Oliveros, Joshua 2014-74128 1 Reaction Paper
Theory of “Relatability”
The “Theory of Everything Everything”” was a sensitively sensitively directed inspirational inspirational biotic biotic spectacle spectacle that that is centere centered d on Dr. Dr. Stephe Stephen n Hawkin Hawking, g, a theoret theoretical ical physici physicist, st, and his “tearjer “tearjerkin king” g” strggle strggle with a !otor " neron disease. #ell$acted #ell$acted,, the said fil! with its biopic ele!ents is so!e so!ewh what at fairly fairly conv conven enti tion onal al accor accordi ding ng to so!e so!e criti critics, cs, howe howeve ver, r, the the techn techni% i%e e of “relatability”, or in other ter!s sing Hawking&s life e'periences as a springboard to e'a!ine niversal isses, proved to be a very feasible !ethod for it to connect to its adience. (lthogh, as !ch as ) want to dwell and react on the !agnani!ity of physical concepts, theories and ideologies that were presented by the fil! in a !edia of pns, cortship phrases, and inti!idating witty slrs, ), !yself, wold rather talk abot the fil!s reconcil reconciliat iation ion with with life. life. *artic *articlarly larly how how Stephe Stephen n Hawkin Hawking g not only only flfill flfilled ed his life& life&ss !ission, yet also shared it with the people that loved hi!. +ow, let !e start by !eticlosly analying the strctres of the fil!. -a!es arsh, an /scar winning director, blatantly portrayed a dyna!ic fil! that engaged both fields of doc!entary fil!ography and narrative featres that reslted to a brilliant co!bination of positive cine!atography. cine!atography. He applied a techni%e of gracefl vibrancy that co!ple!ented the script for!ed by (nthony c0arten. This was achieved alongside 1eno2t Delho!!e, a cine!atographer, by fil!ing certain se%ences in the style of old$ fashi fashion oned ed ho!e ho!e recor recordi ding ngss and and tradi traditi tion onal al cine! cine!ati aticc with with stylis stylistic tic flor floris ishe hes. s. This This frther!ore enhanced the !ovie&s central idea and perfor!ance that led to the for!ation of a strctred strctred !ovie !ovie that e!phasied each corner of Stephen Stephen Hawking&s Hawking&s biographical biographical acconts with the help of visal design that spported the sbject !atter. The fil! really had the initial signs and !arkings of a valoriing cine$biographical fil! that is one of the safest and !ost conventional of its kind. The !ovie provided a !ch deeper aspect on the life of a 1ritish theoretical physicist wherein “fa!iliarity” of lives were co!pared and connected. This fa!iliarity was shown by providing different perspectives fro! different characters in the story, or in the life of Stephen Hawking. Eddie 3ed!ayne 4plays as Stephen Hawking5 stnningly depicted the said factor of biographical fil!ography. fil!ography. His perfor!ance was so co!pelling for he did not only elcidate on how how the adien adience ce wold wold perceiv perceivee Stephe Stephen n Hawkin Hawking g 4e.g. 4e.g. as a sperb sperbly ly intelli intelligen gentt scientist5 bt rather he effectively portrayed his wit, his haghtiness and his obstinacy. (gain, this was a techni%e i!ple!ented by the director to not only e'pand the diversity of his viewers and adiences, bt to also showcase natral inti!acy and boldness, that not only average6nor!al people can e'hibit, even ndly astte scientists as well. Tri! Tri!phi phing ng the diffic difficlt lty y and (gean (gean task it wold wold take take to show show the scienti scientist& st&ss physical decay was !ore than enogh to i!press its viewers, however, he was able to j'tapose it against his !ental and e!otional !atrity as the fil! progressed. This was one one of the things that ) observed that was an absolte !arvel. How he sb!erged his fashion$!odel identity with the se of re!arkable physical and facial contortion provides a “windso!e” char! to a character.
+e't is 7elicity -ones 4plays as -ane #ilde5, and her ability to co!!nicate with Stephen despite a !ltitde of conflicted thoghts, and strggles with the se of si!ple gestres and e'pressions. Her character portrayed a strong yong wo!an that delved between the ideas of fe!ininity6relationships, how it was accepted before 489:;&s5 and how she !anaged to live with these principles in order to be with her loved one. (nother great factor of this visal representation of a life story was that the “love story” it showed, 4even thogh this type of !ovie genre6the!e6idea is now considered to be stereotypically canceros5 was not based on !elodra!atic soap$opera style love child with ero$s! lti!at!s, bt rather as a !atre relationship between “i!perfect” adlts, fraght with !any relatable and fa!iliar co!plications, flaws and fatal setbacks. The director&s brilliance particlarly dring the denoe!ent of the Hawking&s !arriage, wherein his penchant for delicacy and lyricis! was co!pared dring the rstic first days of their ro!ance, provided one of the !ost stnning allsions in the fil!. 1t even with the said liberties and factors that !ade this fil! a spectaclar eye show, the “Theory of Everything” tri!phs as so!ething deeper and !ore co!ple' than facile great$!an portraitre. This is becase althogh 3ed!ayne&s i!pishness and char! virtally eradicated Hawking&s real$life shortco!ings and devastations, they&re still e'istent and evident, especially dring the latter stages of his life6disease wherein he grows to be !ore and !ore dependent on -ane as his de!ands begin to see! increasingly peevish and crel. 1t -ones, still also deserves jst as !ch credit for her passive bt !ore technically confsing portrayal of a wo!an who, far fro! being a tradition self$sacrificing help!ate, is trying to enliven her 0hristian conscience and conjgal devotion with her own acade!ic career and evolving physical and spirital needs. 7inally, another idea that i!pressed !e abot the director and actors as well was how the fil! careflly and !eticlosly depicted a precios life sing a book, to find inti!ate, personal applications for Hawking&s cos!ic in%iries, tracing the story of how the athor of “( brief history of Ti!e” ca!e to defy ti!e itself. “The fil! achieves its plift by acknowledging that plift isn&t always possible, at least in the strictest sense. )t is a very e'ceptional fil!, not becase of its protagonists& i!pressive tri!phs, bt becase it honors their strggle.”
