The movie seems to shame Matt Damon's character for being a janitor. Before the professor (Stellan Skarsgård) is even aware that Damon is always getting into trouble and has resorted to being a janitor, he is shocked that someone who is so good at math could be a janitor. Why would he assume that he wasn't happy doing it?
shareObviously, because being a janitor is a crappy job for nobodies with no intellectual skills.
Yeah, I agree with you that it's not completely fair to think like that.
However, most people still feel that everybody who can should aim "higher" than that.
And when you think about that Will was a genius, who had some fear of leaving his comfort zone?
Then you find it totally believable that Lambeau would want him to reach his potential within maths.
But there's a scene where Will talks with Sean about that being a blue collar worker doesn't have to be bad.
That shows me that the writers were aware of the unfortunate implications, that you think of.
But still, Will is later pushed by his best friend from "the hood" to take his chance to live a different life.
That is, to live a supposedly better life.
I don't recall the scene because I haven't seen it in many years. You're probably right, but it's just how I remembered it.
shareIt is many years since I watched the movie too, but I remember it like this:
Sean is telling Will about his father being a bricklayer as if it was a lamentable thing.
Will then says something like "What's wrong with that? That means that he built somebody's house!"
Sean seems to get that Will has a point, but he still thinks that Will could and should "do better".
I guess they acknowledged it then. It just seemed pretty odd to me that they would shame Damon for what he felt happy about.
shareI wonder if Will was that happy about his life though.
It seems to me like he stuck to his old crowd out of fear of stepping out of his comfort zone.
And even if being a janitor would have been the right job for Will, it's not a good thing to be a criminal.
Probably because he assumed if you're a janitor, you might not have had many other options. Being a janitor can be lonely, and hard on your back. And often times you have to clean some pretty disgusting things. So...on the spectrum of careers, being a janitor isn't often something people would choose if they had a lot of more favorable options. It's not that there's anything at all shameful about it....(although the professor might look down his nose at the job because he's portrayed as pretentious and arrogant, so it's consistent with his character).
The professor had always felt the sky's the limit with Will; he had all the potential in the world to do amazing things with his intelligence, and was wasting his potential in a career that didn't tap into it very much.
I could understand Robin Williams helping Damon to reach his full potential because Damon was brought to him. But the professor just put that pressure on Damon without really knowing how he felt.
shareI understand a genious like Will being a Janitor is a bad thing since he could do something better. But, being a janitor fulltime at a university or a hospital is not that low class a job. After working there fulltime for a year or 2, you could at least get $5 above minimum wage. Though knowing Will, he was probably part time.
shareI always noticed how janitors seem so happy. I think they like interacting with different people every day.
shareWell I am a bagger at a Kroger and that includes janitor duties like cleaning bathrooms and emptying trashcans. Still I work 40 hours a week and have medical benefits along with now making $3 above minimum wage instead of $5 above due to the politicians raising minimum wage. In 3 years I will probably just be making minimum wage the rest of my life. But that's what's fair to some people cause it isn't fair for someone who has worked at a job for over 10 years to make more than a brand new person who works 12 to 16 hours a week. To me that is what raising the minimum wage is really about. Making everyone get the same amount per hour cause that's what is fair. Sorry. Just felt like talking about the problems in my life.
shareIt's cool. Sounds like you like your job. I've always found janitors to be real cool. I've never met one that had a bad attitude.
shareI was a cleaner at a school, so a janitor. It was the best job in ever had. 3 hours in the morning .3 hours in the Arvo . Split shift. But I was friend with all the teachers, I was 18 at the time so all the new teacher lady's loved me , couldn't fault that job. Only reason I stopped is cause I lost my licence. Government job payed awesome. Better pay that my skilled labourer job I'm working now.
shareI've always thought it was a cool job. Work at your own pace and ery few people bother you. Sure some things can be disgusting, but it wouldn't bother me.
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