III. Shadowlands

Nominated for two Oscars, the movie Shadowlands tore through the hearts of the public with its catchy line "He thought that magic only existed in books, and then he met her"(Shadowlands). This picture takes place in the 1930's while Lewis, played by Anthony Hopkins, is teaching at an Oxford college and living as a bachelor. Then one day he receives a letter from a poetess, Joy Gresham, played by Debra Winger, whom he had been writing to for quite some time. The letter told him that Joy was coming to visit England and wished for her and her son, Douglas Gresham, played by Joseph Mazzello, to see Lewis. Actually she was escaping her abusive husband. When Joy finally arrives, Lewis finds his whole life changing to one filled with love. They secretly become married but the whole time Lewis seems to find it difficult to show Joy the affection she needs. Their lives are dramatically changed again when Joy is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Hollywood depicts C. S. Lewis as an old grumpy man, who wishes nothing to do with commitment. However, Joy Gresham changes his whole outlook on life. Not only is Lewis' love life shown in this movie but so also is his Christian work. Director Richard Attenborough depicts Lewis' Christianity by showing Lewis holding meetings in which he talks about God and his mysterious ways. One inconsistency in the movie is when Lewis is shown to waver in his faith in God because Joy is dying; his faith is automatically renewed at the end of the movie but, where this transformation occurred is not shown.

In actuality, this film does not match with Lewis's true love life or other aspects of his life. Lewis was not always a bachelor and did not avoid any other forms of commitment. He actually had a couple of relationships before he even met Ms. Joy Davidman Gresham. At the age of 20, Lewis came back from World War I, and carried on an affair with a woman who was 27 years older (Leuty). The woman was Mrs. Janie King Moore, the mother of Lewis's roommate when he was at Keble College for officer training (Gresham). This affair ended shortly before Lewis became a Christian, yet he still felt obligated to Mrs. Moore. She and her daughter, Maureen, lived with him and his brother at The Kilns, Lewis' home during his years as a professor, until she had to move to a rest home where she died when Lewis was 53 (West). Lewis also considered marriage before Ms. Gresham when he became a close friend with English poetess Ruth Pitter (West). His marriage to Joy Davidman Gresham lasted about four years while her cancer went into submission. The movie shows that she immediately died after a short love affair with Lewis. As for the rest of Lewis's life, actually, his struggle in his faith in God comes from his book, A Grief Observed. This book deals with Lewis's confessions in trying to understand God's ways after and during Joy's unsuccessful battle with Cancer. However the director does not carry through this book's process when Lewis understands and this leaves the watcher confused.

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