‘You weren’t made to think’: Spoken in cinema 27 years ago, this tirade can put anyone at ease

Cinema is primarily images, movement, music and sounds, of course, but it is also words. Ever since the first actors started talking on the big screen, many talented dialogue writers have come up with great lines, powerful tirades or powerful punchlines to share with the public.

Whether we’re conjuring up Robert Duvall’s legendary catchphrase in Apocalypse Now, Tom Hanks’ life lessons in Forrest Gump or Louis de Funes’ funny talker in La Folie des Grandeurs, the seventh art is full of memorable formulas that we have. They like to appear in public when the situation allows it.

In this regard, Will Hunting Gus Van Sant, whose excellent screenplay was written by a very young Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, is of great vintage. Especially with the sparkling verbal sparring between the intense protagonist played by Damon and his psychologist, played by the masterful Robin Williams, the film is a real lesson in writing.

“Are you going to regurgitate all the books for us?”

But aside from the numerous battles between the two main characters, which is clearly the heart of the feature film, let’s focus here on another sequence that happens a little earlier and which allows the audience to effectively get to know its brilliance. The Mind of Will Hunting.

The scene takes place near the beginning of the film in a bar frequented by Harvard University students. While one of them enjoys humiliating Willy’s best friend, the latter decides to pay him back, suddenly showing reckless wit and unquestionable culture.

“You were going to regurgitate all the books for us? Don’t you have any personal insight on the subject?”tells him after anticipating each of his arguments regarding the economic debate at hand.

“First of all, you’re not made to think.”

“So that’s your thing? You show up at a bar, blurt out bits and pieces from some book and pretend they’re your ideas. You’re only doing it to impress a girl and embarrass my friend? Shame on the guy. It’s like you to start thinking about yourself after 50 And you discover the fact that there are two truths in your life: first, you are not made to think, and second, you have lost $150,000 in education, which you will find with a $1.50 late fine at the municipal library.”

This beautiful tirade, which has the effect of immediately losing the interlocutor of Will Hunting, remains one of the priorities when facing a humiliating opponent.

What is your favorite Will Hunting line?

(Re)discover all the hidden details of the movie…