Remi Manna

11-21-16

Comm

Social Penetration Theory in Good Will Hunting

I recently saw the movie Good Will Hunting for the first time, and it swiftly moved into

the top ten of my favorite movies list, which is a very coveted, respected list to be on. The story

follows a hidden math genius who worked as a janitor at MIT, and was discovered by a well

known professor, Professor Lambeau(Stellan Skarsgård), after completing a math problem that

only the most decorated mathematicians had ever completed. Will Hunting (Matt Damon), the

hidden genius, grew up in different foster homes and had criminal records due to violence and

instability in his life. He was abused as a kid which left him with a multitude of physiological

problems, leading him to be a pessimistic and closed off individual. After assaulting a police

officer and failing to argue his way out of it, he was left with two options; jail or counseling. His

relationship with his counselor, Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), perfectly exemplifies the social

penetration theory, or the transformation of relationships from non-intimate to intimate through

interpersonal communication. As the two started off with a very shallow relationship, they ended

up learning a lot about each other and understanding each other. Some might even say they

became best friends. Their relationship went through all the stages of social penetration, and the

viewer sees the transformation of a closed off, scared boy to a man sharing his feelings and

allowing himself to create a deep relationship with someone. The movie is all about the

progression of Will Hunting, and part of that progression has a lot to do with his relationships.
The film shows how Will and Sean utilize all the parts of the theory including breadth, depth,

valence, etc in order to form a trusting relationship.

Will Hunting and Sean Maguire’s friendship started off as a completely non-intimate, on

the surface relationship. They began in the first stage of the social penetration theory. Sean was a

recovering widow and therapist, while Will was stubborn and had a lot of trouble showing

compassion. Their relationship was involuntary, and Will would not cooperate at first. This gave

Sean little insight into his life. So far, what Will and Sean knew about each other was on the

surface, or the skin of the onion. The periphery, or the biographical information was one sided, in

that Sean knew information about Will, but Will did not know much about Sean. The relationship

was in it’s orientation stage at this point in the movie. There was a lot of effort from Sean to learn

more about Will’s life, and Sean quickly realized that getting Will to disclose information would

not work unless he did so himself. He knew that it would be easier for Will to reciprocate rather

than to voluntarily reveal his emotions and circumstances. The only way he could peel back the

layers of the onion was to use self disclosure. Their second session was much more productive,

and Sean disclosed a lot about his life to Will. He revealed that he went to war, that he was in

love, and that his wife got cancer and died. He was extremely vulnerable, letting Will know some

deep information. This information would usually be shared in the affective exchange stage of

the social penetration theory. The look on Will’s face indicated that he made a realization, which

causes this scene to be a turning point in the movie and in the relationship. Sean challenges Will

to open up, saying he would like to know more about Will, but Will doesn't want to disclose

anything. He is scared about what he might say. It shows how broken Will actually is. The

relationship between Will and Sean did not develop traditionally as the social penetration theory
states because of Sean skipping a stage and sharing deeply personal information, and the nature

in which their relationship started. Will Hunting eventually began to reciprocate after their

meeting in the park, allowing the friendship to develop to the next stage.

The next session between Will and Sean, Will did not speak at all. This showed how

stubborn and challenging Will really was. The look on his face showed he was testing Sean’s

patience. Soon after, Will gave in. The rest of the sessions between the two were much more

revealing, and the viewer could see their relationship forming. They had already had depth in

their relationship by Sean communicating something very personal about his life, but they had no

breadth, meaning they had not covered many topics yet. Will began to reveal things about

himself because of the norm of reciprocity. When we reveal something about ourselves the other

person will respond with personal information. Will reveals that he'd “been laid big time”, giving

Sean insight into his sexual past. He then lets Sean in on the fact that he went on a date last

week, but was scared to call her. He was worried that she wouldn't be as fun and smart as he

thought she was. This then causes Sean to question maybe its Will’s own fears that he's not good

enough for her. He is scared of rejection so he ends things before they start. After this, Sean

begins to tell Will more about his own life, revealing his wife used to fart when she was nervous.

At this point we see Will laugh, like he is actually enjoying his conversation with Sean,

developing a friendship. The next sessions involved more personal information being shared,

including Sean's memories of his wife and how much he loved her. A key scene is when he

explained where he met his wife on game six of the world series. He missed the game to “see

about a girl”. This is enlightening to Will and the viewer can see he’s started to respect Sean.

Their relationship grew more and more and moved into the stable affective exchange, where
most personal barriers were broken. The breadth and depth of their conversations developed and

they explored the intermediate layers of the onion, or the rarely shared information.

The final scene between Sean and Will is perhaps the most pivotal in the movie and the

relationship. It showed that they were fully in the stable exchange stage of the relationship. They

had truly became best friends. Both men revealed they had been abused as children, connecting

them emotionally. The scene ends with Will crying in Sean’s arms. Will, for the first time

completely opened up and showed his true vulnerability. He trusted his friend and therapist,

Sean. They had hit the central layers of the onion, the very private information, and their

relationship was strong and real. It progressed from a superficial and non personal relationship,

to a true friendship through the social penetration theory.

Good Will Hunting does and doesn't conform to the social penetration theory. There are

many factors that makes the relationship unusual. It started off as an involuntary relationship,

which meant that Sean had to try extremely hard to get Will to reciprocate. In a natural

relationship, this usually isn't the case. Both people are willing and open to divulge information

because they want to be friends and develop a relationship. It will happen more naturally. Will

and Sean’s relationship started off abnormally, but eventually followed the social penetration

theory and moved throughout each stage. As Sean and Will’s interpersonal communication

increased, the strength of their relationship did as well, and all the layers of the onion were

peeled back.