Maslows hierarchy of needs and the film cast away

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and the Film Cast Away
People’s deeds are inspired before attaining certain needs (Holzknecht et al., 2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory denotes that individuals are inspired to satisfy their needs before proceeding to the next level of needs. Maslow developed and displayed these needs in a hierarchical manner that moves from the basic to the complex needs that people have (Holzknecht et al., 2007). The needs identified by Maslow include the physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs (McGuire, 2012). These needs are portrayed by everyone and in some cases they are adopted and developed around numerous films. This paper will seek to offer an overview of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the Cast Away Film.
Cast Away is about a FedEx executive, Chuck, who leaves his girlfriend and oblivious of what awaited him, boards an airplane destined for Malaysia (Zemeckis, 2000). Because of the storms, something happens when the plane is airborne and the plane crashes. He finds a life raft and drifts towards an island where he is later discovered and rescued. The events in this film affect Chuck’s hierarchy of needs (McDonough, 2012).
In the film, Chuck’s physiological needs are deficient after he is stranded in the island. Physiological needs are the first level needs and are vital for an individual’s survival such as food, water, and shelter (Holzknecht et al., 2007). This need is portrayed when Chuck goes looking for water and finds coconuts that have water inside them (McDonough, 2012). Additionally, Chuck satisfies his need for shelter by improvising one by tying a raft to trees to shelter the rains and storms. Additionally, he also makes a spear to allow him catch fish from the ocean (Zemeckis, 2000).
The second need seen in the movie is that security. Maslow describes safety needs as those of safety and security (McGuire, 2012). Throughout the film, Chuck is shown to possess and to lack security (Zemeckis, 2000). At the beginning of the movie, he creates a raft to protect himself but as the movie progresses, his raft is skewered and cannot seek shelter and protection from it. He then later seeks shelter and protection in a cave that he stumbles upon as he seeks for a shelter (McDonough, 2012).
The third need that is seen through the film is the social needs. Social needs are the needs for affection, belonging, and love (Holzknecht et al., 2007). While at the island, Chuck lacks a companionship and feels lonely (Zemeckis, 2000). This is portrayed when he finds a volleyball inside a package that he stumbles upon and draws a face on it and starts to talk to it (McDonough, 2012). Additionally, he also talks to a clock with his wife’s picture.
This film also demonstrates esteem needs. Esteem needs are the needs that involve self-esteem, social cognition, personal development, and attainment (McGuire, 2012). While the film starts with Chuck having a high self-esteem, his esteem levels drop while trapped in the island. When the film starts, he was the CEO of his company and had the power over almost everything (Zemeckis, 2000). However, this changed while at the island where he had power over absolutely nothing. However, he also makes attempts to regain his self-esteem after returning to his home. Although his ex-girlfriend marries another man, he chooses to marry someone else (McDonough, 2012).
The final level of Maslow’s hierarchy is the self-actualization needs. At the beginning of the film, Chuck had almost everything and took his life for granted, but this changed after his survival in the island where he learned that his life was a treasure (McDonough, 2012). His actualization need is satisfied after returning home from the island.
This film was superb and tried to portray the real needs of an individual as stipulated by Maslow. The film Cast Away portrays physiological, security, social, and esteem and self-actualization needs of Chuck, main character, through the distinct scenes. It is through the adventure of Chuck that we see all the needs and how he fulfills such needs.
References
Holzknecht, J., Butler, J. S., Hoffman, E., Prager, K. J., Raghunathan, R., & Smith, S. M. (2007). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Austin, Tex?: Castalia Media.
McDonough, G. A. (2012, January). Cast Away Hierarchy of Needs | Teen Action-Adventure Fiction About self-esteem, death/loss, nature and castaway. Retrieved from http://www. teenink. com/fiction/action_adventure/article/618495/Cast-Away-Hierarchy-of-Needs/
McGuire, K. J. (2012). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. GRIN Verlag.
Zemeckis, R. (2000). Cast Away (2000) Full Movie [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www. youtube. com/watch? v= SZMOyxgQf4k