Daily Dialogue — April 2, 2016

Forrest: What’s the matter, mama?
Mrs. Gump: I’m dying, Forrest. Come on in, sit down over here.

Forrest sits down beside his mother.

Forrest: Why you dying, mama?
Mrs. Gump: It’s my time. It’s just my time. Oh, now, don’t you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life, something we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your mama.
Forrest: You did good, mama.
Mrs. Gump: Well, I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.
Forrest: What’s my destiny, mama?
Mrs. Gump: You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re gonna get.

— Forrest Gump (1994), screenplay by Eric Roth, novel by Winston Groom

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Parental advice, suggested by Michael Waters.

Trivia: Warner Bros. gave up the rights to the film in 1988, in exchange for the rights to Executive Decision (1996) because the studio felt that the project had lost its commercial promise in the wake of Rain Man (1988).

Dialogue On Dialogue: What’s better than parental advice? Parental advice packaged in a memorable turn of phrase such as comparing life to a “box of chocolates”.