In Review- "The Fault in Our Stars"
When the previews for this movie first started coming out, I thought, "Here we go again. Another teen rom-com that's trying to be something it's not. Trying to be adult and serious." I had not read the book. I had just heard pre-teens swoon about this amazing guy and this tear-jerker of a story. The girl gets cancer- well of course she is going to die. That's the way these movies work. They give you a little hope then plunge you into despair. Give you a little laugh then rip out your heartstrings. And by the end of it all, have we really learned anything? Life gets better. Life sucks. Love conquers all. Blah, blah, blah. Those are nice for your average teen rom-com, but this is not your average teen rom-com. You, adults and teens, can learn something at the end of this film.
It's about the little infinities and living with pain.
The Story
Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is your average moody teenager whose parents think she is depressed. But she actually has a reason to be depressed. She has been battling all types of cancer since she was 13. Now she has lung cancer and has to cart around an oxygen tank everywhere she goes. She's reading about dying. No wonder her parents are concerned.
To help cope with this, she is pressured into going to a support group where she meets Mr. Charming aka Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort). He's smooth and confident and wants to be remembered forever for his awesomeness. Hazel is quick to remind him of oblivion- there will be a day when we are all dead and no one will ever remember you. Great first impression huh?
Well, like every other rom-com, they fall in love, but it's not without struggle. This time the struggle comes from the greatest villain of them all- cancer. And it turns out, they both have it.
The Stars
It's hard to play a depressed teenager. I get it! Everyone comes off as fake or irritable. And my only negative review of this film is just that. These characters are hard to play and make them 110% likeable. Woodley does her best to not make you want to slap Hazel in the face for her Debby Downer ideals. And Augustus can be so cocky and self-centered that you'd like to punch him in the face. The characters grow at the end of the film, but you have to wait all the way until then to realize that you don't really hate these stupid teenagers.
The Message
Since I'm in the mood to talk about teen rom-coms, do you remember "Grease"? I love this movie/musical so I'm not just picking on it. I genuinely really love this movie, but it's a prime example of my point.
In "Grease," the biggest problem is that Danny is being flaky around Sandy when he is with his friends. As she says, "What happened to the Danny Zuko I met on the beach?" This guy has changed. Eventually Danny figures out that he's an idiot and tries to change for him, but then for some odd reason Sandy changes instead. Whatever.
Even though the problem seems trivial to two teenagers who have cancer, it is not trivial to Danny and Sandy. This is their hell. But it would be Hazel and Gus' paradise if this is all they had to worry about.
Us regular people who have never experienced these types of tragedies cannot imagine the pain, sadness, despression, and heartbreak that people like Hazel and Gus are going through. Having to push away your family and your friends because you know your eventual death will hurt them and having no control over when it will come and how it will affect them. Not being able to visit a museum because there is no elevator. Having a hard time climbing up and down stairs every day. It's the simplest things that I take for granted every day.
But through all of this, these two characters are living. They are living in death. Even though they can see the light at the end of the tunnel, they are still cherishing every sinlge moment- every infinity, as Hazel says. There are an infinity of numbers out there, but there are an infinity of numbers between 1 and 2. Hazel and Gus only have time together for the infinities between 1 and 2, but they live them.
That is why I am allowed to not cry.
Overall
And I didn't cry.
Me, the girl who cries at every Disney movie, every rom-com, every tear jerker, at this movie I did not cry. That is because they lived, and they lived beautifully. That is the point of the film. To live beautifully in the time you are given. They had the privilege of meeting each other and being able to fall in love even if it is just for a little while.
So what does that say to a middle class girl who has a loving family, all her appendages, no disabilities to speak of what so ever?
How the hell am I allowed to say that I've had a bad day? There has to have been one moment, even in the most minut time span, that made me happy. I laughed at a joke or didn't miss the train. That is a little infinity of happiness. And that means I have every reason in the world to be happy because I have more than a few of those every day.
It also tells me that every moment I have is a gift. So why am I worrying about if someone yells at me today or if a guy I like doesn't say hi to me that day? And why am I worried about not finding a job in 4 months when I have one right now? The future is a lot of infinities away. I have all the time in the world. And if I continue to think that way my life will automatically seem a whole lot brighter.
Can you tell this movie made an impact on me?
Also, this film teaches you about living with pain and what happens after the pain. Life goes on. Life doesn't just end on the last page of a book. Life doesn't end after you die. Everyone else we left behind are still living and breathing and have to learn how to deal with the pain. But life really does get better. The pain fades away even if it is after many, many years. There is an infinity of time between the first sting of pain and the end of it. People heal in an infinity.
3 out of 4 Stars
