In Good Will Hunting, here's why Matt Damons character said he would not join the NSA.

[trumad]

DUer Marnieworld found this snip from Good Will Hunting and posted it in the other Damon thread. I think it deserves a thread all on it's own. Keep in mind, Matt wrote the screenplay and won an Academy Award for it.

Here's the YouTube of the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScVgZdhoyEQ

WILL
Why shouldn't I work for the NSA? That's a tough one.
But I'll take a shot. Say I'm working at the NSA, and
somebody puts a code on my desk, somethin' no one else
can break. Maybe I take a shot at it and maybe I break
it. And I'm real happy with myself, cus' I did my job
well. But maybe that code was the location of some
rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East and once they have
that location, they bomb the village where the rebels are
hiding... Fifteen hundred people that I never met, never
had no problem with get killed. Now the politicians are
sayin', "Oh, Send in the marines to secure the area" cus'
they don't give a sh*%. It won't be their kid over there,
gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number
got called, cus' they were off pullin' a tour in the National
Guard. It'll be some kid from Southie over there takin'
shrapnel in the a@#. He comes back to find that the plant
he used to work at got exported to the country he just
got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his
a*! got his old job, cus' he'll work for fifteen cents a day
and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile he realizes the only
reason he was over there in the first place was so that
we could install a government that would sell us oil at a
good price. And of course the oil companies used the
little skirmish over there to scare up domestic oil prices.
A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't
helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. They're takin'
their sweet time bringin' the oil back, of course, maybe
even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who
likes to drink martinis and f@%$n' play slalom with the
icebergs. It ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil
and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So now
my buddy's out of work, he can't afford to drive, so
he's walking to the f!^@n' job interviews, which sucks
because the shrapnel in his a&@ is givin' him chronic
hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' cus' every
time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate
special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with
Quaker State. So what did I think? I'm holdin' out for
somethin' better. I figure f!!& it, while I'm at it why not
just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn
enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby
seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I
could be elected President.

[LynzM]

1. I love that scene.

Brilliant.

[trumad]

11. kick

[Dr.Phool]

2. Art sure does imitate life, doesn't it?

[JacksonWest]

4. Life imitates art.

IN this case. amazing.

[Armstead]

3. K&R

Perfect bookend for his appearance on Hardball

[leveymg]

5. Smart dude, that Damon.

That paragraph would make a hell of movie. Gotta wonder, though, who would put up the $50 million? Right?

[IndyOp]

6. Love It! The first time I saw it I did not understand a lot of what

he was saying. I got it in a general sense but not fully. It is a HELL of a good speech and I just love the stunned expression of the NSA recruiters at the end - they don't know what hit them.

:evilgrin:

[MemphisTiger]

7. One of the best scenes in that movie

next to the "Do you like apples?" line.

[DixieBlue]

8. I had forgotten about that ...

Love that movie.

"I figure f!!& it, while I'm at it why not
just shoot my buddy, take his job, give it to his sworn
enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby
seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I
could be elected President."

Do you think Shrubie clubbed a baby seal?

[rox63]

9. My favorite scene in the movie n/t

[Jade Fox]

10. That speech just gets better as time passes. n/t

[The2ndWheel]

12. Yet the NSA, and similar agencies, continue to exist

Which is the biggest problem of all.

[Marnieworld]

13. kick

Love that speech. Love that movie. Love those two smart cuties from Boston. I think I just may watch it again tonight. :patriot:

[Alpharetta]

14. released in 1997. Damon's remarkably prescient

Affleck gets a writing credit too. Just saying.

[Reverend_Smitty]

15. Matt Damon grew up next door to Howard Zinn

The Zinns used to babysit him when he was a kid, so it's no wonder he grew up to be such a smart dude

[trumad]

16. Kick

[MasonJar]

17. I saw the DU video of Hardball and I noticed that Tweety was

digging into Clinton and that Damon interrupted him and turned the conversation to the idiot-in-command. It was a superb job. Go, Matt!