(Outside Reading/Watching #3)
The movie The Shadowlands was not really what I expected, and I'm glad about that. I really enjoyed its style and how everything was so character-driven as opposed to action, action, action like a lot of modern films. It was fitting for a movie about Lewis, who himself was a master of conveying the "feel" of a scene and story as opposed to just its plot. I really felt like I came away from the movie knowing Lewis better personally, as well as having a good understanding and appreciation for his realtionship with Joy.
I think my favorite part of the movie was when Lewis made the point that he thought God did not care primarily about our happiness, but rather that we learned to "love and be loved." This is such a beautiful revelation of truth, and something that is echoed to a degree in popular culture today-- the famous broadway production of Les Miserables says "To love another person is to see the face of God," and the pop-hit movie Moulin Rouge maintains "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." This runs so counter in some ways to mainstream culture, which screams at us that hedonism is the highest virtue and we should pursue self-satisfaction at all costs. Lewis and these others would suggest that self-satisfaction is probably not a very high virtue at all, but rather that depth of love which sacrifices itself for the Beloved.
Anyway, I want to see The Shadowlands again now that I have experienced it in a kind of broad, impressionistic way, so that I can hone in on some of the finer details and really draw even more meaning from it. I'm excited about fully experiencing this great film and glad that I got to start this semester.
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