Interpersonal Communication In Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting: An Analysis
In the film Good Will Hunting, Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, is a 20-year old genius orphan living by himself in a run-down apartment in South Boston (Matt Damon). His only friends are Chuckie Sullivan, Morgan O’Malley, and Billy McBride played by Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, and Cole Hauser respectively. At the beginning of the film, Will is working as a janitor at MIT due to a string of assaults and car thefts he committed prior to the events in the film. However, after he ends up solving two math theories that Professor Gerald Lambeau of MIT, played by Stellan Skarsgard, had put on the board outside of his classroom, Will’s world starts to slowly change for the better. After going through five therapists,

During Will’s meeting with the first five therapists Professor Lambeau had set him up with before Sean Maguire, Will’s posture is very closed and he keeps stonewalling until Sean Maguire is able to breakthrough to him. As Sean observes, this is because, although Will is a genius, he is also very scared and so chooses to appear tough so that he does not get hurt. Sean is also very adept at analyzing Will, as seen when the two of them are at the park and Sean talks to Will about how Will has never truly loved anyone and about how Will is just a scared little kid. The reason Sean is good at analyzing Will is because like Will, he too is an orphan who grew up in South Boston, so he has insight into Will’s life that no one else has. Because of this, overtime Sean and Will start to bond and as the film progresses, it Will can be observed developing a deep respect for Sean. However, if one watches the film, it is clear that there is an openness-privacy dialectic between Will and Sean. Sean wants Will to open up to him, but Will does not want to. This is the why the other five therapists gave up on him. The reason Will does not want to open up is, as said before, he is afraid of getting hurt. The reason for this may have to do with the fact that he was abused as a child, a fact that he reveals to Sean Maguire during a therapy session. This is quite understandable, as many victims of abuse choose to close themselves off as a coping mechanism. However, despite the fact that Will was abused and is an orphan, he finds social support in his friends, Professor Lambeau, Sean Maguire, and his girlfriend Skylar. In fact, one of his friends, Chuckie Sullivan, even encourages him to use his genius instead of going to work as a laborer. This support is very important to Will’s growth as it helps him to be able to pursue a better life with the girl he loves instead of staying in South