This paper assignment has instructions to use “Good Will Hunting” as a basis for me to learn more about a person’s psychological behavior characteristics. As I further researched, I have found this to be a very interesting task. I will explain a little about the characters and how it pertains to my specific subject. I will compare and contrast two important theorists named Freud and Erikson. I will explain how this film relates to the specific and detailed events portrayed within the film itself. I will give due credit to two remarkable theorists still to the day.
First, sometimes people don’t realize they can do much more with their lives and need an extra little bit of guiding to help them. In the movie Good Will Hunting, Will believes that the way his life is will be all he needs that he doesn’t really need anything more, but doesn’t realize how smart he is. Math is his gift, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life. This movie shows a more in depth look at an individual with this personality character. Eventually, an instructor notices and tries to help him out.
Will shows strongly in the movie he has an attachment problem, and in Erikson’s Psychosocial Stage Trust VS. Mistrust it states that this is when a person learns whether or not they can trust the world or not (Engler, 2014). With Will having trouble becoming attached or close to someone he may have not received the care he needed at that time period in his life. He started liking a girl in the movie, but wouldn’t talk about his past very much if at all with her nor would he tell her he loved her. You could tell he did but was scared to admit it because of having these trust issues. I believe he behaves this way because he was an orphan a...
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...y he did. I now thoroughly understand detailed analysis of specific behaviors exhibited by the character. I can further now understand both theorist’s thoughts and beliefs. This particular film has helped me to have a better understanding of how to properly recognize each stage an individual goes through in a life time, how conflictions can arise, and how to use external influences to benefit an individual to have a more quality life by focusing on their positives to enhance their weaknesses. Through these two influential theorist’s works, and lives we can all see many differences and similarities between these beliefs. It is easy to see that these two psychologists have created a stepping stone for all psychologists and people to study and look back on as we develop in our own lives today. These founding theorists will always play a major role in Psychology.
Will is an innocent, level-headed child who's only goal in the beginning of the novel is to relish in childhood. Jim, on the other hand, is impulsive, reckless and usually thinks about himself before others. For instance, when the train came bearing the carnival, Jim stole off in the middle of the night to go investigate, leaving Will behind all alone. This shows that Jim thinks he is independent enough to venture off by himself. Jim is also inquisitive and in some cases, more mature than Will, who is content with staying
In the novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury, Will is described, characterized by his behavior, and be his shift in attitude. This is shown through "bright, clear as drop of summer rain" (Bradbury, 6). Bradbury describes him this way to show that he has a positive and uncomplicated view on life. He does this by explaining that Will was the first one to answer lightening rod salesman right away instead of waiting and examining whether or not Will and Jim should talk to him. His behavior is characterized through "Will? Know what you are? A darn old dimwit Episcopal Baptist!" (29). This characterizes his behavior as always being the one who follows Jim and acts like Jim's conscience to keep him out of trouble. Bradbury does
Good Will Hunting is the graceful tale of a young gentleman’s struggle to find out where he belongs in the world, by first finding out who he himself is. In this film, Matt Damon takes on the role of a disturbed genius that has a keen understanding of the deepness of human character. The film is a voyage through the mind of Will Hunting as he is required to undergo psychotherapy as an alternative to serving jail time. With the assistance of a psychologist, played by Robin Williams, Will learns about himself and recognizes his individual worth in the world by comprehending what is most important to him in his own life. This motion picture serves as a source of superb example for film technique. Gus Van Sant’s directing ability joined with the writing skills of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who also plays Will’s best buddy, Chuckie, is a vibrant mixture of technical features used to induce sentiment and compassion amongst the viewers of this heart-warming film. Characteristics of the color, angles, shots, camera movement, editing, and distortions are all each particularly noteworthy to the general composition of Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting.
Sigmund Freud is known for creating the concept of psychoanalysis, also known as psychoanalytic theory, which requires one to explore the unconscious mind. Over time, his theories have been revised as well as criticized in a variety of ways. Be that as it may, they have remained strong influences within the world of psychiatry, as well as in the worlds of film and literature. Many works generally exhibit Freudian influences, balancing the conscious life with the subconscious and dreamlike undertones. Key ideas of Freudian Psychoanalysis are the three psychic zones of id, ego and super-ego, the libido, and the Oedipus complex.
