Good Will Hunting- A Genius and Boston Accents

Choices. Existentialism is all about choices and recognizing the freedom one has to make those choices. This is exactly what Will (a very young Matt Damon) in Good Will Hunting, a 1997 production, was experiencing. He’s a genius living in Boston- but the catch? No one knows who he is. He is from the slums of Boston. Orphaned. Abused in foster care. Criminal. Working as a janitor at MIT. His skill is unrecognized until a professor catches him solving proofs that have stumped mathematicians for years.

This professor becomes his mentor but before he can introduce Will to all of his options, he must go through therapy with Sean, a therapist who used to be the professor’s roommate (but in reality it’s Robin Williams!). The two colleagues live opposite lives: one a successful professor with a limited personal life and another a widowed and low paid therapist who believes in love. A little cliché but the two men represent Will’s possible futures with his extraordinary talent. Guess which one Will ends up choosing?

But enough background. Where is the existentialism? According to Sartre, “It is not only one’s self that one discovers in the cogito, but those of others too.” Well, Will’s cogito was recognized by the professor but fully uncovered by Sean when he steps up to bat Will’s tough exterior with his own background in the slums of Boston and his life lessons through heartbreak and commitment. Not only is Will a genius but also he is drawn to loyalty and afraid of abandonment. He only allows a select few in on his true self. His friends know. The professor caught him. The Sean knows. Skylar, the girlfriend knows (and yes, there had to be some form of a love story here). But until the professor started pronouncing his abilities, he was anonymous.

However, the professor didn’t like this. He wanted the boy to be famous for his accomplishments. Before Will’s discovery, Will had made the choice to refuse to choose whether or not to pursue his talent in mathematics. But once his expertise was revealed, that choice became much less attractive with everyone pushing him to make something of his life, which to them meant to go out and get a high paying job and be successful. This is exactly what the professor wants, but Will isn't sure. After spending a considerable amount of time with both men, doing sophisticated proofs with the professor and discussing pasts, futures, and love with Sean, Will chooses to follow the path of one of these wise men (but I can’t say who because that would spoil the ending!) However, one of the benefits that Will has is in that he can observe the two clashing potential futures in the professor and Sean. He overhears a discussion in which the two men argue over what is right for Will while actually debating and defending their own choices.

Lambeau: You're angry at me for doing what you could have done; but ask yourself, Sean. Ask yourself if you want Will to feel that way, if you want him to feel like a failure. 
Sean: Oh, you arrogant shit! That's why I don't come to the goddamned reunions, 'cause I can't stand that look in your eye. Ya know, that condescending, embarrassed look. You think I'm a failure. I know who I am, and I'm proud of what I do. I was a conscientious choice, I didn't fuck up! And you and your cronies think I'm some sort of pity case. You and your kiss-ass chorus following you around going, "The Fields Medal! The Fields Medal!" Why are you still so fuckin' afraid of failure?

It was an intense moment and then of course Will walks in… AWKWARD!!! But between all of the f-bomb dropping, Will can clearly see the pros and cons of both choices that have been presented in front of him. but what he can no longer do is make the choice to refuse to choose.

So job interviews were made in which Will sends his best friend Chuckie (played by Ben Affleck who also is extremely young) in to humorously reject the job while giving the high powered men a hard time. Will resists these options because he hasn’t made the choice to publicize his talents, someone else did. During a job interview that he actually attends as himself, he justifies rejecting the job at the National Security Agency.

Will later reveals that he wants to do something honorable but he hasn't defined what he deems honorable yet. But his best friend is completely serious about having Will pursue the great opportunities that he has in some form:

Chuckie: Every day I come by your house and I pick you up. And we go out. We have a few drinks, and a few laughs, and it's great. But you know what the best part of my day is? For about ten seconds, from when I pull up to the curb and when I get to your door, 'cause I think, maybe I'll get up there and I'll knock on the door and you won't be there. No goodbye. No see you later. No nothing. You just left. I don't know much, but I know that.

He wants the best for his friend but this can’t happen until Will makes the decision to work towards it. This is directly in line with Sartre when he wrote, “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself.” Will needs to actively shape his own future and not be a Sartre’ian’ coward and let others decide. But Chuckie also paints a clear picture of an alternative future for Will:

Chuckie: Look - you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat; now, that's a fact. I'll fuckin' kill you.

The depth of loyalty Chuckie displays helps defend Will's original decision to not choose. But ultimately Will does choose... and then switch his decision of his future and finally accepts the freedom he has to choose and also the responsibility which is exactly what causes humans anguish according to Sartre. We are condemned to freedom of choice and rather than attempt to hide from that responsibility by remaining anonymous (which doesn't work), Will finds himself at a crossroad of futures full of choices. The primary element of existentialism.

So there you have it. The story of the anonymous genius with the Boston accent. It's a great movie and I highly recommend it if you don't mind all of the f-bombs flying left and right.  Good actors. Awesome accents. Intense decisions. Hilarious monologues. Existentialism. What could be better?