Jason Iloulian Professor Labalsamo Written Expression I 12 November 2014 Good Will Hunting (Final Revision) While it was a huge success financially and critically acclaimed as well, the movie, Good Will Hunting, offers vivid focus on a young math savant from the socioeconomic realities of Boston’s South End, an underserved section of town that is not unlike inner city environments across the country. I will review and critique the film from the perspective of sociology and the changes a marginalized youth is able to go through thanks to his hitherto unknown brilliance in math. The striking contrast between the bad Will and examples of the good Will, and the juxtaposition between the economic deprivations that Will grew up in – including being …show more content…
beaten down in his home life – and on the other hand his savant-like ability to solve extremely difficult math problems at MIT, points up to a dramatically exceptional character unlike any in “coming of age” or “rags-to-riches” films. The filmgoer witnesses a young man who is a janitor and in short order the filmgoer also witnesses the inside of an institution of high learning. There are textbooks, and a blackboard with dizzying mathematical formulas; the director is setting up the juxtaposition and the tension in the story is being previewed. The scene at Will’s house introduces the filmgoer the two worlds that the protagonist will be experiencing. This is not a plot summary; this is setting the table for how craftily the director is providing the seeds for the tensions and the character interactions as the story moves along. Given the excellence of the director’s decisions, the story has a fine-tuned clarity in terms of what the protagonist does and what he may be able to do. It is obvious to the viewer that despite having a job as a janitor, the protagonist is an avid reader, which places him as a unique character within the peer group that he is part of. He reads at a relentless pace, which actually makes him a marginalized person within his own marginalized peer group. How many of his friends read voluminously as he does? The answer is none, of course, and yet this is the group he grew up with and hangs out with and is certainly a part of notwithstanding the depth of his brainpower versus the average mentality of his buddies and peer group. This adds to the richness of the script, and gives the director powerful tools with which to work his magic. In the meantime, professor Lambeau’s challenge to his class-full of upper crust students is just another portion of the script that presents the opportunity for the protagonist to emerge from the drudgery of a janitor – who happens to be a well read but an “uneducated” person – into the mystery person who solved an esoteric, obscure mathematical equation.
The story is made stronger as the mystery continues; the script allows for some righteous irony as professor Lambeau tries to discover which of his students has accomplished this task. It could only be a student after all, because no one would ever suspect that a janitor could solve a difficult math problem. It is ironic that temporarily Will is accused of defacing the blackboard when in fact he is showing his hitherto hidden genius. He races down the hall as though he was guilty of something (Will has learned to run from trouble in his marginalized neighborhood and he reverts to his escape mode) albeit in this case he’s done nothing …show more content…
wrong. Clearly to the viewer Will is a boy who has grown up disadvantaged in a hardscrabble neighborhood; this captures the fancy of the filmgoers because of his charm and his previously hidden skills. On the surface he is socially and intellectually considered well below the students who walk the halls that he mops, but there is more that drives the story. In effect, at one level the higher education milieu has scorned the ruffian from South Boston, but on another level he has actually turned the tables on the ivory tower of academe by using those lofty scholarly tools (difficult math) against the academia represented in the film. In other words, it is not just a case of getting even or showing vitriol in any sense. The sociological reality is that a bad boy who also happens to be a closet genius just needs the right setting to be a good boy. His ability to show his best stuff helps the director use the dramatic contrasts for the purpose of entertainment. He embraces academia’s weapons (mathematical challenges) and turns those weapons against the piety of higher education. Meanwhile, the juxtaposition of the protagonist checking out attractive young women (and getting into a fight) in one scene while the professor is putting more theorems on the board (in a contrasting scene) is the director’s perfect chance to make this film a dynamic and highly worthy sociological story. The twists and turns keep the audience riveted. In a bar scene the audience likely chooses the “bad Will” over a pretentious grad student who is trying to move in on Skylar. In this case, Will, the seeming underdog, has his own secret weapons (he has incredible recall from what he has read), and hence he is far more interesting to the woman than the pomposity of the boring high toned, stuffed-shirt student on the make. In fairness, this story also has powerful stories within the main story, including a professor (and a counselor) who try to turn Will into a more idealized young man, something like the professor had hoped that he would become, but he hasn’t been able to.
