When a person asks for their friend’s opinion on some new thing—like a haircut or an outfit—they’ll often say that they want the friend to “be totally honest.” This is obviously a trap, though. People don’t want their friends to be totally honest, they want their friends to reaffirm their own beliefs. The correct response, then, is something along the lines of “well, do you like it?” which puts the onus on them to determine whether or not the thing is good.
For friends who are famous, the stakes of a “be totally honest” scenario are significantly higher. Instead of asking about a haircut or an outfit, they’ll ask about a really expensive haircut or outfit, or maybe even a huge comic book movie that has so much riding on its success that countless people could be ruined if it’s not a hit. That’s a situation that Matt Damon is probably pretty familiar with these days, considering that his best buddy Ben Affleck’s Batman V. Superman will be hitting theaters soon.
Damon is too smart—and too good of a friend—to actually give his opinion on the movie, so when a Variety writer asked him about it, he basically said that he’s just happy as long as his friend is happy. Damon says he hears that Batman V. Superman “is good,” and though he hasn’t seen the full thing yet, he thinks that Affleck is “very pleased” with it. However, he did not say that he’s looking forward to seeing it, or that he thinks it’ll be good, he only offered Affleck’s opinion. Damon also dodged a question about whether he has considered doing any comic book movies himself, which seems to suggest that he’s not really into the whole superhero thing. That’s what makes him a good friend: He cares about Ben Affleck’s feelings, so he’s happy to support his friend by talking up his silly comic book thing. If only we were all lucky enough to have a Matt Damon in our lives.