uncannily prescient monologue from "Good Will Hunting"

[maggrwaggr]

my friend e-mailed me this last night -- he just saw the film for the first time. Check it out -- it's scarily prescient.

Will: Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll take
a shot. Say I'm working at the N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk,
something nobody else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break
it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that
code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East.
Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were
hiding and fifteen hundred people that I never met and that I never had no
problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the
marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their
kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was
called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some
kid from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that
the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back
from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause
he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he
realizes the only reason he was over there in the first place was so we
could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of
course the oil companies used the skirmish over there to scare up domestic
oil prices. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my
buddy at two-fifty a gallon. They're takin' their sweet time bringin' the
oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who
likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, and it
ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life
in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to
drive, so he's walking to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks 'cause the
schrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorroids. And meanwhile he's
starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate
special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what
did I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure, fuck it, while
I'm at it, why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his
sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the
hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president...

[JanMichael]

1. That was my favorite part of the movie. It was spot on.

Remember that Matt Damon was basically raised on a commune and his mother was a far Left Liberal. AFAIK he's one too.

[maggrwaggr]

2. I did not know that

interesting. I just find especially the last two sentences to be frighteningly dead-on re: Shrub etc.

[JanMichael]

3. True. It's especially accurate about Bush. But I think they were actually

...attacking the whole enchilada. Bush is just a truly horrific example but America has been run like the monologue suggested for decades regardless of the pretzle boy.

[jokerman93]

6. If it wasn't written with Bush in mind

If it wasn't written with Bush in mind, then that would make Bush just about the closest thing to a living cliche I've ever seen.

[JanMichael]

8. It came out in 1997. If they had Bush in mind then they were WAY ahead...

...of me.

[RapidCreek]

19. What is particularily interesting about this monologue

is that it was composed long before Bush was making public his desire even to run for the presidency.

It's amazing what ole Ben and Matt can do when they aren't chaising bimbos around! How true it is I don't know...but it's purported that they wrote these words.

I have the entire script around someplace.....on one of my hard drives. It really is spooky just how much of a future cast it was.

The sad thing is 90% of the people who watched the movie don't remember it. Probably thought this protestation was a result of Matts characters paranoia...cute and rebellious...but aside from that a fart in the wind.

I've heard that the co executive producer might have written this monologue, Kevin Smith If memory serves. It is certainly indicative of his writing style and rythim. In any case it is brilliant piece of work.

RC

[jokerman93]

5. How curious...

My brother who is a two time Emmy winner and knows a little about Hollywood, told me specifically that Damon and Affleck didn't write that speech...


:tinfoilhat:
:hi:

[JanMichael]

7. That's cool. The meaning is still valid.

IIRC they wrote the script but I can imagine there was some help on it too.

OH! I bet Chomsky wrote it!

[jokerman93]

9. Ok if you had to write a speech

Ok if you had to write a speech, and that speech had to be brilliant. It had to be something only a genius could conceive and convincingly deliver...who would you turn to for help?





Now THAT's a cool question!!!

[JanMichael]

10. The people that wrote the GWH rant and the "American President" speech...

...are probably good ones to start with.

Jack London would've been pretty good too.

[JanMichael]

11. I just looked up the story on GWH & apparently the guys wrote the script..

...but not the word for word transcript.

So my guess is that their political beliefs were still reflected in their movie.

[Desperadoe]

18. I'd ask

Robin Williams

[kath]

14. His mother is very active in the campaign

against war toys and other toys that promote violence. She wrote a book about it (along with Diane Levin) and speaks at early childhood conferences, also deals with promoting conflict-resolution skills in kids. Her name is Nancy Carlsson-Paige. (I saw Diane Levin and her give a presentation at NAEYC's national meeting in 1996) Very impressive woman!!

[PVnRT]

16. Well, he's big on Howard Zinn

That pretty much seals the "is he a far left liberal" debate.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

4. Both Matt and Ben are from Cambridge, MA

my younger sister went to high school with them.

They showed up to support the strikers at Harvard University a few years back when they were picketing for raises. They are both liberal guys-remember Matt mentioned Howard Zinn in the movie!

[Room101]

15. Matt does the reading for "people's history" audio book

If anyone wants the audio download link for the book let me know.

[Nay]

20. I sure would like the audio link, and surely I'm not the only one.

Thanks for offering.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

12. bump

[Room101]

13. If anyone has a web server I can upload the scene!!!

I have the scene saved on my harddrive.

[SarahB]

17. I loved that too!

Great movie monologue moment. :thumbsup:

[wuushew]

21. But didn't his character choose to work for the government?

I guess economic necessity trumps moral ambiguity.

[Touchdown]

22. No. He left for California to get back together with Minnie Driver...

Who herself went back to New York, to have sex with Karen's husband Stan, and steal all Karen's jewelry in her panties. So Karen has sex with Driver's father, John Cleese, just to get back at Minnie killing off Stan (Karen's husband) with the wild sex, and ham sandwich parties.