I have never seen the movie Good Will Hunting and after watching this movie I think it's an incredible movie, and I couldn't believe I have never seen it before. This academy award winning film is about a genius who has a philosophical gift for math. Will, the intellectual math wiz lives in a run-down neighborhood where he lived an unhappy and rough life. Will does not attend college because he can't afford it. He constantly is getting himself in trouble by fighting guys in the neighborhood and shows no respect towards others. He has assault charges against him and was abused as a child, which explains why he is lives life on the edge and is so violent. He makes his money by being a janitor at a local college in his hometown which is living life in the lower class system. Will has a passion for math and you can tell this from the very beginning of the movie when Will proves the graduate level algebra theory problem the night Professor Lambeau posted it. Not only does he solve that theory, but he quickly solves another problem that took Lambeau and his colleagues two years to prove. The therapists that Professor Lambeau schedules to meet with Will to help him doesn't work, because Will has a hard time connecting with them. He can not relate with them. Lambeau wants to clean Will up and progress with his prodigy skills so he turns to his college roommate, Sean.
I think that when he was saved by Professor Lambeau and put on probation plus attend the therapy sessions that Will eventually makes something of himself. He deserves to be around smart intellectual people like his girlfriend Skylar, who attends Harvard University. His genius intellectuality needs to be challenged and should be noticed. I think that when Will starts his therapy and being pushed by Professor Lambeau that he doesn't like it, because he has never been told he is wonderful before, or told that he is great. He is being noticed for once in his life, and doesn't know how to take things seriously. For once in his life, someone wants to listen to Will. Sean wants to know about his life and his feelings. He wants to understand who he is as a person, he cares about him. He doesn't have to talk, and he proves that during one of their therapy sessions when Will and Sean just count the seconds on the clock until there hour of therapy is up.
I think one of the main theme's in this movie is fear. Will sets himself up for future failure so he can avoid the danger of emotional pain. I think that when it comes to Will, he is afraid to take chances because he is afraid to fail which is why I think he has never tried to apply his brilliance. He just settles for what he has, and has never been told to make something of his self and to succeed in life. He is afraid to break free of the lifestyle he grew up in and to challenge himself to something that interests him, such as math. It's almost as if he has a fear of success and a fear of life in general. He has never put his talent to use, and it's almost as if he feels trapped. When Professor Lambeau discovers him solving his math problems, Will automatically fears he is "caught" and in trouble and immediately becomes defensive and runs away. I think he has a fear of life in general because he is afraid to lose the life he has. Being with his friends and Skylar is the happiest he has ever been, and he is afraid that if he pursues his genius math talents that everything in his life will be taken from him. He holds himself back a lot during the movie, because he is in fear.
I think my favorite part of the movie is when Chuckie tells Will…"you don't owe it to yourself, you owe it to me." Chuckie tells Will that it's an insult if he is still a laborer in twenty years, because he would give anything to have what Will has. Will is sitting on a "winning lottery ticket" and he needs to finally move on and make something better of himself. Will is finally told by someone he trust that he needs to move on and better himself, rather than living underclass in the society in which he grew up in.
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I agree with you that the main thing in WIlls life is fear. Fear of failure maybe even fear of the unknown. Also he knows is what he grew up in and around and never had anyone in his life there to tell him about what could be, how great he could be. I think the same thing applies with his girlfriend Skylar he is scared to love her scared to let her in because he doesn't want to deal with the emotions of a relationship and I think he also feels like he is not good enough for her because she is in a different class even though he has a special gift not many people have. I also feel that you make a good point about him not wanting to pursue his math talents because he is scared of being taken away from his friends who are all he knows.
ReplyDeleteWe share the same part of the movie! I think that scene is one of the most touching scenes in the movie. It somewhat hits you like a ton of bricks. Chuckie makes an excellent point!
Robin Williams is a genius! almost every movie that he plays in is great in its own way. there has been only one movie that i didn't like of his, and that's because it bored me to death. the concept of the movie, and story line is good (and some argue it to be great), but i just find it boring. his movie What Dreams May Come.
ReplyDeletebut anyways, i find his character Sean is quite the interesting character. he has gone through the trials of higher education, and he has obtained his doctorate, but he find contempt with being himself. even when being himself is just being a casual psychology teacher. his colleagues think down on him, but he doesn't care. with this mentality he is able to level with Will, and that's why i think he is able to get through to Will and was the only one to. he also thought of Will as his next challenge, something to break, and help at the same time.
I can’t believe this is the first time you have seen the movie, I have seen it eight times! Although, Dr.B was right…I did see this movie in a completely different way. I agree when you say, that Will was being noticed for the first time in his life and he didn’t know how to act”. Just the fact that this happened could have made him fearful and uncomfortable with these “new” people.
ReplyDeleteI believe that your friends pay a big part of who you become. Like parents there will be some of your friends that expect things from you, like Chuckie expected from Will. I have experienced this myself and let me tell you, it’s hard to let your friends down. If you do you never hear the end of it or you lose them.
