Happy International Women’s Day! It happens to be today, 8th March
When I was in between doing laundry, cooking and the rest of house errands, I had a thought : Women really are magnificent creatures. I mean, I don’t have kids. But maintaining and caring for husband and home, can be overwhelming. I thought how many women can do all with kids or more without help, and while can have a full time job too.
I also recognized this when I saw The Theory of Everything (2014) which is basically a story of Stephen Hawking and his ex-wife Jane running their marriage, while it lasted. Jane wanted to marry Stephen even though Stephen has diagnosed for his physical illness, even when Stephen’s parents warned her how hard it should be for her. Stephen and Jane have three children. So basically, Jane had to take care of his husband (even before he has wheelchair) and three kids alone. In reality, I read that Jane had Stephen’s students to live in their house and help her, but did not mentioned or filmed in the movie.
I know that Stephen Hawking is a living genius and have great spirit for life despite his physical limitation (also great sense of humor). Eddie Redmayne playing as Hawking did won for Best Actor in the Oscar. But I can feel Jane’s struggle and exhaustion. Aside with doing it all alone, she is a woman who is raised with religion. But his husband (up until now, as far as I know) do not believe in God (which is funny considering his extraordinary condition). It should be really hard for her. I don’t think Stephen Hawking would be as great without her support, though now they are divorced.
Jane Wilde in the movie has inspired me about being a great wife. But it also warned me the importance and necessity to remember your own needs and happiness.
Jane Wilde (Stephen Hawking’s ex wife) (left) and Felicity Jones (right), actress playing Jane in the movie, The Theory of Everything (2014). Felicity got nominated for Best Actress in Oscar 2015 for this role
I just realized as I were browsing for women’s biography that there are too few amazing stories have been filmed compared to men. It’s unfortunate. But I still need to see more biography of great women. Here’s life stories of woman that inspired me from the movies I watched :
- Aung San Suu Kyi (Michelle Yeoh) in The Lady (2011)
- Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) in Wild (2014)
- Julie (Amy Adams) and Julia (Meryl Streep) in Julie & Julia (2009)
- Coco Chanel (Audrey Tatou) in Coco Before Chanel (2009)
- Temple Grandin (Claire Danes) in Temple Grandin (2010)
- Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) in Erin Brockovich (2000)
Here’s to all the women in the world! What real life story of a woman were you inspired from?
This article first appeared in here and developed for Inspired Ground