Where does the movie "Big" fit in the Tom Hanks timeline? Forest Gump isn't retarded he was just a 7 year old kid trapped in a man's body who wished to be a grown up. The wish in "Big" actually meant he couldn't really age as an adult, therefore letting Forest Gump accomplish so much as an adult - including raising a child while he infected with HIV. After Forrest Jr. finally grows up, Forrest Sr. moves to Philadelphia to become a lawyer - still on a winning streak from the BIG wish. But his luck runs out as he starts to succumb to the HIV virus his one true love infected him with over 20 years prior. Forrest becomes gay and becomes patient zero in the gay AIDS counter culture.