Gleason vs Hawking

Coincidentally, I watched the Stephen Hawking biopic (Theory of Everything) just a week earlier. A few sections are easy to compare (for instance, watching how the wives deal with it) while the rest of the movies are more complementary. Ultimately both are worth watching.

I will call out one difference though. Hawking's life revolved around physics, something that was almost entirely in his head. Gleason's life revolved around things physical: football, travel experiences, and his son. (There's a scene late in the movie showing that they dragged his chair all the way up to Machu Picchu!) So it seems that Hawking accepts his lot - at least the movie doesn't show him complaining like Gleason. Indeed, Hawking make accommodations readily such as giving his wife permission to have sex with someone else. Gleason, on the other hand, complains that his wife isn't showing him enough attention. I get the idea Hawking would be happy to be left alone as long as he could think about physics.

The other reason it's great to see both is that you get both the reality vs recreation. And both are valuable. I will add that it's remarkable how much footage there is of Gleason. And the footage was excellent quality.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I appreciated both movies.