I definitely agree that a theme in this film is fear. Will is afraid to put himself out there because he thinks that he'll fail at things he's "not good enough" for.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing film, I had seen it before - but I really enjoyed watching it again. I think that Will's relationship with Skylar really demonstrates the fear in the film. He sometimes acts like a jerk because he's afraid to really give himself to Skylar. I think he's afraid that she'll abandon him if he starts to count or rely on her. I think he feels like he's not good enough for her.
I also enjoy the part in the film in which Ben Afflek's character tells Will to "do it for him." That he'll be mad if in 20 years Will is still doing hard labor. That scene always makes me emotional! I know that Will's character probably needed to hear that acceptance from someone from home.
It was my first time seeing it too. I can't complain, I glad I seen it when I did. Just because of this class and the knowledge that I have learned about class and socialization, I was able to watch the movie from a different prospective.
ReplyDeleteWill's emotional past left him dealing with issues of abandonment and rejection. Those pre-existing fears made it extremely difficult for him to experience love and true fellowship, especially for other amongst higher social status.
Will had grown comfortable in his environment and often tired to down play his gift when with his friend, but they knew the truth and would not let him settle. That's what I call real friends.
This wasn't the first time I'd seen it (just to throw my two cents in), but it's been probably since it came out that I last saw it. I had no idea what was being said at that point -- I think I was 13 or something.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the movie deals with a hell of a lot of heavy issues, and it's a wonder that it managed to pull it off at all, but the scene you mention at the end of your post, in which Chuckie and Will are standing having a beer at the construction site (a classic lower-class past-time) talking about Will's life in 20 years -- that scene, from the perspective of this class, is sort of confusing. Maybe I'm paying too much attention to Will as a character, but he's extremely reluctant to leave his lower-class roots behind, no matter how difficult his life had been, or how much more comfortable it could be if he'd embrace his gifts. He'd rather be a janitor or a construction worker for the rest of his life, as long as it means staying secure. It's the reality of the situation, as communicated by his friend (and, of course, Sean), that finally starts to get in to Will's head. That reality is sort of the thrust of the film -- you can try to live in your own little world and remain secure, but sooner or later, the real world is going to catch up with you. Everything changes. You have to be willing to move forward with your life and embrace the change.
Katie, I had never seen this movie before and agree with you that it is an incredible story. I also agree that the turning point for Will was when Professor Lambeau stepped in and took him under his wing. Will is a prime, although extreme, example of an individual who is raised lower class but possesses the talent needed to succeed in life. He lacks the drive because he has never been pushed, or challenged or told how amazing he was like you said above.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that he chose the janitor position at Harvard for a reason, as Sean eventually makes him realize. He loved and deserved to be around people who challenged him every day and chose to work in that setting and solve those problems because it was deep down what he enjoyed. I also believe that one of the main themes in this film was fear like you had mentioned. He was so afraid of living, because all that he had known was horrible that he held himself back in every aspect so that he would not be able to hurt himself any further. I think meeting Sean was the best thing that ever happened to him and the fact the he left his job and went to find out about Skylar in the end proved just how far Will had come through this movie!
Isn't it amazing how thinking about social class can make you reconsider a film (or anything, for that matter) in a completely different light?
ReplyDeleteFor example, I think you folks are correct to point out that Truth in the world of the film is psychological. This is a film about an abused and orphaned child who overcomes his fear of abandonment issues by discovering a surrogate father (let's call a spade a spade here!). Sean is the father Will never had and Will is the son Sean never had. Meeting each other helps them both escape negative cycles of behavior. Both hit the road at the end of the film, one to begin his life and the other to "restart" his life. The key to this psychological reading is the melodramatic "It's not your fault" mantra that Sean delivers to Will, who finally breaks down completely. Pure catharsis! Therapy is over. Let's get on with the business of life.
The film is also a romantic dramedy of sorts. The ultimate answer provided to the question, what do you want to do with your life, Will? is to go see about a girl. The film leaves Will's choice of profession unresolved. Although he takes a job, we witness him leave town to be with Skylar in California. How convenient? According to Sean, who is wonderfully played by Robin Williams but nonetheless a romantic figure in the story, all you need is love. Sean's romanticism rubs off on Will, and he skips out on his "home run" of a job to see about Skylar.
Read through the lens of class, however, the film becomes way more complicated and problematic. I will discuss these issues more in DB #4, but for now I'll leave you with one question. Why don't we get to see Will chose a specific profession? We see him rebuke the possibility of using math to harm others (by working for the NSA). We see him not all that interested in Lambeau's desire to attract the esteem of others (especially his female students!). We see him mocking the monied interests of what seems to be a corporation by sending Chuckie in his place to obtain a $73 retainer. If Will doesn't want power, fame, or money, what does he want? What Will become? What choice would satisfy us? Perhaps none would, and that's why the film ends with him pursuing love (something we can all do, I imagine) instead of winning a Fields Medal.