Introduction ‘Goodwill Hunting’ is a psychodrama movie that delves into the character of people. It revolves around a brilliant janitor and a college professor. Will is a janitor that works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There is also a teacher at the same university called Gerald Lambeau. The plot gains traction when he puts a tough mathematical question on the chalkboard that none of the students could solve. Will solves it, but he does so in secret. Gerald Lambeau is both impressed and confounded. Professor Lambeau then goes on to draw up an even more challenging question. It is one that only the most sophisticated minds on earth can solve. Will is up to his antics again, but this time the professor gets to know his identity. Around the same time, Will has a run-in with the law. He has a long history of priors that will surely get him imprisoned. Professor Lambeau contacts the presiding judge in the nick of time. He manages to convince the judge that Will would still be rehabilitated through weekly sessions of therapy as he works with the professor in mathematics. However, it is not easy sailing. Will burns through five therapists in a very short duration. The professor then reaches out to Sean Maguire. At first, Will’s off-putting routine drives his psychiatrist off the edge. However, Maguire recomposes himself and gets back on track with his challenge. He confronts Will and lets him know that it is cowardly to live only on his terms. Will has deep-rooted
Diagnosing an individual with a mental illness balances on a fine line between giving a life-long label and misdiagnosing. Mental illness is best viewed on a continuum allowing for a varying degree of severity. In the field, mental health professionals are faced with determining what signifies the appropriateness of diagnosing a mental illness. A professional’s judgment is impacted by their personal perceptions and observations, societies views and norms, and the patient’s history. The film, “How Mad Are You? A Search for Insanity” demonstrates the difficulties in distinguishing those who are mentally ill from those seen as healthy ( ). I will explore my reactions and thoughts regarding the participants’ experience as well as the mental health professionals. Additionally, I will share how this information is applicable to my future career in the field of social work.
In the film “Hunt for the Wilder People” and the prologue of ‘Kafka on Shore ‘identity can change through hardship. In ‘hunt for the Wilder people ‘. Identity can change through hardship is evident when Ricky Baker changes into clothes that blend into the bush setting whilst he was getting chased by the child welfare. Nevertheless, Ricky’s identity changes towards the end of the film as he no longer conforms to the gangster style clothing hence he blends in with the environment. Similarly, in the prologue of ‘Kafka on Shore’, Identity changing through hardship is evident when Kafka plans to escape from his father to re-establish his life. Moreover, He creates a new imaginary friend called Crow whilst he was facing hardship with his father.
His presenting self was the safeguard to his private self. Will was very much aware of his gift and his enormous potential but shunned it like some burden, or at least that's what he wanted others to believe. He often told Sean Maguire, his shrink with whom he had developed a bond, that his gift was something he didn't ask for, and he'd be perfectly fine working an honorable blue-collar job with his buddies. Despite his assertion regarding his gift as an aggravation Will's actions contradict, for he is asked why he just so happened to get a custodial job in the world's foremost institute for technology, M.I.T if he wanted nothing to do with his genius. Maguire sees behind Will's visage, he realizes Will is a wounded soul who really knows nothing about life for he hasn't experienced it, it is so much more that what he read in a book. It is hard to say what Will should have done for he had a difficult past one that most cannot relate too, or have any idea what it may be like to live it. However, If Will had been a little more open to the people who wanted to love him he would have been much happier. In his quest to never be hurt he was headed for a life where he would never be loved. His thoughts were becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy; where one's expectations of an event make that event more likely to occur (Adler, 65). Had Will been honest with himself and more willing
The main focus is placed on Will, whom has a rare genius to put together abstract math problems and finds it hard to relate to world without getting arrested for doing something violent and rebellious. He grew up in South Boston and the hard streets have jaded him, while his intelligence further isolated him from people and made him hostile to other people. In the beginning of the film, Will is discovered by Lambeu (Stellan Skarsgard) a professor of mathematics, and his well-being becomes a serious issue and he is pursued. While placing a difficult math problem on the chalkboard
Good Will Hunting is a story about Will Hunting who works as a janitor at MIT cleaning classrooms. Will is an orphan who grew up in various foster homes and was physically abused as a child. Will is also an extraordinary mathematical genius with a photographic memory, who enjoys solving math problems. Will blames himself for his unhappy upbringing and turns this self-loathing into a form of self-sabotage in both his professional and emotional lives. Because Will blames himself he is unable to maintain a steady job or a steady relationship. Will must learn to overcome his fear of abandonment in order to learn how to trust and love people who
Diagnosing an individual with a mental illness balances on a fine line between giving a life-long label and misdiagnosing. Mental illness is best viewed on a continuum, allowing for a varying degree of severity. In the field, mental health professionals are faced with determining what signifies the appropriateness of diagnosing a mental illness. A professional’s judgment is impacted by their personal perceptions and observations, societies views and norms, and the patient’s history. The film, “How Mad Are You? A Search for Insanity” demonstrates the difficulties in distinguishing those who are mentally ill from those seen as healthy ( ). I will explore my reactions and thoughts regarding the participants’ experience as well as the mental
Overall, I believe “Loving” was a fantastic movie. I enjoyed watching it, and it was fascinating throughout. I was very interested to learn the story behind Richard and Mildred Loving and the pivotal struggle they had to face in their lives.
