“The Way to future”

That was Leonardo DiCaprio’s (Howard Hughes) last line in “The Aviator”. 

Hughes looks at himself in the mirror and recalls a childhood memory, when his mother finished bathing him and said: “you are not safe” Hughes replied: “when I grow up, I’m gonna fly the fastest planes ever built, make the biggest movies ever and be the richest man in the world”.

That very sentence “you are not safe” paved the path to Hughes’ future. If you watched “The Aviator” you will see that there is a story behind the story. One word could sum up the life of such a memorable persona “Fear”.  Fear of his illness, of his dark side. The story was simply about a boy who wanted to be loved and accepted with all his fears, weaknesses and insecurities.

He had the reputation for being the wealthiest man of his time, a player, a wacko and a controlling freak. Nevertheless people were not interested about how much money he made or how many women he had; people were deeply curious about the source of his genius. What were his motives for being obsessed about women and planes? How could he have such an intense passion for a complete two different things, movies and aviation?

Bizarre and ironic yet it made sense. Woman’s body was his core inspiration to create the smoothest and most perfectly curved planes in the aviation history. Movies and planes were merely venues to express his vivid imagination in escaping (or flying away) from his shadow side into a fantasy world where he finds his security.  

People are not interested about the accomplishments of such a character. They are more interested about the struggle, the journey that led to realizing those particular dreams. People want to know that they are not alone in this world; that there are also other souls somewhere else yearning for love and acceptance in spite of all their imperfections.

Don’t we all have a “Howard Hughes” inside of us? Aren't we all insecure humans looking for assurance in some way? Isn't our path already paved for us since childhood? You might answer with a no, but look in the mirror and tell us what do you see? Are your dreams a reflection of your fears?!