Good Will Hunting Essay

In today’s society, education is more important than anything else in the world. Education is viewed as a requirement in order to become successful in life, but is not always needed. Children are raised up from the beginning of their lives to always stay in school and focus on their education. Our parents have always told us that education comes first in life and everything else comes second. But what about the people who have not gone onto college and have become very well-off in life? No one ever thinks of those people as becoming successful. Society does not realize that no matter how educated you are, if you are driven to become what you want in life, you can do it.

In the 1997 American drama film, Good Will Hunting, directed by Gus Van Sant, this is portrayed a lot throughout the film. The main character, Will, is a young boy who seems to be very intelligent, but does not have the right amount of education that others thinks he needs to succeed. This movie shows a few aspects in life of how not being well educated can affect how you are looked at by others, how people perceive themselves, and how people should be given chances no matter what their education is. Wills role in life, Skylar’s education level, and Will being helped to succeed all show that education in this society is very important, but you can do well in life without it.

People are looked at differently by others if they do not seem to be well educated. In the beginning of this film, Will is shown working in a college as a janitor. Now the position of a janitor is very looked down on by others according to this film. As he was working one day, students would walk away from him in disgust. Just because he is working as a janitor does not mean that he is not intelligent. The movie exposes Will’s intelligence right away in the film. A professor, named Gerald Lambeau, teaches a very difficult math class, and places an almost impossible problem on the chalkboard outside of his room. Will solves this problem and that proves that anyone, even kids who are not in the upper class and who do not have a high education, can be just as intelligent as kids who are. He solved a very difficult problem that not even the professor could solve and that shows a lot. Even though he is working as a janitor, this does not say anything about his education or knowledge.