author, and gets him to agree to help him.

Though it is a mutual love of writing that brings Forrester and Wallace together, it is obvious that both protagonists are missing a sense of social connectedness even with their own little corner of their world. To that extent, it can be interpreted that Forrester's mentoring of Wallace's attempts to write is only an excuse to reach out and build a relationship with some one. Possibly, of course, the fact that Forrester had already read some of Wallace's work may have helped him gain an insight into his mind and soul, thereby recognizing a like-minded, kindred soul.

For Wallace, Forrester represents his true acceptance as an equal by a member of the privileged world. Wallace obviously needs this personal boost and endorsement given his sense of alienation from the hallowed, elitist private school he attends, based on his astoundingly high test scores and abilities as a basketball player. But Forrester and Wallace's relationship soon goes far deeper than just a social one and in many ways, it is finally Forrester who benefits more from Wallace's friendship.