Theory of Everything - A Story of Love and Perseverance

"While there is life, there is hope." - Stephen Hawking

The name Stephen Hawking is often heard, but I didn't really know who he was or what he had done to be called a genius and a highly respectable professor in the modern history. My curiosity with the now 72-year-old professor began to grow when I first learned the fact that he used a voice synthesizer to talk and that he suffered from ALS. I was fascinated by the life of a man whom I never knew, and started to do some research (namely Googling) on him. I watched some of his interviews and speeches, and I was mesmerized at how clever and brilliant he was, and how he could survive for so long, being immobilized, voiceless and everything. Despite his undermining conditions, he manages to live way longer than his life expectancy, which was predicted to be no longer than 2 years when he was first diagnosed with the motor neuron disease. This is why his life was worth telling. This is why Hollywood decided to make his life story into the big screen; it was clear to me he was no ordinary person. 

Theory of Everything tells the life of the one and only Stephen Hawking. The story begins in 1960s, with his life at 21, when he was still a student at the Oxford University. It was the time when he met his wife, Jane Wilde, developed an interest in time, and unfortunately must faced the fact that he suffered from an incurable disease that would soon take away his abilities to control his own body. I initially thought that the movie would be too abstract for me to comprehend, judging from the fact that Hawking is widely popular because of his theories of time and black holes. But I was relieved and satisfied to find out exactly the opposite. Although his thesis and groundbreaking theories take a big part in this movie, it is his relationship with Jane that plays the main role throughout the whole 120 minutes. You don't have to be a genius or be familiar with physics or quantum theories to understand the Oscar-nominated movie.

Above everything else, Theory of Everything is a story of love, endurance, and perseverance.It is the celebration of one man's great life, which aims to inspire us all. Hawking, with his love for science and his never ending desire to find answers to all the mysteries surrounding the universe never cease to amaze me. Jane, on the other hand, has shown us that it is possible to love a man and build a family with him aside from all his disabilities. Although in the end the couple separated ways, it is just another fact of life we must deal with: people change, so does heart. 

The director adopted the script of the movie from the book "Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen" which was written by Jane herself. I think it's the very reason why Jane's emotion, struggles, and feelings could be pictured in great details, so personal and raw. It's also the reason why the movie could smoothly shift the focus from Hawking's academic achievements to his personal life. Although I believe their real marriage was no where as pretty and admirable as the one depicted in the film, I know it is the best way to portray it. A little sugar coating for the sake of the audience and good feelings won't hurt us all. Nobody wants a 100% true story in a movie - it is boring and too realistic. We want a fairy tale romance, a perfectly imperfect life that can warm our hearts. I think Theory of Everything has fulfilled that very role. 

Love and suffering asides, I must admit the brilliance acting of both Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, who played the roles of Stephen Hawking and Jane Hawking, respectively. It must have been extremely hard to mimic all the physical moves and facial expression that Hawking, an ALS patient, has. But Redmayne has successfully pulled it off. I didn't know how he did that, but that is what I call a job well done. He totally deserves the Academy Award for Best Actor. An outstanding performance was also delivered by Felicity Jones, who managed to meticulously portray the emotions and her role as a dedicated wife of Hawking beautifully, while at the same time kept it real and humane. It's great to see Jane wavering in front of other man, to have a moment of breakdown where we could all share her feeling of loneliness and desperation. Her love for Hawking isn't blind, but it's love nonetheless. "I have loved you. I did my best," was her last love confession to Hawking in the movie, and it touched my heart. It didn't feel like a depressing divorce or separation, but more of a fresh change in their relationship from husband and wife, to friends and partners. 

Until the end of the movie and now I still fail to understand why Hawking's theory of time and all the mumbo jumbo was revolutionary and vital to modern science. All the time he spoke of them in the movie, I didn't pay attention because they were all alien languages to me and were beyond my comprehension. But one thing I know for sure, Stephen Hawking is a man of a great mind, a genius who refuses to give up and who always thirsts for answers and it's that very quality a noble mind he has which I find the most admirable. Theory of Everything has shown me at least that and I'm thankful.