COMING OF AGE--- GOOD WILL HUNTING

Victor Bloom MD

Just yesterday I had the privilege of discussing the movie, "Good Will Hunting" with Ms Collins' Grosse Pointe South class on the motion picture, which is given as an English credit. It didn't take me long to figure out that movies certainly are yet another form of 'literature'. They are based on novels,www.fitwatch.biz short stories or screenplays. Often the books are better than the movies, but sometimes movies outshine their bookish origins. For example, I think Branagh's "Hamlet" is the definitive Hamlet, a wide-screen panorama including parts of the story usually omitted in repertory performances. The acting performances were thrilling and I was glad that now we have available many film versions of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" which have reached an audience of millions, instead of just an elite few. There is much to be learned from Shakespeare and there is much to be learned from many good contemporary motion pictures.

Ms Collins' classes were curious about what a psychiatrist would say about a movie like "Good Will Hunting", which is a 'coming-of-age' movie and includes some psychotherapy sessions with Robin Williams as the therapist. The students, of course, wondered whether psychotherapy was really like that. I had to say, "no." It does not ordinarily happen that the therapist loses his temper and jams the patient up against the wall and has him by the throat. The brilliant young Will was getting Williams' goat. The court ordered psychiatric treatment because the young man was repeatedly getting in trouble with the law, but he was no ordinary delinquent.

However, the essence of psychotherapy was there, a troubled patient and an involved, caring, knowledgeable therapist, who would guide the young man to a deeper understanding of himself, with sensitivity and empathy and basically caring.

Will could talk his way out of anything, he was so smart. In fact, he was a math genius and solved problems which had stumped the experts for centuries. The professor in MIT wondered which student in his class surreptitiously chalked the solution on the blackboard in the hall outside the classroom, but none would come forward. Finally, it was discovered that it was the janitor who mopped and swept the halls. Either unable or unwilling to enroll, Will 'audited' this higher math class and worked on the problems, coming up with solutions that eluded even the most esteemed professors.

The movie is based on a true story, in which our math hero was one of the authors. His buddy in the movie was a neighborhood chum with whom he hung out, but was not geared to higher education or career success. This was the other writer of the screenplay. Somehow, two college-age kids got together and made a movie which attracted the famous Robin Williams. The young writers, who also acted in the film, were unknown. The whole concept of the film reinforces the historical knowledge that sometimes great creative genius pops up in unlikely places.

The students wanted to know all about psychotherapy, because the film depicted a psychotherapy which proved to be successful in the case of the math genius, who was a loner and built a psychological wall around himself. He could maintain this wall against all challenges because of his extreme intelligence and capable use of words and information. I told the students that patients who are very intelligent are the hardest to treat. Their 'defenses' are the most formidable, an example of how we can be our own worst enemy and be too smart for our own good.

Eventually, Robin Williams got to the core of the young man's problem, that he had been abused as a youngster. The therapist honed in on him, almost pinning him to the wall, repeating over and over, "It's NOT your fault!" Then his patient burst out sobbing and Robin Williams held him. He had broken through this psychological barrier, which kept Will from developing and utilizing his creativity, and also kept him from serious intimate attachments. He was a fortress and the solid line of defenses had been breached, with a resultant feeling of relief and freedom.

A movie about psychotherapy can only show it in condensed and dramatic form. I explained to the students that real-life therapy is longer, more complex and quieter. It enables a person to open up his or her mind, which takes down psychological walls which were set up in childhood for a variety of reasons. People behind psychological walls have stunted creativity and feelings of stress and depression. The stress is from inner conflict, much of which is unconscious, and the depression is from the unconscious realization of untapped potential, which gives a person a feeling of ineffable loss.

Every person has some creative potential, and unfortunately, most people do not tap into their potential for creativity, having over-adjusted to the demands of family and society. I told the students that I believe that most all people could profit from a guided self-examination. Walking down the hall with Ms Collins at the end of the two classes, I responded to her enthusiasm by sharing my fantasy of what should be important in education. Instead of three R's, I would propose four:

Reading

Writing

'Rithmetic

Relationships

I hope the high schools of the future include educational-discussion groups about human relationships, the human condition, the mind of humankind. In a relatively open forum with a trained professional, the students would be encouraged to discuss interpersonal relationships and the life cycle, from infancy to old age. When the discussion would really get going, it would be like group therapy, and I think the results would be therapeutic and maturational.

Psychological walls serve a purpose, but if they are too thick and go on for too long, you are left with a stunted, superficial and rigid person.

Dr. Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and corresponding editor of their quarterly journal, Academy Forum and on the editorial board of the Detroit Medical News. He welcomes comments and questions at his e-mail address: vbloom@comcast.net.