Good Will Hunting, Mary Sue, Picket Fences

I did finally read someone say what I thought all along---that Will Hunting, the character Matt Damon portrayed in Good Will Hunting from his own script, was a "Mary Sue". The term "Mary Sue" was first used in reference to Star Trek fan fiction:

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. This character can also be found burrowing her way into the good graces/heart/mind of one of the Big Three [Kirk, Spock, and McCoy], if not all three at once. She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end, being grieved by the entire ship.

It's the author's fantasy version of him or herself in the story.

The first time I watched the movie, it reminded me of an episode of Picket Fences (season 3, episode 12) I had seen a short time before. The stepmother smacks the 12-year-old son who nearly killed his little brother while trying to move the car. That happens in the first five minutes. The stepmother spends the rest of the episode trying to be nice to the kid who almost killed his brother. He sulks and accuses her of hating him and she spends the episode trying to convince him otherwise.

I would have said, "Now, honey, you did run over your brother, after all."

But the episode did affect me for some reason. I tried to figure out why. When I saw Good Will Hunting not long after that, I realized this was a common fantasy, to be an angry, self-pitying youth and have people trying as hard as they can to help you because you're so special.

I don't know why people fantasize about being former abused children. I suppose it's similar to people who falsely claim to be traumatized war veterans. But how could they not recognize that there's something weird about this and try to conceal it?