Fear, Inequality, And Weaknesses In Good Will Hunting: Film Analysis

In movie Good Will Hunting, Will is a twenty-year-old of South Boston is a self-taught genius, though he works as a janitor at MIT and spends his free time drinking with his friends. Will is undoubtedly intelligent but seen as dumb. He struggles to get most out of his life but, could not forget his childhood memories. It took him lot longer to share his fears with someone. In potters’ chapter, throughout he was deeply concerned about the social ideas. A man need space for psychological growth which make him a fullest man. And freedom has little meaning except in the context of our social lives and relationships. Every time we interact with one another, fear, inequality, and weaknesses appear in freedom of thought and action in some form or another.

Social status and economic class limit life options, and we see social inequality all around the world. In history there are moments where we see slavery, racial beliefs, act of violence and terror, and racial segregation, which served to justify inequalities. Charon (1998:79) said, “Inequality is perpetuated through social power, and those who have power are those who benefit from the system of inequality.” Inequality in this society describe as race, class, gender, language, and inequality of opportunities. I experienced practices of displacement. The inequality between rich and poor people, in which it matters their wealth rather than their sayings. In this society, it is all about power. Power used to protect their position and increase their wealth. Will was an orphan he did not had a strong background. He was intelligent but did not have enough resources to use his intelligence. It limits his choices. He did not have enough money to go to school. As an intelligent student he was not receiving loans for college education in contexts of high inequality. His life revolves around low-skilled jobs, hanging out with friends. But his hidden talent caught solving complex mathematic problem by his professor Lambeau.

For some men, it is the fear of not strong enough. Will stated, “What do you want to know, that I don’t have 12 brothers? That I am a fucking orphan? You do not want to hear that I got cigarettes put out on me when I was a little kid…You do not want to hear that shit, Skylar” (Damon and Affleck 1997). When we look at this rigid society, man become more anxious and weaker when he does not have anyone to share his feelings. And a lonely man can do anything to hide his identity. For some men, it is hard to take control on emotions. A man fears from his shames and feel lonely and sometimes suicide. As a kid, Will was abandoned by his parents—the people who were supposed to love him most. Now he is stuck alone inside a shell that he started building for himself back in childhood, and he is afraid to come outside it, because he never wants anyone to have power over him. He hides his identity because he fears from his shames and he think other will make fun of him. Will build a relationship with Skylar, though he lies to her about his past. Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, but he refuses. He does not want to tell anything to Skylar because he is afraid, she Will stop loving him someday. But she forces him to tell her what he is hiding. Will tells her emotionally that his foster father physically abused him, and he lied about his past.

A free actor is one who can think freely. According to Charon, “Man status defined him so completely that it virtually told him who he was” (David 1976:24). In potters’ chapter, we see development of a man, a human being. And the sense of identity is essential to the development of human being. Man developed his relationship and his thinking involving with other human beings. Alone he cannot do anything. A person identity and freedom of thought define who he is. We do see our thought and action both interact somehow and result in a good decision. After assaulting a police officer, Will has a basic choice: work, attend therapy or… go to jail. He chooses the second option and starts therapy with guy Sean Maguire. And this decision makes his life easy and make him feel stronger. In the movie, Sean become his friend and looks to provide Will with a positive attachment relationship. He gave him hope. He told him it is not your fault. This connection enables Will to self-image and engage more positively with others.

In conclusion, after interacting with others we get to know about our strength and weakness, and one of the biggest obstacles we will ever face in life is our own fear because many of us would rather miss an experience than risk being hurt by it. This is the reason the saying ‘there’s nothing to fear but fear itself’ is so dang true. It is also the logic that Will Hunting applies to his entire life in Good Will Hunting. But with freedom of thought we can make decision which are not based on inequality and fear.