A conversation with C. S. Lewis

Scene: C. S. Lewis is in the middle of a Barnes and Noble, signing copies of his wildly successful books series, now film franchise, The Chronicles of Narnia. All around him crowd reporters trying to get the latest scoop.

Reporter 1: Mr. Lewis, are you taking questions at this time?
C. S. Lewis: Inquire of me what you will, and I will do my best to satisfy your curiosity.
Reporter 2: What do you think of the films that have been made out of your books.
C. S. Lewis: I believe that as movies they are entertaining, but I believe as adaptations of my novels, each new movie fails even more than the last one to capture the true spirit of my books.
Reporter 3: Mr. Lewis, at this time there is a another immensely popular book series that has also been made into a film franchise out at this time known as the Twilight series. What are your thoughts on this series and it’s various different knock-offs?
C. S. Lewis: The concept is certainly nothing new, taking a creature that has traditionally been considered evil such as a dragon or an ogre, or in this case a vampire, and creating a sympathetic character from it. The story then claims that it only does wicked and evil things because it cannot help itself and really deep down inside it is a lovable creature. This kind of thinking can even be found in the original Frankenstein novel, is a monster that due to neglect and a lack of love commits horrific and gruesome murders. This type of thought arises from people observing their own dark side and the evil nature of the world around them, and attempting to justify and rationalize it. As for the Twilight novels themselves, they provide the subtle romantic notion that is currently delivered to young women everywhere, that even if everyone around you claims that a relationship will not work (Because the man you love has difficulty controlling his primal and violent instincts.) It might work out if you give it a chance. This kind of message is harmful to young women, because it encourages women to stay in abusive and/or unfruitful relationships, because of a false sense of romanticized hope. Hidden in Twilights flowery poetry, and romantic sentiments is a truly awful excuse for a protagonist. When her father and her friends and even the man himself all tell her that their relationship is doomed because of his violent nature and tendencies, and the dangerous group of people that he associates with; She still refuses to accept this and pursues him still. To some it seems romantic, but in reality it is self destructive.  Though there is an abstinence message in the series, it does not excuse the book, for encouraging rebellious, self destructive, and foolish behavior. The fact that the book is well written makes it even more deadly, because it is another way to hide it’s true nature. The film series seem almost humorous in their faithful representation of the book series, but are mostly a sad reflection of our times. It is something of a cultural statement when a man can utter the phrase, “I have never wanted to suck someone’s blood more” and it is viewed as a romantic expression rather than a horrifying statement of homicidal and cannibalistic intent
Reporter 3: So I take it you didn’t like it?
C. S. Lewis: Not particularly