One of the most famous scenes from "Good Will Hunting" was shot in Boston, and Matt Damon wants to make the filming location even more special.

Damon said in an interview with the YouTuber Jake Hamilton that an artist wants to add a permanent bronze statue of Williams in the lagoon area of the Garden [in the spot where where they filmed the famous bench scene in Good Will Hunting].

“The idea being that if you feel alone you can go sit next to him, which I think is the coolest idea. It would be like the most beautiful installation and like such a tribute to that guy, who I think would’ve loved that.”

  • ElfWord@lemmy.world
    OP
    45·
    3 months ago

    The catch: Municipal red tape might stop the statue even before it can be cast.

    • The city has a moratorium in place for all new memorials in the Public Garden or on Boston Common, according to Lynn Page Flaherty from the Friends of the Public Garden, the nonprofit group that advocates for the city’s oldest green spaces.
    • The bench is also already dedicated in memory to another person, which presents a problem for the effort to honor Williams.

    via Axios’ brief article covering this.

    • magnetosphere@fedia.io
      481·
      3 months ago

      The moratorium exists for a reason, and if the bench is already dedicated to another person, it would be disrespectful to ignore that. Those things shouldn’t be dismissed as “red tape”.

      (I’m arguing with the wording of the article, not you personally, OP.)

      • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
        41·
        3 months ago

        The moratorium exists for a reason

        What is that? I’m not seeing anything about a moratorium in this article…

        • magnetosphere@fedia.io
          3·
          3 months ago

          I don’t know the reason, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt. Presumably, that law was passed because people thought it was necessary.

        • Monument@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          2·
          3 months ago

          It’s in the article @ElfWord linked in their comment - the comment you are replying to is replying to them.

          • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
            5·
            3 months ago

            That article doesn’t say anything about the moratorium except that it exists. My question was why it exists

            • MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              3 months ago

              Probably because it already has a lot of memorials and, having been there, does not have a lot of space to add more without turning it from a functional park to an outside museum. There are a lot of historical public spaces in Boston that are unable to function as anything besides a tourist spot due to that. Bostonians still exist and need green spaces to live and play.

            • Monument@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
              2·
              3 months ago

              That’s fair. I was responding to the bit where you said you didn’t see it.

              As for the why - no idea, honestly.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
      141·
      3 months ago

      Then again having a well known figure there would attract more visitors, who would then notice the bench dedication. It’s a question of if William’s tribute would add or take away from that person’s, and the area in general.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
        51·
        3 months ago

        I agree. It’s not like if the gardens were commemorating someone there couldn’t also me other memorials within it. If it’s don’t respectfully, I dont think there should be a issue.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.world
      4·
      3 months ago

      If I recall correctly there is already a bench dedicated to the film in the garden, can we just upgrade that one?

      Edit: