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The Aviator
Movie

The Aviator

2004 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

A biopic depicting the life of filmmaker and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes from 1927 to 1947, during which time he became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate, while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Overall Series Review

The Aviator is a historical biopic focusing on the life of aviation pioneer and film magnate Howard Hughes between 1927 and 1947. The film is centrally concerned with the concept of the American visionary: a wealthy, ambitious, and driven individual whose singular pursuit of greatness is eventually consumed by mental illness, specifically obsessive-compulsive disorder. The narrative is a grand spectacle that celebrates Hughes's industrial and artistic achievements, such as his flying records and the completion of the Spruce Goose. The plot focuses almost entirely on Hughes's professional and personal struggles, including his battles with business rivals and his complex romantic relationships with women like Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. The central conflict is the man versus his own pathology and the political/business machine trying to stop him. The film presents the protagonists and antagonists based on their ambition, competence, and internal demons rather than their social identity.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The movie is a biopic centered on a wealthy, white male industrialist, an explicit celebration of his individual vision and genius. The narrative does not focus on intersectional hierarchy or privilege as a critique. The film minimizes or omits Howard Hughes’s actual historical racism and other negative characteristics to focus on his merit as a visionary and his battle with OCD, which actively works against the vilification of whiteness.

Oikophobia1/10

The film acts as a lavish tribute and celebration of the American Golden Age of Hollywood and aviation innovation. The narrative focuses on Hughes's ambition to create 'the way of the future' through American industry and ingenuity. There is no element of hostility toward Western civilization, its institutions, or its ancestors; rather, it documents a period of great technological and cultural expansion.

Feminism3/10

The score is low but not a perfect 1 due to the historical context of Hughes's womanizing and the depiction of the Hollywood 'cult of bosomy celebrity.' The women in his life, particularly Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner, are shown as highly independent, shrewd, and determined figures who live life on their own terms, preventing a portrayal of women as mere accessories or victims. However, the film focuses on Hughes's sexual obsession, manipulation, and control as part of his pathology, not as a universal indictment of masculinity or a 'men are bumbling idiots' trope.

LGBTQ+1/10

The story takes place entirely within the social norms of the 1930s and 1940s, and the central relationships are heterosexual male-female pairings. There is no presence of queer theory, gender ideology, or deconstruction of the nuclear family. Sexuality is depicted as a private matter tied to the playboy lifestyle of the era, and the film does not include political lecturing on sexual identity.

Anti-Theism1/10

The movie is a secular biopic that focuses on the material world of film, business, and aviation. The overarching theme is a moral caution about how unchecked power, wealth, and mental illness can lead to isolation and self-destruction, a message consistent with transcendent morality. There is no hostility toward religion, and Christian characters are not depicted as villains or bigots.