What Happened to the Smart Superheroes? — Is ‘Good Will Hunting’ the End?

I watched Good Will Hunting for the fiftieth time last night, and something occurred to me. Matt Damon’s character was an intellectual superhero. He didn’t have a batsuit, and he certainly couldn’t stop a train with his bare hands. His likability was based solely on smarts. There’s a scene in a bar where Ben Affleck hits on a girl, and a Harvard graduate makes him feel stupid. Damon comes to the rescue on his best friend’s behalf, but instead of punching the guy in the face in a well-choreographed fist-fight, he intellectually belittles him, and says “you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on a fuckin’ education you coulda’ got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library.” So here’s my question — would you rather date Will Hunting or Spiderman, and have there been any intelligent superheros since? If you take that rubber suit off, do you think Batman even knows how to multiply?

One thought on “What Happened to the Smart Superheroes? — Is ‘Good Will Hunting’ the End?”

  1. By the end of the film, one is happy that Will is healing, but no amount of therapy would make him a good bet for a successful marriage or fatherhood. 

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