Good Will Hunting Reflection

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Good Will Hunting, a 1997 film directed by Gus Van Sant, presents a rebellious, main character, Will Hunting, who willingly chooses to not conform to society. Although he is practically a genius, even compared to those in an ivy league school, he does not believe in overpriced education, he works as a janitor at MIT, and he constantly gets himself into conflicts with the law and anyone really. When he finds himself in trouble, once again, with the cops after starting a fight, Will is forced to attend therapy. Through these sessions, Will’s reasoning behind behaving in such manner is questioned by the viewers. Some would say that he is deliberately going against any authority because he wants to and that is the way his character is shaped while …show more content…

As he slowly opened up to Sean, he didn’t realize he was slowly destroying the authority figure in his mind at the same time. The pain and blind obedience to his foster parents,though, was essentially replaced by Sean Maguire himself. Even though obedience is still taking place, the replacement was absolutely necessary because it change Will’s rebellious ways. When Will thought he had Sean all figured out by a painting he drew, his authoritarian conscious was still present. Later though, Sean completely destroyed Will’s rebellious action by revealing he knew nothing about love, art, or true happiness. He only knew what he has read in books. This was the start of Will destroying said authority figure in his mind. After the scene, Will began to open up to Sean and allowed him to teach and heal him. The healing process did heal his authoritarian conscious, but it only continued Will’s blind obedience. While he stopped obeying the inner authority in his head, Will simultaneously began obeying Sean himself. The obedience towards Sean becomes clear more towards the end of the film. The final presence of Will’s authoritarian conscience is the moment before the emotional scene when Sean tells Will, “it's not your fault” (Gus Van Sant Good Will Hunting). At this moment, Will’s obedience to his foster parents is completely gone and he no longer seeks approval or fears their disappointment. Although the obedience shifts over to Sean, Will is no longer a rebellious character fueled with anger and fear. In this case, Will is “proud of doing a good job, obeying the experimenter (Sean) under difficult circumstances” (Milgram 702). The rebel within Will is gone and his accomplishments that arrive from obeying Sean turn his life around and he is proud of it. Although the obedience figure of Sean isn’t due to evil, the obedient figure is still there, but in a

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