As Good As It Gets Udall

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In the movie, As Good as it Gets, Melvin Udall shows many signs of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), that includes his germaphobia, the strict routine he follows, his aggressive thoughts on life, and his superstitions. Melvin Udall always kept his place clean, never wanted to touch another human, brought his own plastic silverware to restaurants, and wears gloves. Furthermore, his worst sign of germaphobia is his multi-step cleanse after being out of his apartment. The routine including washing his hands with burning hot water, opening a new bar of soap and starts scrubbing away, and repeats this process until he has gone through several bars of soap. However, the obsession of a routine is what highlights the problems in the movie overall. …show more content…

At the beginning of the movie, Melvin ruins two relationships abruptly by throwing Simon's dog down the garbage shoot because of his obsession with being clean was triggered when the dog was looking for a place to urinate. Ironically, the dog is an imperative part of the story in which shows how Melvin's love for his dog helps him destress over his obsessions, which causes him to be happier and makes him start to realize what love is. Not only is the relationship with the dog an important relationship, but also his relationship with Carol is what the movie encompasses. At first, Carol was a waitress that fulfilled his daily obsession of a routine, where sometimes she viewed it as Melvin obsessing over her. Consequently, she was very reluctant to serve him, and because of that Melvin's aggressive personality began to erupt and caused Carol to have a wrong interpretation of him. However, Carol begins to complain about her son's fever and breathing problems, and this causes Melvin to have compassion for her. However, the compassion and obsession of routine conflict with each other when he shows up to Carol's house unannounced and begins to tell her child how to act. This event caused Carol to have a desire to never see Melvin again. However, his obsession to …show more content…

Carol's disruption of his routine is what triggered his OCD, but she was able to point out the problems of his OCD and still be able to show him, love, unlike others who made fun of him. What Carol did was effective because she triggered his feelings of doubt and desire for perfection, then intervened and gave her life story to him to show that her life was not always perfect either. Her hope and positivity on life are what eventually inspires Melvin to confront his OCD, and become a better man so he can have a relationship with

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