Matt Damon

nickname, “sissy”. In spite of this, he leaves the other end endearingly shy, as well as worrisome about his impression on others. He is always evaluating himself, always trying his best to adjust and improve. At the beginning of the book, we see him considering his conversation with the rich and urbane Herbert Greenleaf, calculating in his options, he never loses that charming love of good fortune and high-class culture. Patricia Highsmith’s tale of impersonation, identity theft and murder has undergone two film adaptations, both with significant deviations her original writing in 1955. In 1999, four years after Highsmith’s death, Anthony Minghella produced the second adaptation of the book under its original title. Within this adaptation, Matt Damon stars as Tom Ripley, Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf, and Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge. Mysteriously, a new character, (not featured within the original book) Cate Blanchett as Meredith, a rich and ‘well-heeled’ American tourist and Philip Hoffman as Peter, an irritatingly observant acquaintance of Marge’s. We begin at the start where underachieving Tom Ripley convinces a wealthy and well-known shipyard owner, Herbert Greenleaf, that he knew his son from Princeton University. Little does Greenleaf know, is that Tom simply borrowed a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. Tom is a pleasant young man, always on the prowl for a profit, so when Mr Greenleaf offers him a thousand dollars to find his son, Dickie Greenleaf, and…

applied for a writing position on a television network that would help her further her career. Her odds of being hired were slim, but she was hopeful more than ever. Kaling explains, “I'm the kind of person who would rather get my hopes up really high and watch them get dashed to pieces than wisely keep my expectations at bay and hope they are exceeded” (Kaling 70). Throughout my life, I have also used this mechanism when it comes to either trying out for sports or applying for job. It helps me…

This is proven throughout the movie of invictus directed by Clint Eastwood in 2009, starring Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman(Invictus). This film starts out as Mandela becoming president, people not believing in him, and even himself doubting his abilities as president. But right from the start of the film he wants people to work together and be united. Though this may not come yet he still makes an effort that proves useful. Mandela sees the Springboks, the South African rugby team, as a…

In the world of hollywood film, as well as society as a whole, there are often racial biases that benefit some, and inhibit others. Time and time again, theses racial stereotypes are portrayed throughout Hollywood cinema. As shown in the Good Will Hunting, Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, shows time and time again that superior Knowledge, and white skin color is the the key to success. Whether it was him winning over Skylar in the Harvard Bar, or talking his way out of legal consequences in…

What started as a short story written for a Harvard writing class, life mirrored art ever so slightly for Matt Damon when he wrote Good Will Hunting—earning an A for his work on the assignment and an Oscar for his work on the screenplay for the film. The two childhood friends from the south side of Boston, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, wrote a script together that some might say is the greatest piece of writing ever done for a film. The two of them sold the script and turned it into a movie that…

protagonist to grow as a person. Will begins the film by being distant from others, which is a common defense mechanism for people who have been emotionally and physically hurt. As the story progresses, Dr. Maguire is the only person who understands how to fully help Will transition from being unhappy to happy. He becomes a mentor to Will by teaching him the importance of becoming vulnerable when connecting with others. Although Dr. Maguire helps Will, Will also aids Dr. Maguire in realizing…

example of the commonly used idiom “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. In order to impress onlookers and make a fool out of a local “townie” character of clearly inferior intelligence, a man that has been costumed to fit the character of “Ivy League graduate student” to a tee is begins to reference obscure academic literature in the local Harvard bar that both characters are patrons of. When the graduate student picks an intellectual argument with the uneducated townie, the writers bring in the…

Born Unbiased “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite,” says Nelson Mandela. Mandela’s words are often overlooked in the sense that hate is taught and learned not natural. Prejudice is extremely evident in society, but it does not come naturally; nobody is born with judgement or…

Few movies have the ability to captivate and move an audience like Good Will Hunting. The story is a touching tale of a rebellious young man, Will Hunting (Matt Damon), who struggles to find his identity, living in a world where he can solve any problem, except the one brewing deep within himself. After being booked on assault charges, Will Hunting is allowed to leave prison on two conditions, taking math classes with a professor who recognizes his brilliance and mandatory therapy. Coupled with…

against apartheid(Brown and Holt). As Mandela and the ANC are working for a freer South Africa, the government is making stricker apartheid laws(Brown and Holt). The ANC and Mandela became more defiant in their fight for freedom(Brown and Holt). Mandela was willing to do anything he could to get South Africa back to being a good civilized country. Even though nobody liked Mandela for a while, Mandela overcame that and still was devoted. In this paragraph I will tell you about the Movie…