What Are You Scared Of?

This week, I want to talk about a scene from one of my favorite movies, Good Will Hunting.

A couple scenes stand out when I think of this movie. A lot of people think about the many Robin Williams speeches in the movie, but I want to dig deeper into a scene between Matt Damon’s Will and Minnie Driver’s Skylar.

Come to California

The scene starts with Skylar asking Will to go to California with her.

Throughout the movie, Will has been slowly changing. He starts out as a paroled janitor and secretly “wicked smaht” math whiz. Will works with Robin Williams’ Dr. Sean Maguire to receive therapy while continuing to develop his math skills. Those around Will start to see a future for him that isn’t so blue collar, including his childhood friends. 

Skylar asking Will to join her is the most important decision he’s faced with in the movie so far. Accepting Skylar’s offer would be to throw away his old life in favor of this new one on the other side of the country.

Will responds, “are you sure about that?” The same defense mechanisms that Sean sees in Will kick in.

The Take Back

The proposition freaks Will out.

Skylar wants to try living with Will in California, but he immediately jumps to the worse case scenario. 

“Now I’m stuck in California with someone who doesn’t really want to be with me, just wishing they had a ‘take back.’” - Will

Skylar acts out of the love she has for Will. She can’t see a scenario where she doesn’t love this man, but Will is the opposite. He’s waiting for the moment when the bill comes due, where Skylar will realize some awful truth about him and leave.

“I can’t go to California.” - Will

Will declines the invitation, and his turning inward causes Skylar to begin to close up as well. She assumes Will doesn’t love her.

What Are You So Scared Of?

Skylar finally asks Will the question he needs to face:

“What are you so scared of?” - Skylar

Skylar calls Will’s bluff, but he’s not ready to face the reality.

“You live in this safe little world where no one challenges you, and you’re scared shitless to do anything else.” - Skylar

Will becomes completely defensive at this point. He takes Skylar’s statement as an attack and retaliates, claiming that she’s only with him as a social experiment to see how the other side lives.

“Don’t put your shit on me when you’re the one that’s afraid… You’re afraid of me! You’re afraid that I won’t love you back! And you know what? I’m afraid too! Fuck it, I wanna give it a shot!” - Skylar

This pushes Will past his breaking point. He unleashes on Skylar telling her how he’s an orphan, how he’s had cigarettes put out on him, how his life differs wildly from hers. He assumes that Skylar doesn’t want to know this information because it makes him unlovable. He’s wrong. Skylar does want to know this.

“I want to hear it because I want to help you! Because I want to be with you!” - Skylar

The scene ends with Will telling Skylar he doesn’t love her, but I’m not sure anyone (Will included) believes it, which makes the moment so much harder.

Holding Ourselves Back

Will spends the whole movie holding himself back. He feels responsible for the pain he’s borne his entire life. (The most famous moment from the movie is likely Robin Williams’ “it’s not your fault” scene where Will finally accepts that he isn’t responsible for the abuse he endured as a child.)

Despite the progress he’s made so far, Will isn’t quite ready to make the leap, to believe that someone can love him. This moment is the belly of the whale. Will seems like he’s beyond helping after walking away from Skylar, but he will eventually come around with Sean’s aid.

This scene is so powerful because we see someone make a bad decision and throw away a good thing.

Like Will, it’s not uncommon that we as humans feel we don’t deserve something that’s right in front of us. Will loves Skylar, and she returns that love, but Will’s childhood stops him from falling. He’s been hurt and doesn’t want to get hurt again. 

The scene is also a good example of how it’s easy to misunderstand someone. Skylar calls out Will for being obsessed with her money, but she admits to him that she would trade it all away to get time back with her dead father. On the other hand, Skylar doesn’t know the extent of Will’s life until he reveals it in his anger. 

We oftentimes think we can do things on our own, that we don’t need help, but help isn’t a bad thing. Will seems indignant at the idea that Skylar or Sean want to help him. But, he needs the help.

When Will finally accepts that he can’t do it on his own, the movie is able to move to its happy resolution. In this scene, though, we see a Will who’s still not ready to complete the growth he’s been undergoing throughout the movie.

Sharing the Load

I forgot how moving this scene is. It’s a reminder that help isn’t a bad thing. That sometimes it requires a leap of faith to trust someone, but some of life’s highest highs come from trusting.

To make friends or to find a partner requires putting yourself out there to face possible rejection. Instead, a friend meets you in the middle, sharing a part of themselves too.

Our baggage isn’t something that needs to be hidden from those important to us. No, those who matter will help us carry our load. Good Will Hunting reminds us of this. We don’t have to carry everything by ourselves when others will help along the way.

If revisiting this scene made you want to rewatch Good Will Hunting, it’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Kanopy.

If you found this post interesting, please consider subscribing so that the next post gets delivered straight to your inbox!