Ocd in the Aviator

Ocd in the Aviator

  • Submitted By: cft608
  • Date Submitted: 03/02/2009 5:28 PM
  • Category: Psychology
  • Words: 1439
  • Page: 6
  • Views: 4

The Aviator
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

The film, The Aviator, is a biography of the infamous Howard Hughes who changed the world with his revolutionary new aircraft, Hercules. Not only, was Hughes well known for being the greatest airplane engineer of his time, but he was also known for being a maverick film director and producer. Along with his wealth, came the ladies, who were easily swept off their feet by Hughes’s smooth talk and big money. Despite, the many facades Hughes displayed in front of everyone in showbiz, there was another, much more eccentric side to him that would ultimately cause his downfall. Hughes was one of many people, who suffered from a mental illness, known as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The Aviator opens with a young Hughes being bathed by his mother, who warns him of disease; this shows the root of his obsession with germs. Hughes exhibited many signs and symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, throughout the entire movie. During one of his many episodes of giving orders, he asked for chocolate chip cookies, but he was very specific about the number of chocolate chips he wanted in each, and with the number of cookies he wanted. When he was at a party, he asked the waiter to bring him a bottle of milk with the seal still on it; I believe this was another sign of his fear of germs.
Another incident, which proved to be a sign that Hughes had this disorder, took place when the waiter in the restaurant, where Hughes was dining, brought a plate to the table for Hughes that contained two perfect lines of peas, which he ate one at a time. Hughes’s collogue reached over to retrieve a pea from his plate, causing the peas to move from their uniform position. When this occurred, Hughes became very disturbed, and he could feel his anxiety developing, which caused him to leave without warning to his friends. After his episode, he took Kate, his new girlfriend, for a plane ride over the city. The steering wheel of the plane...

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