Will is an insecure man who has a dream of being a successful salesman. Throughout the whole film Willy’s main concern is making sure he is well liked. For example when Willy is talking to his wife about a business opportunity he says “ Oh, I’ll knock ‘em dead next week. I’ll go to Hartford. I’m very well liked in Hartford. You know, the trouble is, Linda, people don’t seem to talk to me.” In this scene Willy is saying that he is very well liked but then when questioned about the people in Hartford Willie admits that they just pass by him like he is not there. This scene proves Willy’s delusion to himself by the way he says people like him but admits they don’t talk to him. He is too caught up in the idea of being successful to realize that he isn’t that successful. Willy’s intentions are right but his delusion personality takes control over his actions. He sets his intentions so high that he’s setting himself up to fail. He isn’t an ideal role model for his children seeing as he gave up his passion of carpentr...
Looking back over the past 18 months of Will’s life, there has been tremendous personal growth. Counseling has helped Will to not place blame on himself for his past and to look forward to new opportunities in his life. It has helped him not to end relationships before he can get hurt and instead to have a positive outlook and cherish an important part of life. As far as what he intends to do in the future, it is good that he is involved with something that caters to his special abilities and hopefully will provide him a stepping stone to something he figures out he wants to do.
But when Will interacts with the therapists, the good Will that others are obsessively trying to create is in reality still the bad Will, even though in the eyes of the alert audience the counselor is ethical and caring and trying to work with Will.
...e to work through issues in order to abet the repair of Mr. Z's narcissistic self. The employment of "the psychology of the self" in the second analysis led to a focus upon the importance of the self and to relations with others in the environment (Luti, personal communication). All in all, this allowed Mr. Z to discover the reason for his disturbance and learn to lead a happy and healthy life.
In Will’s therapy sessions, Sean conveyed his empathy for Will. According to Myers, “Empathy is the Vicarious experience of another’s feelings; putting oneself in another’s shoes” (Myer, 2002, p.473). Since Sean demonstrated the ability to recognize Will 's indignity and fear, it helped subdue Will 's anxiety and promoted Will’s realistic connection with himself and others. In the Movie, Will recognizes the commonality with Sean allowing him to acknowledge the nurturing relationship that Sean offers. It appears that Sean was the surrogate caregiver that Will never had, satisfying the gaps of Will 's development. Sean 's experiences provided Will with a sense of belonging as Will was provided with insight as to how life should be in an unbroken/normal home. Since Will was never exposed to recognize real intimacy between a man and woman, Sean often shared his loved and experiences from his marriage. This allowed Will to reflect on the closeness of Sean’s marriage and the splendor found in trusting and loving others with all their
The purpose of this report is to analyse the personality of the character, Will Hunting from the film Good Will Hunting using the psychodynamic and humanistic theories of personality. The main characters discussed in this text and their relationship to Will can be seen in appendix 1.
(Erikson, 1980) Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development theory are in my opinion one of the best ways to look at Will Hunting’s changing personality and behaviour in the movie. Will’s avoidant and defensive personality is due to his abusive foster parents, he never received sympathy from his foster parents which made him accept the abuse as well as him becoming the abuser, as we see in the film when Will fights a former classmate that bullied him in kindergarten years ago. Another example of abuse is in the form of psychological abuse towards the marriage of Macguire and his deceased wife in which Will continually insults. Will seems to fluctuate stages throughout the movie, due to being an orphan and abuse from his foster parents he is fluctuating between the stages of basic trust vs. mistrust, and Initiative vs. guilt. Then when he meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) his development shifts to intimacy vs. isolation. (Erikson,
Will is a genius of unprecedented standards, but is never discovered until a MIT professor, Gerald Lambeau (Stellen Skarsgard) sees Hunting, who is a janitor, solve a complicated math equation that had taken him, a Fields Medal winner, over two years to solve. Hunting solved it on a single night.
The first theory Psychodynamic theory presented by Sigmund Freud, is based on how a person’s self-awareness and understanding of the past on present behavior. Psychody...
This theory focuses on the role of unconscious influences on how we think and act. This approach looks at how the things that happen to us as kids help shape important determinants of adult psychology (2). This theory became very popular because of its explanatory power for human behavior, Freud 's therapeutic method, called psychoanalysis or Insight therapy, was developed to identify the underlying conflicts between intrapsychic structures and resolve them by bringing them to consciousness. Although Freud thought of himself as a scientist, and he was very thorough in recording his methods and outcomes, he did not practice scientific methods. Psychoanalytic theory was developed through case study analysis, a qualitative, not scientific, method (1). Freud believes that events in our childhood can have a significant impact on our behavior as adults. He also believed that people have little free will to make choices in life. Instead, our behavior is determined by the unconscious mind and childhood experiences
This book sets off with the ideas of 50 popular psychologists and comprises their development over a century in time. It explores and provides their crucial thoughts and insights into the personality, mind and human nature, bringing together their most influential concepts and theories collected.