Good Will Hunting – 20 Years Later
Good Will Hunting put Southie on the map. South Boston was always an under the radar, sometimes misunderstood, Irish Catholic working class neighborhood of Boston. After Good Will Hunting debuted in movie theaters in 1997, people from all over the world caught a glimpse of Southie and fell in love. The story of the broken but lovable orphan/janitor/math genius from Southie, Will Hunting (Matt Damon) and his struggles coming to grip with the reality that he is extraordinary and deserves happiness. He needed to escape the dismal existence of living in Southie.
Flash forward 20 years later, Will Hunting would hardly recognize the Southie of his childhood. We’ve got Starbucks, yoga studios and multimillion dollar condos. And he certainly wouldn’t recognize his own apartment – it sold last year for over $700,000.
Now the storyline of Good Will Hunting wouldn’t really make sense in the Southie of 2017, right?
I had the honor of having the actors and staff plus director and a scene at my house during filming of “Good Will Hunting” I have 5 rolls of film to prove it. My house is also on the market at 120 I street…..950k This house is also famous Mae’s bakery back in the day, closed sometimes in 1971 or close to that year.
Maureen , I worked with your husband Richie in the District Attorneys Office back in the day
I think you must have worked with my father!
It’s definitely not a Southie he would recognize, but he would absolutely appreciate it and I think prefer it given some time.
Is it sad to say that in many ways I prefer the new Southie? People aspire to do great things here now. When I was growing up, people aspired to survive. I like the vibrancy. I do hate many of the side effects, though.