Week 1 Day 5: Character Wound – GOOD WILL HUNTING

[cara star]

What causes both characters to reveal their wounds? Skylar wants to make a bigger commitment by inviting Will to CA. But Will doubts her ability to know what she wants and becomes defensive, then aggressive, calling her out as a trust fund baby who is “slumming” with him. She reacts by revealing her wound of having her father die… and missing him. She pushes him further about his life story… and he explodes with the truth that he’s an orphan from an abusive background… then she tries to cling to him to “help him” which he doesn’t want (believe?). He feels it’s impossible to be loved, likely by anyone, and especially by her.

How are those wounds motivating their emotions, actions, and reactions? Will is over-reacting to everything she says and Skylar is playing the savior.

How is each character threatening the other’s wounds? Will threatens Skylar’s wound by being distant, noncommittal to future plans, and unattainable. Skylar threatens Will’s wounds by being an upper-class girl that might not approve of the “real” him and by wanting to get closer to him when he has a history of self-protection.

What drama is this scene built around? Will seems afraid of the word “love.” A deeper commitment that involves a move cross-country, leaving a job and friends. He’d have to put all his “eggs in one basket” which he feels is very threatening. He also is worried about her and her family accepting him and his backstory.

What traits showed up in these characters’ words or actions? Will shows how aggressive he can be and also that he hasn’t been honest about his background. And that Will doesn’t like to be pitied… all while Skylar desperately wants him to be closer so she pushes him by admitting she loves him.

What I learned from rewriting my scene is that each character has to show how they are clearly driven by a wound… not just the protagonist.

[Joseph McGloin]

Watch 1^st time for:

– What
causes both characters to reveal their wounds?

The intensity of the moment of one declaring their love. How that declaration triggers past bad experiences and assumed present and future similar/same experiences. The vulnerability of both in the intimate moment of discovery of deep pain difficult to face.

– How
are those wounds motivating their emotions, actions, and reactions?

The desires for love meet the pain of past experiences in that arena, causing them to fear the same extreme pain again, to have the old wounds reopened with the salt of new pain rubbed into them by the very one they hope to gain a different, better result from this time.

– How
is each character threatening the other’s wound?

Skylar is talking about leaving for California, which can feel to the over-sensitive Will like going away, even though she has asked him to go with her.

Will is so freaked out by the possibility of abandonment again that he tries to cut it off by rejecting Skylar’s love, even questions her sincerity, which feeds her fear of loss of the love she has poured so much hope and passion into.

Watch 2^nd time for:

What
drama was this scene built around?

Class
distinction, the powerful feelings of emotional love, deep-seated fear of
not really being loved by this other person, denial of feelings, the
opportunity to take a love relationship to the next, deeper level, fear of
change, fear of making a big mistake and it being too late for a “take-back.”

What
traits showed up in these character’s words and actions?
Will: anger, low self-confidence, incapacity to be loved

Skylar: excitement, fear of rejection, optimism, forgiveness

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

Please
watch this scene and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes
this character great from a writing perspective.

Will’s conflict is deep, raw, and strong. It pushes him in negative ways he cannot control, that he probably doesn’t even want, but there it is. But he can verbalize it, and appears to have strengths that will aid him in growing into the kind of person we can perceive that he can be potentially- he is very smart, articulate, and has strength of character exhibited in the earlier clip (loyal friend, a leader). He is relatable in his fears about love, and so is a good model for our transformational journey from not getting what love is in its fullness to maybe having at least a greater understanding of it. And there is no greater desire we have than to know love in all its facets, except maybe the desire to go home, but the two seem inextricably intertwined.

[Liz]

What causes both characters to reveal their wounds?<div>

Skylar wants Will to go to CA with herWill asks her, “how do you know”? Conversation ensuesHe makes his excuses to why he can’t goShe asks why, then the damn breaks with Will and he reveals more wounds and doesn’t want to be open.How are those wounds motivating their emotions, actions, and reactions? She wants to be with him, because she loves him…Will can’t admit he loves her, he can’t admit that he is afraid to leave his friends, his communityHe fears change, he is comfortable in his ‘world’He reveals wounds to her, she doesn’t care, but he doesn’t believe anyone could love him for who he is.He doesn’t believe that he can be lovedHe throws those emotions at her to push her away, so that he doesn’t have to feel the emotional hurt.Physical hurt is easy, emotional hurt is more difficult and new. He doesn’t know how to deal with those emotions. How is each character threatening the other’s wound?

Watch 2nd time for:

What drama was this scene built around? It’s built around the possible future they could haveWhat traits showed up in these character’s words and actions? An argument about worlds (hers/his) Will: We could be in CA and you find out something about me that you don’t like. Now I am stuck in CA.I didn’t say I didn’t love youDon’t tell me about your worldWill does not expect her to accept himHe does not believe that his wounds will not be too much for her to handle, that his wounds will be thrown back into his face. He does not want to take the chance to live a different life. He believes he is a bottomless pit, so no one should or can love him.Argument, nearly is violent. He believes there is nothing that can be good in his life. He accepts defeat because he has had so many struggles pushing him back down to the point he only knows a few things are real in his life (he doesn’t believe ‘love’ is real). His friends and daily routines are reliable (real). Skylar doesn’t know all his wounds, nor does she care. She knows she loves being with Will and is in love. It’s naivety that brings things crashing down on her, she is crushed by his final words.Will: I don’t love you (leaves the room)

Daily Focus – Searching for Breakthroughs:

Please watch this scene and provide your insights/breakthroughs into what makes this character great from a writing perspective.</div><div>

Will is extremely brilliant minded character He has been torn up torn down, abandoned, abused and has no hope for a future.He does not want change in his world, despite how his friends and Skylar believe he can do anything he wants to, have a wonderful life.He feels so strongly in his convictions of not being lovable, that he can’t let go and live a different life.Read the other writers comments and make notes of any insights/breakthroughs you like. Rethink or create a scene for your script using your new insights and rewrite that scene/character. My main character goes through some similar struggles in her young life and then later as a young adult. However, she does get support in an adoptive situation. The antagonist, I believe needs more work on the traits and actions. I do have some ideas now of what I may add to this character and how life struggles propel a character in certain directions.

