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Lessons from the Screenplay
Good Will Hunting — The Psychology of Character
Good Will Hunting — The Psychology of Character
Lessons from the Screenplay
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12:53 · Nov 30, 2018
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hi
I'm
Michael
this
is
lessons
from
the
screenplay
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0:00
hi I'm Michael this is lessons from the screenplay
0:04
Good Will Hunting has
0:06
some classic great moments
0:09
but the one I remember
0:11
the one that gets me every time is
0:13
the final scene between Will and his therapist
0:15
Shawn Maguire it's not your
0:20
why is the scene so effective
0:23
its power is certainly amplified
0:25
by the great direction and performances
0:27
but from a story standpoint the
0:30
scene is emotional because we understand
0:31
the walls Will has built up around him and we
0:34
witness Shawn finally tear
0:36
them down in his
0:37
book into the woods John
0:39
York writes story matches psychological
0:42
theory characters are taken on a journey to acknowledge and assimilate the traumas and
0:46
their past by confronting and coming to terms with the cause of the traumas
0:50
they can finally move on Good
0:53
Will Hunting as a film that puts the psychological
0:55
aspects of story structure right on the surface so
0:59
today I'd like to examine how characters use defense mechanisms
1:02
to protect themselves to
1:04
demonstrate how the supporting
1:06
characters in a story can be designed to weaken these defenses
1:09
and to show how these elements work together to create a powerful catharsis
1:13
for both the characters and the
1:15
audience let's take a look at Good
1:18
Will Hunting in stories
1:25
with a positive change Ark the protagonist begins
1:28
with a weakness a lie
1:30
they believe about themselves or the world that
1:32
they will have to overcome
1:34
often this weakness is rooted in some past trauma sometimes
1:37
referred to as the
1:39
wound in Good Will Hunting Will's wound is his awful childhood
1:43
growing up an orphan who suffered terrible abuse at the hands of his foster
1:48
father this wound spawned wills weakness
1:51
the belief that stepping outside his comfort zone will
1:54
lead to emotional pain as a
1:56
writer sometimes thinking of characters in this way can feel abstract
2:00
but one way to turn weakness
2:02
into behavior is with defense mechanisms
2:04
and into the woods John
2:06
York takes the psychoanalytical
2:08
concept of ego defense mechanisms
2:10
and reframes it in story terms eco
2:13
defense mechanisms are the masks characters
2:15
wear to hide their inner selves they're
2:17
the part of the character we meet when we first joined the story the
2:20
part that will the
2:21
archetype is correct slough
2:23
away in his first session with Sean we see how Bills fear of exposing
2:27
his wound and therapy expresses
2:29
itself through defense mechanisms
2:31
so let the healing begin will
2:34
begins by mocking the entire notion of what they're here to do and as
2:37
soon as the session begins he
2:39
refuses to engage will
2:41
doesn't look at Sean for more than a second he
2:44
seems more interested in
2:45
the room there's a long silence as Sean watches will where
2:49
you from in Southie
2:50
when Sean tries to connect with him on a personal level will
2:53
changes the subject do
2:55
you buy all these books
2:57
retail that you send away for like a shrink kit that comes with all
3:00
these volumes included in doing
3:02
so he flexes his intellect
3:04
trying to intimidate Sean into feeling small but
3:07
none of these actions are having an effect on Sean who
3:10
can keep up with will and even parry his clips what
3:13
you left and Nautilus
3:16
free weights oh really
3:18
yeah free weights huh yeah big time yeah just like that what do you
3:21
bench 285 what do you bench
3:23
so well looks for a new tactic one
3:26
that will hurt Shawn directly
3:27
maybe you married the wrong woman maybe
3:30
you should watch your mouth
3:31
no that's it isn't it married
3:34
the wrong huh what
3:36
happened what'd she leave you she
3:40
you know bangs Amell again
3:43
in a flash shawn
3:45
has roiled by the throat will
3:46
is helpless time's up
3:51
this scene paints a clearer picture of how will uses his defense mechanisms
3:55
to avoid dealing with uncomfortable
3:57
situations but in this interaction
4:00
will is knowingly trying
4:01
to upset Shawn in the book
4:04
psychology for screenwriters by William Indyk he writes the
4:07
key to writing a defense mechanism is
4:09
that the characters themselves are
4:10
completely unaware that they are exhibiting defensive
4:13
behaviour the other characters
4:15
in the film and the viewers in the audience watch the heroes and become
4:18
frustrated with their obliviousness to their own glaring
4:21
problems wills bigger problem
4:23
is the defense mechanisms
4:24
he doesn't even know he has which
4:27
is why it's going to take a small army of characters to
4:30
wear down the protagonists
4:31
defenses in Good Will Hunting Will
4:35
has amazing opportunities before
4:36
him professor Lambeau recognises
4:39
wills genius and tries to set him up with prestigious
4:42
job offers I'll give you a job myself
4:44
I just wanted you to see what was out there and Skylar
4:46
is unlike any girl he's ever met
4:49
this girl's like perfect
4:50
right now I don't ruin
4:52
that but to pursue these opportunities
4:54
it requires leaving his comfort zone and taking risks which
4:57
is the thing he's most terrified
4:59
of doing so will unconsciously
5:01
uses defense mechanisms to justify
5:04
his inaction the question isn't why
5:08
should you work for the NSA
5:09
question is why shouldn't you after
5:13
turning down a job offer from the NSA will
5:16
lets loose with a worst case scenario of
5:18
what could happen if he accepted
5:19
now the politicians are saying oh sending the Marines to secure the area because
5:23
they give a I won't be that kid over there getting shot just like
5:26
it wasn't them when they never got here will is using rationalization
5:30
explaining his decision in
5:31
a seemingly logical manner to
5:33
avoid the emotion behind it but
5:36
Shawn calls him out you're
5:37
always afraid to take the first step because
5:39
all you see is
5:40
every negative thing ten miles down the road look
5:43
at me what do you want to do
5:47
you and your you
5:50
got a answer for everybody
5:52
but I ask you a very simple question then you can't give me a
5:55
straight answer because you don't know
5:59
Shawn forces will to see the truth that he's hiding from
6:03
once a wills relationship
6:05
with Skylar gets serious I want
6:07
you to come to California
6:08
with will again jumps to the worst-case
6:11
scenario you could be in California
6:13
next week you you know you
6:14
might find out something about me you don't like and
6:17
you know maybe wish
6:19
you hadn't said that rather than let him get away with rationalizing
6:22
his refusal I can't
6:24
go to California why
6:25
not one because I got
6:28
a job here and
6:30
two because I live here Skylar
6:32
calls him out on the real issue
6:34
you know afraid that I won't love you back you know what I'm afraid
6:37
to I want to give it a shot and at least I'm honest with
6:41
you Skylar forces will to see the truth he's hiding from but
6:45
will isn't ready to change yet so
6:47
an even harsher mix of defense mechanisms
6:49
are triggered we'll look Skylar
6:52
dead in the eye
6:54
this is a small-scale form
6:56
of regression returning to an earlier safe state before
7:00
he was in an emotionally
7:01
challenging relationship with Skylar in
7:03
fact if regression is one of the biggest ways we'll avoids leaving his comfort
7:07
zone expressed by his group of friends their
7:10
immature and fiercely loyal providing
7:12
a place where we'll never has to grow up or be challenged
7:15
and he tells himself that it's okay to have sacrificed his
7:18
job opportunities and relationship
7:20
because he'll always have a home with his friends I want
7:24
to wear four I mean I'm gonna live here the rest of my life
7:28
don't be neighbors you know we'll have little kids
7:30
taking a little league together a fully failed but
7:33
will is in denial about
7:34
what he really wants and Chucky
7:36
his closest friend in the world calls
7:39
him out look you're my best friend so don't take this the wrong way
7:43
20 years if you're still living
7:45
here coming over my house watch the Patriots game you're still working construction
7:50
I kill you I
7:51
mean just sitting on a winning lottery ticket
7:54
it's too much of a to cash it it'd
7:57
be an insult the west of us still here in 20 minutes Chucky
8:01
forces will to see the truth he's hiding from this
8:05
moment is a turning point one
8:07
where will realizes the only person keeping him from moving forward is himself
8:11
through the conversations with the characters around him wills
8:14
defenses are lowered but
8:17
it's not enough because
8:18
this isn't a story about getting close to changing and then reverting to previous
8:22
behavior it's a story about meaningful
8:24
change and that requires
8:27
catharsis the word catharsis
8:30
derives its meaning from its use in Aristotle's
8:32
Poetics where he used it to describe how a play can provide the audience
8:36
with a purification and predation
8:38
of emotions later the physician Josef brewer applied
8:42
the term catharsis to psychotherapy
8:44
describing the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from strong
8:48
or repressed emotions because
8:51
of the dense made in Wills emotional
8:52
armor throughout the film in this
8:54
climactic therapy scene you will finally release
8:57
his repressed emotions upon
9:00
realizing sean has his file which contains images
9:03
of the physical abuse he suffered will
9:05
asks have you had any
9:07
experience with that twenty
9:09
years of counseling I've
9:10
seen some pretty awful
9:15
experience with that personally
9:22
as they commiserate about their painful childhoods
9:25
Shawn looks for a way to get through to will
9:29
you see this it's
9:43
not your fault as
9:45
Sean repeats this phrase bull
9:46
starts to go through his arsenal of Defense's
9:49
starting with making light of it it's
9:52
not new fault and
9:57
now then will claims to have gotten the message hoping Shawn will stop it's
10:02
not your fault it's
10:07
not your fault finally
10:08
will turns to aggression it's
10:11
not your fault with me alright don't
10:14
me Shawn not you it's not your fault through
10:17
their time together Shawn has learned all of wills defense mechanisms
10:20
and refuses to let him escape the
10:23
situation until finally all
10:27
of wills walls are torn down
10:32
Shawn takes well in his arms and holds him like a child will
10:36
sobs like a baby after
10:38
a moment he wraps his arms around Shawn and holds him even
10:41
tighter we pull back from this image two
10:45
lonely souls being father and son together
10:49
the events of the plot have brought will to a place where he experiences
10:53
a psychological catharsis and
10:55
because we've gone on the journey with him the
10:58
audience experiences a dramatic
11:00
catharsis good stories draws into the world and make us empathize with the struggles
11:06
of the characters we
11:07
witness their inner conflict
11:09
as they avoid the very thing that will make them whole often
11:12
recognizing that same behavior in
11:14
ourselves we root for the cast of characters around
11:17
them hoping that can help shore a hero the truth they're hiding from and
11:21
if the story is executed
11:23
just right we share in a much-needed
11:26
catharsis my personality type is one that can get obsessed with ideas very easily
11:34
I can be minding my own business see
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something cool and then decide I want to do that it's
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