Editing Good Will Hunting (section)

==Plot==
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Twenty-year-old Will Hunting of [[South Boston]] is a self-taught math genius who was recently paroled after completing a prison term. He works as a janitor at [[MIT]], and spends his free time drinking with his friends Chuckie, Billy and Morgan.

When Professor Gerald Lambeau posts a difficult [[graph theory]] mathematics problem on a blackboard as a challenge for his graduate students, Will solves the problem anonymously, stunning both the students and Lambeau. As a challenge to the unknown genius, Lambeau posts an even more difficult problem. He later catches Will writing the solution on the blackboard late at night, but initially thinks Will is vandalizing it and chases him off. At a bar, Will meets Skylar, an English woman about to graduate from [[Harvard College]], who plans on attending medical school at [[Stanford University School of Medicine|Stanford]].

Meanwhile, Lambeau, realizing Will was not vandalizing the problem but solving it, asks the campus maintenance staff his whereabouts, but is informed he did not turn up for work. Lambeau learns Will was placed at MIT by a parole program, and obtains his parole officer's details.

Will and his friends start a fight with a gang that includes a member who used to bully Will as a child. Will is arrested after he attacks a responding police officer. Lambeau sits in on his court appearance and watches Will defend himself. He arranges for Will to avoid jail time if he agrees to study mathematics under Lambeau's supervision and participate in psychotherapy sessions. Will agrees but treats his therapists with mockery.

In desperation, Lambeau calls on Dr. Sean Maguire, his college roommate, who now teaches psychology at [[Bunker Hill Community College]]. Unlike the other therapists, Sean actually challenges Will's defense mechanisms. During the first session, Will insults his deceased wife, and Sean threatens him, but after a few unproductive sessions, Will finally begins to open up.

Will is particularly struck by Sean's story of how he met his wife, who later died of cancer, by giving up his ticket to [[1975 World Series#Game 6|the historic game six]] of the [[1975 World Series]] after falling in love at first sight. Sean's explanation for surrendering his ticket was to "see about a girl", and he does not regret his decision. This encourages Will to build a relationship with Skylar, though he lies to her about his past and is reluctant to introduce her to his friends or show her his home. Will also challenges Sean to take an objective look at his own life, since Sean cannot move on from his wife's death.

Lambeau sets up a number of job interviews for Will, but he scorns them by sending Chuckie as his "chief negotiator", and by turning down a position at the [[National Security Agency|NSA]] with a scathing critique of the agency's moral position. Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, but he refuses and tells her he is an orphan, and that his foster father physically abused him.

Will breaks up with Skylar and later storms out on Lambeau, dismissing the mathematical research he has been doing. Sean points out to Will that he is so adept at anticipating future failure in his interpersonal relationships that he [[Self-fulfilling prophecy|deliberately sabotages]] them to avoid emotional pain. Chuckie likewise challenges Will over his resistance to taking any of the positions he interviews for, telling him he owes it to his friends to make the most of opportunities they will never have, even if it means leaving one day. He then tells Will that the best part of his day is the brief moment when he waits at his doorstep, thinking Will has moved on to something greater.

Will walks in on a heated argument between Sean and Lambeau over Will's potential. Lambeau leaves, and Sean and Will talk and it comes to light that they were both victims of child abuse. Sean helps him see that he is a victim of his own inner demons and to accept that the abuse he received was not his fault by repeatedly stating, "It's not your fault", causing him to break down in tears in Sean's arms. Will accepts one of the job offers arranged by Lambeau. Having helped Will manage his problems, Sean reconciles with Lambeau, deciding to take a sabbatical.

Will's friends give him a used car for his 21st birthday so he can commute to work. Later, Chuckie goes to Will's to pick him up, only to find that he is not there, much to his happiness, as Will had finally done what Chuckie had been wishing for all these years. Will leaves a note for Sean asking him to tell Lambeau that he had to go "see about a girl", revealing he passed on the job offer and instead is heading to California to reunite with Skylar.