Hollywood’s Dramatization of The Theory of Everything

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As the Oscar’s rolled out their red carpets last Sunday, everyone had their fingers crossed hoping for their favorites to win Best Picture.  The Theory of Everything, based on the memoir by Jane Wilde, Stephen Hawking’s first wife, did not win but was certainly a crowd favorite among the many of the categories it was nominated for.  Although, the tear jerking story presented in The Theory of Everything was a much more messy tale in real life.

Children, Divorce and Affairs

Many scenes, post-marriage, in The Theory of Everything were quite uplifting, filled with laughter and the family outings.  While there’s no doubt that moments like this occurred, what was left out was a bit more grim. Jane Wilde wrote in her memoir, Traveling to Infinity, that Stephen was often indisposed for days at a time, thinking about equations and theories. During these times he “wouldn’t take any notice of the childrentheory of everything, or of me, and i would become very worried.”

Along with the misinterpreted portrayal of Stephen as a father and husband, they also skipped over the deep depression Jane was experiencing after their third child and through the divorce.  The Jonathan character seen in The Theory of Everything was much less of a love story between him and Jane and more of a means for the family’s survival after Stephen’s death. Stephen knew about the affair while it was going on “I would have objected, but I too was expecting an early death and felt I needed someone to support the children when I was gone,” Stephen shared in his own memoir.  Due to much ambiguity, Stephen’s second marriage, which was much more messy than the first, was almost completely left out of the movie. 

Although The Theory of Everything leaves out some of the most troubling hardships the Hawking family had to endure, it does illustrate the overall triumphs that a man with ALS struggled to achieve.  While Hollywood’s motive was most likely more money in the box-office and a few red carpet awards, there came some good out of this movie that can be seen in Eddie Redmayne’s acceptance speech: “this oscar belongs to all of those people around the world battling ALS.”  That is the bigger picture we can look at to ignore the facts that the screenwriters may have left out.

Caroline Robinson
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