Blog #13 - Questions and Thoughts About Shadowlands - Vickie GG

I really enjoyed watching Shadowlands. Here are some questions and thoughts I had while doing so: 

  • What is the effect of the notice at the beginning that "this is a true story"? I think this relates again to the epistemological and ontological questions we've investigated all semester regarding myth. Part of me wondered the whole movie "which parts of this are true"? But I tried to fight that urge, since I think what I've learned in this class is that everything in the movie was essentially "true," even if it wasn't fully historical. 

  • There was a quote that said "the most intense joy lies in desire, not attainment." We see this idea mirrored elsewhere in Lewis's written works (like the bubble fruit in Perelandra, that convo Ransom has with Hyoi about sex in Out of the Silent Planet, etc. Yet we also see many anti-desire themes in Lewis's writing, like Edmund's desire for Turkish Delight being problematic, as well as Orual's (admittedly understandable) desire for love as something that brings about a lot of ruin for a lot of people. So, I'd have to think a bit harder to figure out if Lewis himself actually believes this sentiment or not. For my part, I certainly do not. (Even though I'm Pagan, I tend to take the more Buddhist approach, that desire is the thing that brings us suffering, though I draw the line at desire of connection, since I understand that can lead to suffering but it kind of seems worth it...) 

  • Joyce says "books are safe...books aren't about to hurt you." But can't they? If what we've been saying about "dwelling" inside myths and stories is true, then it stands to reason they can, depending on if you are truly willing to live in a secondary world, commune with the characters, be one of the adventure party, etc. 

  • The movie gets at the problem of evil (again...). Lewis says "Pain is God's tool...he wants us to grow up." But why would God make such a growing up, through such means, necessary? Still problematic to me...  Joy also notes that "the pain then [when she dies] is part of the happiness now." So, is the idea that we can never have joy without eventual pain, because of desire / attachment? (Back to the questions two above.) Still not fully getting it / buying it...? Though maybe we're back to the idea of pain as a gift from God that lets us empathize with and comfort others; because Lewis finally embraces his pain, he can comfort Douglas. 

  • This movie is relevant to my in-progress research paper. It seems like Lewis uses writing as a way out of his trauma - specifically the trauma of his mother's death and also the trauma of Joy's decline and eventual death. Douglas, similarly, seems to use reading (of Lewis's stories) as a means of coping with (or escaping from?) issues with his father and mother. 

  • The Golden Valley - I found it very interesting that this was a painting the whole time but then they wanted to go see it. (I can't remember if it was Lewis or Joy who wanted to?) This makes me think about forms of art and different ways of experiencing myth, as well as the "reality" of myth. The whole time, while it was "just" a picture, it was a story told about a place. But then they "actually" went to that place. What difference does that make, if any? What is the relationship between the artwork depicting the thing and the "actual" thing? Are they things equally real? Do they have different effects on the viewers? I don't have answers to these questions, but I'm very interested in this aspect of the movie, especially in light of what Dr. Redick told us in our penultimate class, about pastures being the idyllic standard in medieval culture. (I myself would go forests, but I know from my own research in medieval and Early Modern lit that forests had some scary / negative connotations in medieval times, in addition to the good ones.) Also, it is specifically interesting that the picture is ever-sunny, but when they get to the valley, is is pouring rain, which makes the situation, the thing, the myth - all of it - different. But how? In what way? Necessarily bad because rain? Water is also cleansing, so maybe this moment is a sort of baptism, confirming the religious nature of the artwork (i.e. it equals Heaven)? 

  • Joy was also a writer! I want to read her stuff...


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