Jane Hawking, the late physicist and author Stephen Hawking's first wife, has also said that an acclaimed film about their 30 year marriage misrepresented their relationship.
Stephen Hawking Wife - Hawking, whose memoir Traveling to Infinity was used as a source for James Marsh's The Theory of All (2014), said that despite her pleas to producers to stay true to her novel, inaccuracies were allowed to keep the running time to a minimum.
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“I knew if there were any errors in the film, they would be immortalized, and they have,” she said.
“I found it very irritating and I didn't want it to happen,” Hawking said at the Henley Literature Festival. Never believe something you see in a movie.”
From their first meeting in 1962 until he left her for a career 30 years later, The Theory of Everything accompanied the couple's life together. The circumstances of the first encounter (in St Albans, not Cambridge; Jane was a schoolgirl rather than a student) as well as the film's compression of events and characters have been criticized by Hawking's widow.
Hawking was particularly irritated by what she perceived to be a glossing over of the logistical challenges that she faced while caring for her husband and three small children, as well as attending physics conferences abroad with them all.
She said, "The film really just shows the part of our lives in Cambridge." “Our several international trips were completely overlooked – for example, our honeymoon was spent at Cornell University in upstate New York for a physics conference.
“I'm sad to say that none of these comprehensive travels – including all the planning, packing, shipping, and driving for a family with a chronically disabled member, as well as the normal day-to-day treatment – occur in The Theory of All. I requested a frantic fast-forward version – even just getting all the suitcases, wheelchair, and passengers in the car to reflect this part of our lives – but was told that due to time constraints, this was not possible.”
Hawking expressed reservations about "the sacrifices that one has to make for the film industry" and the fact that "I didn't seem to have any friends or contacts at all" when the film was first released. She did, however, compliment the performances, describing the film as "beautiful."
Others were outraged by the adaptation's obvious denigration of Jane's contribution to Stephen's life and work. Michelle Dean expressed her disappointment that the film failed to completely examine Jane's motivations for losing most of her own early academic ambitions in order to help her husband. She also criticized their love lives' "tidy" resolution.
“However, rather than exploring the interesting texture in a marriage, The Theory of All is hell-bent on maintaining the cliche: it tells you that Jane Hawking quietly and gratefully parted ways with him when it became obvious that their love for each other was a casualty of the strain. The end of their relationship is depicted in the film as a beautiful, tear-filled, mutually respectful discussion.
“Of course, none of those things happened. Jane's book details a long-distance breakup that culminates in a shouting brawl on vacation.”