Good Will Hunting - Reaction Paper

As I finished watching Good Will Hunting, there are realizations that sink in my mind.
Firstly, I feel like I can see myself to Will in some aspects, he grew up being abused and I
can relate to him being distant to other people. He builds walls and block people because
it is his defense mechanism toward people because of fear being hurt again by those
people. But luckily, he has friends that supports and loves him very much. They never
abandon him and they always encourage him to do the things he love and not being stuck
to be a janitor forever, janitor is a dignified job but his friends know that he has potentials
and can do more. Will is a very smart student but he worked as a janitor as a punishment
for causing trouble and he was also transferred from different foster three times. He lives
his life for 20 years experiencing traumatic events and painful memories. But thankfully,
a professor helped him enhance his intelligent and his friends are very supportive to him.

I am very happy for Will because despite living his whole life full of fears and traumatic
experience, he has friends that are always there by his side although he builds up wall
because of his attachment issues caused by his past. But I’m also envious of his
intelligence, I’m 19 but I don’t have anything to be proud of while Will at a very young
age is a very smart guy. I wonder how people’s brain work in this movie because I am
really amazed by his smart and intelligent brain.

The next thing that I’ve had thought in this movie is I shouldn’t waste my time doing
nothing and live my life how I wanted it to be. Will drinks beer, maybe because this is his
way of coping to forget his problems when in fact he can do more than just drinking
beers. In my case, I was busy using different social media platform and later on
complaining about my grades. Will made me realize again that I should focus on myself,
by doing so, I need to study but I also need to have a peace of mind and not stressing out
myself.

Lastly, there is this line that stuck in my mind said by Will’s therapist “It’s not your
fault”. This made Will cry and so to me, because I also want to hear those words from
someone and I am happy for Will because hearing that statement made him realize
something, that being what he is isn’t a mistake and a disgrace. I couldn’t even imagine
what Will had experienced in his past to the point that he distant his self towards other
people. That’s why this statement has a very big impact to him that he burst his eyes into
tears.

Good Will Hunting is a very great movie and it made an impact to me as a psychology
student, I also want to find a meaning to my life like Will, he found happiness in his life
and this made me think, when will I find happiness in my life? Will I also have the
courage to do what I want in my life? As a future psychologist, I have decided to help
people like Will who has traumas and fears, I want to be a reason for someone’s
happiness and encourage them to strike hard in life. For now, I’m just a college student
who is still having a long ride journey in life. There are things that I will face more in the
future and I want to overcome all my fears and traumas and strike to be a better version
of myself. There may be hardship and downfall that I’ll experience in the future and I
won’t know how I’ll handle those events. Maybe I’ll say today that I can manage it and
I’ll overcome it but when the situation happened, my actions will be opposite to what I
have said today. So I won’t think negatively anymore or sometimes and just focus on
what I have and I am today, the present that will be history a tomorrow.