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. On the other hand, even though the part of the story alluded to in the paragraph above has merit – and in particular the presence of the late Robin Williams brings star power and emotion to the picture – the protagonist does not really want to abandon his buddies in the old neighborhood and become part of the MIT culture. The most interesting dramatic parts of the film are the contrasts and juxtapositions presented when a janitor from a rough part of town mysteriously solves a very difficult math problem. This opens the door for a sociological examination of why higher education doesn’t really mean that much to a young man who has battled through a hard life and suddenly he is “discovered” and prodded to become an MIT-type person. He can change and grow if he decides that is what he wants, but was beaten down so many times as a kid he is reticent to do what others think he should do – even a psychologist that he learns to
trust. Works Cited Good Will Hunting. Director Gus Van Sant / Writers Matt Damon & Ben Affleck.
Some people dream of wealth, happiness, or genius, but is any of that easily attainable? An intellectual young man from the movie Good Will Hunting has an unusually high IQ that is shrouded by emotional problems. Will Hunting is arrested after yet another case of physical assault in Boston, and this time it was a police officer. When he is arrested, his genius is discovered by a college professor, Gerald Lambeau, who sees potential in Will despite his flaws. Instead of jail time, Labeau offers him a fair bargain. As long as Will attends mandatory therapy, he will be allowed to work alongside the professor. But education isn’t everything, because under Wills sarcastic wit and mathematical genius, he hides his true self. Will scares off five different therapists before he finds himself stuck with Sean Maguire, who ends up using personal and profound forms of therapy to crack Wills shell. Sean delivers this speech to help Will realize his ignorance of his insecurities and other people by using ethos, logos, and pathos appeals; Sean addresses that true knowledge and perspective can only
This synthesis will examine the motion picture Good Will Hunting and an essay by an author Bell Hooks entitled Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education. Both of these accounts tell of a struggle that the protagonist character in the story had to deal with. Each of these charters comes from similar backgrounds but one deals with emotional conflict while the other character deals with the problem of economic classification. In either way each of these selections both deal with the struggles of an higher education.
Overall, the play sends a powerful message out to the audience. It tells us about the awful things that capitalism promotes and how it divides the world of the world. We are given a powerful and worrying incite to the future and we realise that we need to help our younger generation to make the world a better place. The Inspector makes us realise that we desperately need to work together with each other, help each other and looking out for one and the other.
2.As a result of the factors that impact violent behaviour, including liquor, brutal threats and a violent history there are numerous abuse and mistreatment studies regarding youth who experience domestic violence at a young age and how this brutality causes future behavioral problems. Similarly, Villani and Sharfstein research aggressive teenager inclinations that influence adulthood, and they associate behavioral disorders to violent kinds. In the movie Good Will Hunting, Will is a perfect example of how abuse is a source unmanageable rage. For example, Will makes excuses for physically assaulting a bully who beat him up in elementary. In the fight scene, Will’s companions pull him off the antagonist because Will harshly strikes the bully’s face.
The sociological perspective examines the hidden reasons for one’s actions and identities that people have. It stressed how they are influenced by their society and most of all their social location. Social location predetermines all aspects of one’s life and there are rules that come with social location, and with rules come social control mechanisms and social stratification that keep people in line. With social location also come institutions that provide roles which form one’s identity. In the movie, “Good Will Hunting,” the main character Will Hunting is a young deviant what grows up in a rough neighbourhood and has the intellect of a genius. Role theory and other concepts from the sociological perspective explain Will Hunting’s actions and identity.
This paper will discuss the relationship between Will Hunting and the psychologist Sean Mcguire in the movie Good Will Hunting. The struggles that occur between these main characters will be analyzed and their meanings found. A basic outline of the movie will be included to give the larger picture and its influence upon the two men.
