Science and Reality have received some serious boosts lately: the success of the new Cosmos; the well-deserved ridicule the Texas SBOE got for their moronic recommendations in textbooks (most were left out); new discoveries with space probes; the Lego set with the female scientists; and a couple movies covering real people who’ve changed the world. I’m stoked about the Alan Turing flick and this entailing Stephen Hawking as a person. It’s not all bad as the recent elections showed America doubling down on proving we live in The Stupid Ages.
Theory uses the book My Life with Stephen Hawking by his first wife Jane as the movie’s foundation. So the story begins when they met at Cambridge University. Stephen was a PhD candidate in Physics and I think Jane was either an undergrad or graduate student pursuing Spanish and French. Hawking was only starting to experience occasional symptoms of ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease); he’d spill tea on his homework, he’d fumble writing on the chalkboard, etc. Stuff we all blame as the intermittent “brain fart” in our actions. Right when their relationship takes a good turn (they’re an item) after the May Ball, Stephen has a nasty fall in the quad which results in his hospitalization. Tests were run, physical therapy executed…then the final diagnosis. Based upon what doctors knew in the early-to-mid Sixties, Stephen has at best a couple years to live because his body will gradually shut down due to his muscles receive fewer and fewer signals from the brain. The only ray of hope the future Dr. Hawking receives is that his mind will remain intact even if it’s trapped in a failing body.
Devastated, Stephen shuts down. He tells Jane to go away. He stops hanging out with friends. He hides in his room feeling sorry for himself.
Jane redoubles her efforts to reach out to him. When they profess their love for each other, Jane appears to be the one suggesting they marry in order to enjoy their dwindling time together. At least Stephen could still walk and speak in the beginning.
Most people know how the story ends. Eventually they divorced thanks to Dr. Hawking falling in love with his primary caretaker Elaine Mason who he divorced a few years ago. Hawking is currently 72 and remains very active in Physics, writing and making cautious proclamations regarding AI, ETs and the galaxy.
It’s a compelling story. Jane was a brave and/or foolish person to marry him. Many people think they can take on such a momental task like lugging the equipment, cleaning up the mess the patient makes (I get the dry heaves just from the smell) and generally feeling unappreciated. Jane willingly admits her faults too, namely the side relationship she developed with a volunteer (they’re married these days) yet it appears they accepted it a la Lady Chatterly. What Hawking’s feelings over the matter are unknown, the only statement he made was “I don’t read biographies about myself.” However, they’re friends to this day so I think he doesn’t bear any animosity toward Jane’s books.
Of course, the old, good, factual History Channel would have a field day via their show History v. Hollywood as it pointed out what the movie skipped, glossed over or re-arranged. Hawking did spend time at CalTech (it’s where he met Kip Thorne); his specialized healthcare was covered by an American foundation since the NHS wanted to put him in a nursing home (still better than America in general, he would’ve been left for dead unless his family were millionaires); the first two children’s births are out of order (not sure why the screenwriter made their son the first child)…the list could go on. Does it ruin the plot or entertainment? No. I just hate how others will then use the film as shorthand the truth. Beyond entertainment, Theory shows that Hawking has a humorous side, he is a flawed person (like we all are) outside of Physics and his ex-wives weren’t complete saints.
As a fellow Atheist (Hawking finally declared his stance this year), I find Theory a good counterweight to the next boring debacle using the bible as a plot at theaters. The upcoming Exodus which archaeologists have been proving to be ancient Hebrew propaganda against the ancient Egyptians; the pyramids weren’t necessarily built by slaves, they were more along the lines of WPA projects.
Alamo Extras: Thirties era musical stuff; a guy tap dancing and playing the xylophone at the same time; The Last Week with John Oliver segment when he interviewed Dr. Hawking; Hawking’s proposals when he was younger (probably the Eighties); an acrobatic dancing team; the Supremes performing “Can’t Hurry Love” on a TV show; the dinner party from The Black Hole.