Good Will Hunting: Scary Foresight

At a job interview for the NSA, protagonist Will Hunting:

"Why shouldn't I work for the NSA? That's a tough one. But I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at the NSA, and somebody puts a code on my desk, something no one else can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cuz I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East, and once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels are hiding. Fifteen hundred people that I never met, never had no problem with, get killed. Now the politicians are saying, "Oh, send in the marines to secure the area", 'cuz they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, getting shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cuz they were pulling a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie over there taking shrapnel in the ass. He comes back 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, 'cuz 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 that we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the little 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 taking their sweet time bringing the oil back, of course, maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and fuckin' play slalom with the icebergs, it ain't too long till he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now my buddy's out of work. He can't afford to drive, so he's walking to the fuckin' job interviews, which sucks because the shrapnel in his ass is giving him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starving 'cuz every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're serving is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holding out for something better. I figure: fuck it, while I'm at it why not just shoot my buddy, take his job, 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."

If this movie had been called "Good Will Bushwhacking" it would be a Nostradamus-like prediction. But I guess it's not hard to be psychic when predicting what Repubs are going to do.

:beer:

I wait for that quote. Thanks for posting it. it is one of my favorites!

Absolutely my favorite scene in that movie. :thumbsup: Everyone loves that movie, but how many heads do you think his tirade went straight over? Yeah.

I also liked when he told Robin Williams that if he wanted to read a real history book, read Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. "That book'll knock you on your ass."

Not that they're unintelligent , but this shows real wisdom and a curmudgeon attitude and that usually hits about mid life.

they worked on this script for years...

Loved that movie. I'd forgotten about that scene.

I loved the intensity.I thought robin williams did a great job,too.

a great scene.:toast:

Talk about prescient!

And yes it was.

It's one of my favorites.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/

:toast:

who was once a neighbor to Matt Damon, the actor who played Will.

Tom Joad also recommends reading Howard Zinn, "The People's History of the United States". though i never lived next door to Howard.

But that doesn't make it any less cool. Thanks for the reminder.

GREAT!

Nixon 1973 plans to seize Saudi oilfields: Robert Redford's reading that got his character in trouble...

U.S. Mulled Seizing Oil Fields In '73
British Memo Cites Notion of Sending Airborne to Mideast

By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 1, 2004; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A46321-2003Dec31¬Found=true

Art imitates life or the other way around ?

And for Good Will Hunting, that quote was the best part of the film. Every time I hear Matt Damon say that, I laugh out loud because he is DEFINITELY talking about Dubya there.

Another thing to note from that movie is that Matt Damon is a big Howard Zinn fan (as am I), and he mentions A People's History of the United States. It is an EXCELLENT read and I greatly recommend it.

Starring Damon and Clooney.

I think these guys are obviously taking roles like this to make a statement. I give them lots of credit for bringing stuff like this into the forefront.

Here is a description of Syriana:

From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Traffic, comes Syriana, a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power. As a career CIA operative (George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker (Matt Damon) faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince (Alexander Siddig). A corporate lawyer (Jeffrey Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager (Mazhar Munir) falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric. Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0365737/plotsummary

Olaf

because I think this is the most foretelling scene not only in the show but in present day. It "wows" me every time I read it.