Howard Hughes

804 Words2 Pages

Movie: The Aviator
Character Analyzed: Howard Hughes
Disorder/Diabilities: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Giftedness and Sensory Impairment (severe hearing impairment).

This film was quite remarkable in that it portrays the main character, aviator and filmmaker Howard Hughes, as an immensely successful man and yet it spends a great deal of time also focusing on his rather unusual behavior. This film is based off a true story, but as with anything in the film industry some of the events were exaggerated for the sake of the film. This leads me to question the ways in which they portray Howard Hughes’ behavior in this film and then analyze that with the characteristics that actually accompany certain disorders and disabilities. Howard Hughes had several special needs, though the medical world didn’t know how to diagnose or treat them the way we do today. Some of Howard’s disabilities were rather public, yet some weren’t revealed until after his death.

One of his more public disabilities was Howard’s severe hearing impairment. He often answered interview questions incorrectly or avoided them completely because he could not hear what was actually being asked. “The Aviator” does a relatively good job of staying accurate in its portrayal of this disability. There weren’t any noticeable negative connotations about hearing impairment in the film. Like most people with a sensory impairment, Hughes did not suffer from a complete hearing loss, instead his condition got progressively worse over time. There is no indication in the film if Hughes was born with this impairment or if it was due to an illness or injury, therefore we cannot be sure which type of hearing loss Hughes had. However the film depicts Hughes using a sound amplifier, wh...

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... story would have turned out differently. Especially since there are a number of celebrities that suffer from OCD, including Leonardo DiCaprio who played Hughes in this film. Unfortunately for Hughes, he lived in a time where many mental health issues went undiagnosed and untreated.

Works Cited

Anb.org, (2014). American National Biography Online: Hughes, Howard. [online] Available at: http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-01809.html [Accessed 5 May. 2014].

Crimelibrary.com, (2014). The Mystery of Howard Hughes — Psychological Autopsy helps us understand controversial deaths — Crime Library. [online] Available at: http://www.crimelibrary.com/criminal_mind/forensics/psych_autopsy/4.html [Accessed 5 May. 2014].

Smith, T. (2012). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. 1st ed. New Delhi, India: PHI Learning Private Ltd.
The Aviator. (2004). [DVD].

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