What I have learned:

I want to build inner conflicts and wounds that reveal themselves throughout the story. Sometimes the wounds gush out in a flurry of anger and violence.The inner conflicts/wounds are important in making characters captivating, we can empathize with some wounds/conflicts, and how others may feed those conflicts/wounds.
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[Ron Berti]

Will is confident in his own abilities but aware that in this crowd (Harvard) he doesn’t have the graces and attributes of the “golden” kids who are there, nor the money

Skylar is privileged but sensitive to Will, and she loves him for who he is.

Her offer to move to CA triggers something in Will that reminds him that he’s not of her class, and he worries that she might eventually find him tiresome and abandon him. When she tries to convince him that she’s in love with him and that the invitation is a largely non-risky action for his own happiness (with her), Will’s reaction goes even deeper and he starts to accuse her of “slumming” with him, seeing her time with him as a temporary fling…

Given this level of enmity towards Skylar’s “class”, it’s hard to see how they could ever settle down together, and that wounds Skylar.

[Ronald Neustrom]

What causes both characters to reveal their wounds? How are those wounds motivating their emotions, actions, and reactions? How is each character threatening the other’s wounds? For Will his wound is revealed as he is challenged or invited to California with Skylar. He exposes that she might change her mind a week after he gets there and discover she doesn’t love him…this action/fear/invitation reveals his fear of abandonment. He defends his position and then she exposes her wound about the death of her father and the wish she had that he was still alive. Her deep loss. And now she has found someone she deeply loves and she doesn’t want to lose him too. He challenges her love in the only way he knows, by tearing apart and attacking. She knows he loves her but at that moment we realize just how damaged he is. Not only does he reveal the physical damage to his body but he finishes with “I don’t love you!” We all see how deep the mental damage is. Because we know it’s not true and it creates a mystery within the story. Will he be able to get past his wound and find love with Skylar or is his wound so deep that he buries himself in his self-pity and never lives his best life?

What drama was this scene built around? What traits showed up in these character’s words and actions? The scene was built around a post love moment that began as a tender awakening for Skylar and an offer to Will. “Move to California with me.” A simple sentence that sent this scene into the stratosphere. You could sense the offer working inside his head…we were rooting for him to go…realize and accept Skylar’s love…however, Will has never done anything the easy way throughout the whole story…his traits of being wounded and attacking everyone around are not going to change now…it was perfect Will Hunting. His mind raced ahead and tried to solve it like a math problem. He was working out scenarios that hadn’t even happened yet. I think in some ways this scene was built around a moment where you can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge. Hearing his own words and Skylar exposing his lies about his 12 siblings and “I don’t love you” was the moment where Will began to acknowledge whether he was going to let his past keep him down or move ahead and become something better. She demonstrated what a gamble might look like with the offer to move. Are you going to challenge yourself or continue to lie to yourself?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 5 months ago by  Ronald Neustrom.

[James Hernandez]

Watch 1st time for:

· What causes both characters to reveal their wounds?

· How are those wounds motivating their emotions, actions, and reactions?

· How is each character threatening the other’s wound?

What causes Will’s wound to be revealed is when Skylar asks him to go to California with her. He perceives this as an unwelcomed challenge and rages on her with the horrific scars of abuse. Skylar’s wound is revealed when Will accuses her as “slumming” and being a high-class member of society. This causes her pain as she relives her father’s death; it was upon his death when she was thirteen that she inherited the money used for her education.

These wounds cause them to become defensive and nostalgic about their pasts. The pain they feel surfaces with rage in Will and tears of hurt in Skylar. He yells at her causing her to cry as she attempts to soothe both their pasts by softly holding his face. This leads to abrupt reactions as Will almost hits her and Skylar pleads to know if he still loves her.

Skylar threatens Will’s wound by boldly provoking him. He chooses to stay in his comfort zone and is afraid of making difficult decisions in life. Will threatens Skylar’s wound by accusing her of using him as some temporary fling and that she’ll ultimately end up with the rich crowd.

Watch 2nd time for:

· What drama was this scene built around?

· What traits showed up in these character’s words and actions?

The drama built around this scene revolves with Will and Skylar’s relationship reaching a point where she wants him to be in her life more. But he’s apparently not ready to make a huge commitment, especially moving to California and leaving Southie. There are two opposites at play, Skylar wants to move forward, and Will wants to remain in his usual routine.

Will’s traits: defensive, violent, over-analytical, stubborn

Skylar’s traits: loving, considerate, risk-taker, wounded

Insights/Breakthroughs:

The revelation of a character wound adds a punch to a scene making the story more poignant. This allows the character traits to be fully showcased in the most dramatic way; the audience experiences the real character.