What is the 'Of course that's your contention' meme? The meaning of the Good Will Hunting meme explained

Who would have thought that Good Will Hunting would go on to become a classic enduring for nearly 30 years since its release and even evolving into a popular internet meme? Surely even Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wouldn't have seen that one coming!

The "Of course, that's your contention" meme has become a popular copypasta and reaction image format on the internet. Featuring a still of Matt Damon's character from Good Will Hunting, the image is often paired with a lengthy caption used to show an informed opinion, directed at those who claim to be experts on a topic but lack proper knowledge. It mirrors the scene in the movie where Damon's character dismisses someone pretending to be well-versed in a subject.

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Origin of the meme

In case you didn't already guess, the meme originates from the Academy Award-winning 1997 film Good Will Hunting, which follows Will Hunting, a math genius working as a janitor at MIT, played by Matt Damon.

The still used in the meme comes from a bar scene where Will teaches a pretentious student who claims to know a lot about the economics of the American Revolution. The scene showcased Will’s intelligence as he effortlessly dismantled the student's argument.

"Of course, that's your contention. You're a first-year grad student. You just got finished readin' some Marxian historian — Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that 'til next month when you get to James Lemon, and then you're gonna be talkin' about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania were entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year — you're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talkin' about, you know, the Pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization."

The phrase gained popularity soon after the film’s release, but it wasn’t until the early 2010s that memes using it as a template began to emerge. These memes typically start with "Of course, that's your contention." and are followed by an in-depth, knowledgeable response to someone claiming to be an expert on a topic.

The format peaked in the early 2020s, becoming a go-to meme for calling out self-proclaimed experts online, and even serving as a reaction meme to pretentious posts made by public figures.

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Hilarious examples of 'Of course that's your contention' memes

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Beginner "Hawk Tuah" Fan (via @zuza_real / X)

Looks like this user just cracked the behavior of a beginner "Hawk Tuah" video fan!

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Barefoot sprinter (via @Predamame / X)

Think you know everything about running? Well, think again!

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The best kind of turkey (via @RobertMSterling / X)

If you want to learn everything about cooking turkey, you’ve come to the right expert!

Well, there you have it, folks! So if you ever need to school someone pretending to be an expert, now you know how to do it in style!