Myth ID

In the film "Good Will Hunting" the main character, Will Hunting (Matt Damon,) is a janitor at MIT. Dispite this meanial job, he is actually very intelligent. He is introduced to a psychologist, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams,) who tries to help him sort out this gift that he has, and the rest of his life as well. "Good Will Hunting" portrays characteristics of the contemporary media myths "the wisdom of the rustic" and "the possibility of success."

The first myth is characterized by a hero who is usually well educated meeting a rugged, less educated person who teaches them something profound about life. The second myth deals with situations where something good could happen, but the main character has to pick themselves up and make it happen themselves.

"Good Will Hunting" connects wtih the wisdom of the rustic in that the intelligent Will Hunting meets the older and yes, rustic Sean Maguire. Through the relationship Will learns how to deal with the frustrations of life. Sean is always giving him little proverbial bits of knowledge throughout the movie. Many of their talks are focused on relating to others. During one of these Sean tells Will "Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself. "

This movie differs from the characteristics of the wisdom of the rustic in a few ways. First, while the hero, Will, is very intelligent, he hasn't been schooled the way that most people would assume. In many ways he is a rough personality. Also, the "rustic", Sean, is and educated psychologist, and in the myth this person is usually less educated than the hero.

"Good Will Hunting" reflects characteristics of the media myth "the possibility of success," because in the end Will must chose for himself what he will do with his intelligence and how he will live his life. The possibility for him to succeed is his gift of intelligence, but his life circumstances are a challenge that he himself must overcome. The movie differs from the myth, because Will is not completely alone. He does recieve some guidance from Sean, as discussed before, and also from his friends. Ultimately, however, he is the one that must choose his destiny.