Humor to Negate Conflict – Good Will Hunting

Cortlyn Buck

Humor to Negate Conflict – Good Will Hunting

“Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility.” – Thomas Jefferson.

Although we may not consciously know it, connections among people are made stronger through laughter. Humor itself simply brings people together, and helps build and maintain relationships with others. Regardless of where you may be from, your ethnicity, sex, or race, humor is a universal aspect of our lives that we all value.

Humor also has the extraordinary capability of dissolving conflict. This can be done in a number of ways, and different types of humor are utilized in this manner depending on the situation.

In the movie Good Will Hunting, starring Matt Damon and Robin Williams, affiliative humor is first introduced during a therapy session between these two actors. The conflict arises when there is a lack of respect and an absence of a mutual connection between the two individuals, making the therapy session very ineffective. As the two pick and pry amongst each other throughout the film, a connection is made through the use of affiliative humor in common past experiences that they both share. This type of humor is one that creates a platform for relationships through commonalities and produces a more comfortable, trusting environment.

This movie also depicts a perfect example of self-enhancing humor, which is all about finding amusement in the challenges we face throughout our lives. Matt Damon plays an orphan with an extraordinary mathematical gift who struggles with issues of abandonment; While Robin Williams plays a lonely therapist who lost the love of his life to severe illness. Matt learns to find his identity with the help of Robin’s wit and sense of humor, and even Robin learns to reminisce in the good times he had with his wife before she passed with the help of the youthful Matt.

Although not at first, the two make peace and eventually learn from one another as they discover the optimism in their unique situations, while having a few laughs along the way.

Work cited:

Jennifer Connolly, Kyla Baird, Valeriya Bravo, Benedicte Lovald, Debra Pepler & Wendy Craig (2015) Adolescents' use of affiliative and aggressive strategies during conflict with romantic partners and best-friends, European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12:5, 549-564, DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2015.1066244