Good Will Hunting

2229 Words9 Pages
Intrapersonal Communication has much to do with ones self, how one perceives things, and how those perceptions change. We all have unique characteristics, personalities, and our own coping mechanisms. Intrapersonal communication is shaped heavily by our upbringings. This paper will analyze the two characters, Will Hunting and Sean McGuire in the film Good Will Hunting (1997), directed by Gus Van Sant. Although it may not seem likely at first, towards the end of the film it becomes evident that Will is practically a younger version of Sean. Their similarities can be seen through the panes of the Johari Window, which are exposed through the uncertainty reduction theory along with self-disclosure. Good Will Hunting is about a violent and untrusting 20-year-old boy named Will Hunting with a rough past. A Professor at Harvard, where Will works as a janitor, recognizes that Will is a genius and bails him out of jail under the circumstances that he studies mathematics with him and attends therapy. Over the course of his therapy sessions, Will and his psychologist, Sean, grow closer and form a unique bond. Will also forms a relationship with a beautiful, bright woman named Skylar, however due to his detachment issues, he denies her invitation to join her in California and tells her he doesn’t love her. Over time Sean, gets Will to realize that his abusive upbringing wasn’t his fault and he is finally able to let go of his self-loathing and start a new life, driving off to California to meet Skylar. Intrapersonal Communication can be defined as “communication with ourselves, or self-talk” (Wood, 2008, p. 372). A large part of intrapersonal communication has to do with self. Self is described as “an ever-changing system of perspectives that is formed and sustained in communication with others and ourselves” (Wood, 2008, p. 185). In this system our perspectives about others
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