So, I finally got to see "The Theory of Everything" this weekend. And it was a good, solid movie.
However, there were some things that I was a bit surprised by. First of all, there was minimal actual science, or material that he was working on. There was some, don't get me wrong. But I was expecting much more than they actually showed. If anything, it was a little thing on the side, to add some background as to why this man and his wife were, and remain, famous.
The truth is that this is a love story. A far more complicated love story than it might at first appear.
Without giving the movie away, I just wanted to say that the commercials that I had seen for the movie had suggested a tale of unconditional love for one another, seemingly, that would remain in the background of the man's towering scientific and intellectual achievements.
It was quite the opposite of that, however. The love story is there, but it takes several turns, and in different ways. If you are not familiar with it, then you may just be surprised by what ultimately transpires.
There it is. I do not want to give away any more than that, because otherwise, I may reveal too much for any potential reader that may eventually see the movie, but has not yet.
However, there is another aspect to this movie that is worth discussing as well, and that is Hawking's actual disease. It affects his muscles, and you watch him gradually losing control over his own muscles. Eventually, he can no longer walk, and is relegated to a wheelchair. Furthermore, he loses his ability to speak at some point, and has to learn a new method for communicating, which he masters in no time (at least that is the way that the movie portrays it, anyway).
It is a beautiful story, and you can definitely appreciate the intricacies involved. I enjoyed the scenes of old university life (stuffy as some of them may seem) of rigid academia in old England, for example. The actor who played Hawking, Eddie Redmayne, did simply an incredible job.
All in all, a good, solid movie, and one to see if you are curious about it, like I was. Again, though: it may surprise you.
Also, since we are on the topic of Stephen Hawking, I just ran into this article, where he suggests that aggression may yet be the downfall of humanity, and bring about the end of the world as we know it.
Indeed, with so many threats to humanity (almost all of them of our own global culture's making, on some level or another), it seems ironic that aggression, which many felt was almost eradicated as a threat following the end of the Cold War about a quarter of a century ago, is not once again rearing it's ugly head, and beginning to threaten humanity in a more intimate and dangerous way than in a long, long time, if not ever.
Anyway, when someone like Hawking warns us about a thing like that, I suspect that it is time to heed those warnings.
Why do I get the sinking feeling that, as usual, we collectively won't listen?
Still, we should try and do our part to help make things better, right? Also, we could do worse than to listen to what Hawking has to tell us. So, it seemed right to spread the word a bit more by devoting a blog entry to the matter.
Here is the link:
Stephen Hawking Warns That Aggression Could 'Destroy Us All' By Ed Mazza of The Huffington Post, 02/23/2015:
No comments:
Post a Comment