Good Will Hunting explains story of a young man who goes by the name of Will Hunting. He is a very intelligent man who has had a troubled life and lets it control him day to day. He doesn’t want anybody to know about his talents because he thinks they’ll think differently about him and he doesn’t want to get hurt. Like Will, almost all of us in college and even in life go through blocks of trouble, big or small, in our life and can relate to him. I myself can relate to Will in many aspects of his life.
Will uses anger, denial, and sarcasm as defense mechanisms to push people away from him. He told people that he did not have a problem and that they were the ones with the problem. He used
One of the key reasons why Sean was able to teach Will to open up was to by first opening up himself. Sean was not afraid to show his faults and allowed Will to challenge him on certain, albeit emotionally-charged, occasions. Instead of completely shunning the challenges as the other psychologists in the movie, Sean actually faced those statements and answered them sincerely whilst accepting that he was not perfect. In other words, he showed Will it was okay to be vulnerable to his emotions and to accept his imperfections. He was able to show Will that he cared, as with many other patients who suffered abuse as a child, Will seemed to have blamed himself for what happened until Sean gently, but firmly challenged Will to accept it. By the end of the plot, Will was ready to start taking risks and learning to live life more
Will has Traumatic and Stress Disorder. Rightfully so, he was in foster care all throughout his child hood and was beaten, stabbed, and burnt with cigarettes. He learned how to fight and be defensive with the abusiveness. No family gave him the time of day since he was so defensive and got into trouble often. Will throughout his life struggled with trust issues, anger issues, and not being confident in himself. Will was book smart and full of aggression, he allowed his past to overshadow his future. He used reading as a coping mechanism from his reality. He would get lost in the books and was starving for knowledge. Will used being smart as another defense mechanism. He talked his way out of court several times and talking back to therapist by reading their books, also to people that thought he was stupid. He would show them that he was actually a genius and made them feel stupid. However, as Will soon figures out that the therapist knows exactly what he is doing and that he can read all the books he
Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.
Though the film fails to delve into the specifics of his childhood, it does become evident that Will bounced between foster homes and was often a victim to physical and emotional abuse. These childhood factors play a huge role in behavior as an adult. A recent study concluded that, “Toxic childhood stress alters neural responses to stress, boosting the emotional and physical arousal to threat, and making it more difficult for that reaction to be shut off” (LaBier). An inability to rationalize and control emotions and responses after abuse would indeed be seen as true in this film. This can be seen in the numerous fistfights Will found himself in. Despite the fact that Will could typically weasel his way out of convictions, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer. His conviction would turn out to be life altering. When Professor Gerald Lambeau saw potential in Will, he was offered a life that could include more than beers with friends and janitorial work. The arrangement Lambeau worked out
Good Will Hunting is a movie about a troubled young man abandoned by his parents only to be severely abused by the foster parents entrusted to care for him. Due to his tormented childhood he finds himself a young man unable to trust most people besides a few close friends. His prospects for a future out of dead end jobs, in his poverty stricken neighborhood, seem slim. Despite being a natural gifted mathematical genius, Will finds himself frequently involved with the law. It is while working at a janitorial position at MIT that a Field’s Medal winning professor discovers Will’s mathematical talent. When Will finds himself again in court, it is here where the professor bails him out. Upon release from jail and with the stipulation of receiving counseling, and holding himself accountable to the professor, Will
The beginning of the film depicts Will solving equations left on a chalk board at MIT that not even the most gifted of students can solve. Professor Lambeau searches for the mysterious “student” who is solving the posted equations. He finds Will in a court room where he is being sentenced to time in prison after being involved in assault on the streets of Boston. A deal is made with the judge that Will will see a therapist and also study with Professor Lambeau in exchange for time in prison. Will is introduced to many therapists before Lambeau finally goes to his old friend Sean. After a rocky start, Sean starts to get through to Will. They discuss many things together from Will’s troubled past to the newly formed relationship he has with Skylar. Lambeau repeatedly tries to force Will into high profile job interviews while Will continually does not show up to them. This causes an argument between Lambeau and Sean. Trouble then begins to start between Will and Skylar after she tells