Have you ever wondered about having an Eidetic memory? Or
having an extraordinary intelligence in Mathematics? Or having the most
brilliant mind in America’s top university? Or obtaining the genius level IQ
and then work as a janitor? Spend your time in bars drinking with friends.
Reject job interviews. Be in jail several times. Miss the lessons in life.
Never reach your potentials. Ever thought of those? Ever heard of Will Hunting?
Well, this kind of movie in the 1997 is fantastic, worth the
time and totally an Oscars winning film. Recommendable to watch? Absolutely. To
be suggested to people with cinephilia? Definitely.
Let’s go through the lines from the movie. Scrutinize how
good the writers are—Damon and Affleck. I compiled some, put a reflection with
it and hoped to inspire you readers as it also inspired me as a person.
May the hunt for goodwill begin.
1. "You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up
to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to." -Sean
There is always a purpose to every events happening in your
life. You must not focus on the negative side of things, but instead, focus on
what made you happy. Let's take the idea of dementors in the Harry Potter book
series by J. K. Rowling, dementors suck out every good feeling and happy memory
from you and leaves you the worst experiences of your life, but the idea of
single happy memory can oppose and drive them away. Focus on the things that
motivates you and always look on the bright side of the picture.
2. "You'll never have that kind of relationship in a
world where you're afraid to take the first step because all you see is the
negative thing 10 miles down the road." -Sean
You must be willing to take a chance no matter what, because
you never known how perfect something could turn out to be. You need to have
faith and courage to do things. It is better to live a life full of "oh
wells", than a life full of "what ifs". Regrets are always in
the end so you need to take every chance given to and don't waste it.
Attachment Theory with respect to Will
Attachment theory is accepted by most psychologists and
psychiatrists as the best explanation for how we develop the capacity to form
relationships with others and relate to our environment.
Early attachment is established in infancy and is primarily
based on the acknowledgment and gratification of basic biological needs. Once
attachment is securely established, the role of the primary caregiver changes
to helping the infant learn to identify and become comfortable with its various
feelings. Attachment becomes disorganized and dysfunctional in the presence of
neglect or abuse.
Will Hunting has a classic attachment disorder because he
was abused as a child. This gave him a hard time to develop meaningful
relationships with adults and women. He has no empathy for people outside his
close group of friends. He cannot manage his basic emotions, such as anger for
he will assault them either verbally or physically. Will's anger is one of many
defenses that mask his inner self and his subconscious is determined that no
one will be able penetrate these defenses and hurt him again.
When Sean asks Will to name the people with whom he has
strong relationships other than Chuckie, Will names Shakespeare, Nietzsche and
several other dead intellectual legends since these "friends" could
not rise from the grave and hurt him.
3. "You're sitting on a winning lottery ticket and
you're too big of a pussy to cash it in." -Chuckie
Do things while you can. There is no assurance in this world,
we may die tomorrow or later, we'll never know that. We have no control on
things, but we can control ourselves. We must be willing to take the risk and
not settle for less than what we deserve. Take the chance and strive for it
because sometimes, what we are looking for our whole life is right in front of
us. It is better to try and fail, than not being able to try it at all.
Because, what if Will did not give it a try for therapy?
Treatment to Disorder of Attachment
Therapist uses the phenomenon of "transference" to
fill the gaps in the patient's attachment. It occurs when patients
subconsciously transfer to their therapist the feelings and attitudes that they
originally linked with their past. Sean, Lambeau’s colleague, re-parents Will
and becomes the loving caregiver that Will never had. It's not just by-chance
that Sean chooses to begin the treatment in the Boston Public Garden, a place
where parents take young children for rides.
Abused children wonder why they are not loved like other
children. They usually think that it must be something that they have done or
due to some deficiency from which they suffer. To help Will overcome this
misplaced but deeply felt sense of guilt, Sean confronts the illogic. He holds
Will and reassures him, repeating, "It's not your fault. ... It's not your
fault", helping Will to understands on an emotional level that he was not
to blame for the abuse. The treatment process outlined in the movie stretches
the limits of traditional therapy in which the therapist strictly recognizes a
boundary between the therapist's life and that of the patient.
The success of the treatment occurs when Will has enough
self-confidence to accept the love offered by Skylar and to take a chance on
the relationship by venturing out of the Boston area to live with her in
California.
What’s your favourite line in the movie? Do you have one?
Here are the other memorable lines that you could check on. You can even do
your own reflection. I would love to hear from you too.
“People call those imperfections, but no, that's the good
stuff.” –Sean
“You'll never have that kind of relationship in a world
where you're afraid to take the first step because all you see is every
negative thing 10 miles down the road.” –Sean
“Most days I wish I'd never met you 'cause then I could
sleep at night. I didn't have to walk around with the knowledge that there was
someone like you out there. I didn't have to watch you throw it all away.”
–Lambeau
“Maybe you are perfect
right now. Maybe you don't wanna ruin that. I think that's a super philosophy,
Will; that way you can go through your entire life without ever having to
really know anybody” -Sean
