Expectations

As movies go, there hasn't been a movie that has impacted me as much and has stayed with me for as long as Good Will Hunting has. The internal debate as to whether to pursue the things you are good at despite whether you enjoy it, I suspect is something many struggle with. Good Will Hunting tackles this problem, along with the frustrations of not quite being able to reach greatness within your passion, and having to watch someone throw away your dream.

The film stars Matt Damon, who is an MIT janitor and enjoys hanging around town where he grew up with his friends. The main premise of the film revolves around the antithesis between Will Hunting (Damon) who is a mathematical genius but has no interest in it such things at all, and Professor Gerald Lambeau who can only scramble for the answers Hunting can produce effortlessly.

This is not a movie review as such, but a reflection on its takeaways. I watched this film for the first time not long after the news of the death of the great Robin Williams, who plays the counsellor Sean McGuire. Williams takes on a much more serious dramatic role here as opposed to the usual comedic roles he is known for. The character of Sean McGuire has lived a full life and tries to help Will hunting through his troubles by opening up and sharing the details of his life.

In 2014, Robin Williams tragically took his own life after his battle with Lewy body disease. I think the reason the film affected me in the way that it did was because Sean McGuire encourages Will Hunting to live his life to the fullest inspire what he has been through. Sean McGuire and Robin Williams in his own life both pushed the idea that the meaning of life was to give life meaning, and that it is only ourselves that can truly come to understand our own meaning.

Good Will Hunting wonderfully puts into perspective how our socio-economic background can affect how we view life. Will has no family and could never afford a proper education, and so he comes to believe that he is not compatible with a life of success.

Humans are complex and should never be confined to being just one thing. This is a message that is not expressed enough towards the children of today. Whilst 'you can be whatever you want to be' is a message of hope, it also gives the impression that you have to grow up and become your occupation. This is why the Pixar movie Soul is one of my favourite animated movies.

Soul follows a middle school band teacher, Joe Gardiner, who has always dreamt of becoming a full-time performing jazz pianist. The film does have plenty of fun plot points that will keep children entertained such as funny talking blue ghost like souls and body swapping with a cat, but the heart of the film comes when Joe finally gets to play a proper Jazz show. After his first performance he is left feeling a little empty and says how he had waited for that moment all his life. He was expecting to feel something more.

The main message of the film is that no matter what our passion is, we are not defined by it. It infuriates me when footballers for example speak out about world issues and are told to 'stick to football'. The mentality that you don't have a purpose when you don't have a successful and promising career is a lethal one.  I have a science degree, but that is not all that I am. I am more than that.

I want to do science. I want to write books. I want to make films. I want to be a podcaster. I want to dream of scoring in a Champions League final. I want to go to Mars. I want to take pictures of trees and sunsets. I want to be a father. I want to be great at chess. I want to make Michelin star food. I want to live.

Both Good Will Hunting and Soul deal with the problems of expectations. We cannot expect others to have the same dreams as ourselves, and we shouldn't expect achieving our dreams to complete our individual character arcs.

There are no certainties in life. We are floating on a rock spinning around a huge ball of gas. At least try to enjoy it.