The film “Good Will Hunting” follows the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon) a self-taught genius who works at one of the most prestigious technology schools; MIT, as a janitor. Will is an orphan with a criminal record of Assault, grand theft auto, assaulting a police officer, etc. Will solves a complex math problem, which leads to him being discovered by professor Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) as a genius. Professor Lambeau makes a deal with the judge when Will is incarcerated to be on parole under Lambeau’s supervision and Will is ordered to see a therapist once a week. Will Outsmarts many of the therapists, which forces Lambeau to go to his last resort, college friend and psychology teacher Sean Macguire (Robin Williams).
Good Will Hunting is a film which conveys many interlocking themes and messages to its viewers. One of these nicely woven themes is placing trust in the people we care about as well as people we have only recently become acquainted with. Another message, arguably more significant than the last is finding and pursuing the potential one has and bringing meaning into our lives in any form we choose. I believe the potential and success this film demonstrates is that success, growth, and meaning in a person’s life does not always have to come in the form of advancing in a career or social status but rather in the form of overcoming hardships and developing close reciprocating relationships.
As the audience watches the film they can come to realize that sometimes people need to open their eyes to new ideas. They become aware that one person can make a difference in another person’s life. This film is about that, changing your life. Billy Elliot would not have ever thought to become a dancer, yet is willing to take the risk and he discovers that he loves it. The audience can connect to the main character because they understand that sometimes risks have to be taken. Mrs. Wilkinson shows that it is okay to change and do something different.
Will Hunting is a 20 year old genius with untapped potential. Lacking a post-secondary education, Will spends his time reading borrowed library books. What he reads, he knows. He can quote college textbook pages and understand theoretical math and science principles that men at the top of the math field struggle with. But his knowledge isn’t put to use as he mops the floors of Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a janitor. He takes breaks from cleaning to solve the math problems that Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard) post outside his classroom. Lambeau wants to know who solves his math problems, which are too complex for all his theoretical math students. As Lambeau is leaving his office late at night, he discovers a janitor grafting on his board. Lambeau chases Will off, but soon realizes he has found a genius. Assuming he’s fired, Will heads out with his friends to blow off steam. When they come across Will’s old elementary bully, they decide to beat him up. As Will is wailing punches on his former bully, the cops show up.
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.
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher,” she stated. Her passion for helping children with special needs was developed at a later age. The reason why Chris decided to be a special education teacher was because of two twin boys in her grade who had special needs. Chris was only in kindergarten at the time, but she recalls that one of these boys did not get to go to school. The other boy, Jimmy, could come to school, but he would have to leave halfway through the school day. Chris was confused and upset about how Jimmy could not be at school and asked her mom about this. The reason why Jimmy and his brother were not able to be at school was because there was no special education program available. This moment, even though she was in kindergarten, shaped Chris’s plan for her life.
Will Hunting epitomises a punk prodigy. The 20-year-old delinquent works as a janitor at MIT, solving impossible equations, meant for students, in his spare time. He is soon recruited by one of MIT’s professors and made to participate in a rehabilitation programme with the hope of being employed by the university. Rehabilitation is made challenging as Will is a troubled individual; having grown up in abusive environments and jumping from different foster homes.
Though our society has evolved regarding the profession and need of counseling services, many people remain with the stigma that only individuals who are “crazy” require counseling. For many years, the notion of counseling was rarely linked to or associated with mental health/mental illness. However, due to personal ordeals and societal demands the level, many people suffer with mental illness. There was a point in time where seeking counseling services was taboo. As individuals and a society, we fail to reflect on or are oblivious to the disadvantage of not addressing our mental state if and when necessary. In the film “Good Will Hunting”, I will describe the resistance of the character Will Hunting in building effective and meaningful
Chris Gardner excels at his stockbroker internship in Dean-Witter, earning the attention and respect from his superiors. However, his personal life plunges exponentially. He loses his money and has to resort to sleeping in homeless shelters and subway station bathrooms. He begins to think that happiness can never really be achieved, but he is proved wrong when he feels happy for the first time in the longest time after he lands a job in Dean Witter.