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Hunting Good Will and Good Ideas !

Good Will Hunting (GWH) One of the movies is saw today ... It was a repeat telecast. First time I watched it, I thought I missed some of the subtle aspects of the movie. An it was definitely worth it!

Earlier, I found it good, but now it is among my favorites it seems!

In a nutshell it is about a young mathematical genius Will Hunting (Matt Damon), who works as a janitor in MIT, but is fighting with demons of his past and fears to open up with people, spending his talent and energy uselessly. It is also about a psychologist (Robin Williams), who helps Will to cope with it, to follow what he want and all that. Strangely, Robin Williams somehow reminded me of his role in Dead Poet's society, which was completely different! Apart from the script, performances few things, rather ideas stand out in the movie!

Few thoughts apart from usual channelizing your energy, looking deep within yourself kind of stuff -

One is that based upon a person's talent, often others set criteria about what will give him/ her success, what are the parameters for success et al. In the process we often forget what that person actually wants. (probably more in Indian context) E.g. Someone might be a mathematics genius, but he may like to do something else ... or he may not want to spend his entire life proving those theorems, but we often fail to realize it. And few years later if he is just some ordinary citizen living a contended life as a small time photographer (maybe he is not as good as a photographer, as he is in mathematics, but he loves photography more ... although it may sound somewhat contradictory!), but we may label him as a failure, or not someone who hasn't done well in life, or someone who hasn't utilized his potential ... because he doesn't meet our criteria for success!

Awesome movie!
__
GWH @ IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/

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  1. Anonymous3:05 PM, November 01, 2007

    Paraphrasing the movie name to coin the title of ur post -brilliant!!

    Now, coming to the topic, success (and also love) forms part of some of the most-widely-used-and-yet-least-understood terms...

    Each one of us has a different definition of success and yeah, it generally is governed by what the "world" or the "wiser" think! In fact, the so-called-failures have gone on to become amazing success stories (Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Newton, Your fav Einstein)!!

    So, its extremely important to define success by what it means to u... and stick to that definition!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nikesh Rathi1:22 AM, November 02, 2007

    True !

    On the flip side, using this definition guys like Osama Bin Laden could be a success!

    Interestingly, according to www.dictionary.com -

    "
    suc·cess /səkˈsɛs/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[suhk-ses]

    1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
    2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
    3. a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.
    4. a person or thing that is successful: She was a great success on the talk show
    "

    2 of the definitions talk about what others think about you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:15 AM, November 02, 2007

    Exactly. We had a Philosphy professor, who refused to admit that Osama is wrong in what he does...

    He said that "This guy is being totally truthful in what he is doing. Murdering people and committing crimes is his KARMA and he is doing exactly that. So, he is not wrong. He, like anybody else, is doing his duty".

    I am not sure if that made sense. To us, it took a lot of intense, heated up discussions with the prof, to get the point across. It is only now that I can appreciate the meaning of what he said.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nikesh Rathi11:08 AM, November 02, 2007

    From outside, we can just speculate what is within his mind, and not know the actual thing!

    ReplyDelete

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