At the time of its release, Weinstein was allegedly harassing three of the most prominent women among a lengthy list to have come forward against him: Asia Argento, Rose McGowan, and Ashley Judd. Miramax, the studio headed up by Harvey Weinstein at the time, is the first word to appear on the screen. Which is another reason why the film is harder to watch now than it was in 1997. And when they’re your guys, you let them get away with things.
None of the forced references or the embarrassing dropped r’s, because these were our guys. None of the logistical and geographical inconsistencies mattered. Near there." I didn’t grow up in the city, but I spent many of my weekends coming here as a teenager, and would move here for the first time that summer, making the Harvard Square of the film the center of my universe, much as it still is today. I even had the stupid swooping blonde undercut. It didn’t hurt that I bore a decent enough resemblance to Damon (trust me on that one). "Get off mothers, I just got off yours." For a couple years after, I eagerly let the film identify me for people I’d meet from around the world in college and elsewhere. "Morgan, yah going," we’d say when it was time for someone to make a beer run. My friends and I quickly incorporated the dialogue into our lexicon, alongside Swingers and The Big Lebowski quoting that passes for conversation among young men in place of emotional openness. When you see yourself being seen for the first time, even if through a filter, it’s a hell of a drug. Especially for a suburban kid who was desperate to begin the part of his life defined by living in Boston. It was a thrill to see that city reflected onscreen for the first time, to have your provincial identity reflected back at you.
Let me put it this way: You didn’t hate Boston in 1997. At the time, we were still the underdogs, known, if for anything besides history, for being a hard-scrabble city of lovable losers, defined by the failure of our sports teams rather than the largesse of their victories as we are now. Twenty years ago, “Boston” as a genre of entertainment was a relatively unique idea, Cheers notwithstanding. The coming of age film seemed like a classic. The 1997 Gus Vant Sant film saw Robin Williams earn his only Oscar win and made Matt Damon and Ben Affleck household names (while netting each of them a screenwriting Oscar, too). Under normal circumstances, Good Will Hunting, released 20 years ago this week, would be taking a victory lap.