Go ahead and jump: Christine (Zoe Kravitz) and Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) leap off a subway train to start their training to become part of the Dauntless faction in the dystopian movie Divergent. The movie is set in a futuristic Chicago, but there are parallels to contemporary America. (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
Divergent accomplishes what an effective dystopia should do: it shows the spiritual, social, and political problems in modern society. It takes place in the future, but it sure seems like a movie about our times.
Dystopias disguise the problems of the present in the future. Where it’s the opposite of utopia. Society appears to be a well-working machine of structure and organization. But in reality it’s an oppressive domination system. Only a radical change brought by the downtrodden — usually led by a messiah — can defeat the oppression. It’s a climatic battle between good and evil forces. Because of that it becomes the cinematic equivalent of an apocalypse.
One of the greatest American writers pretty much started the genre.
Jack London wrote The Iron Heel to point out the political problems and class divisions of the early 20th century. The first great film in the genre Metropolis had an underground female spiritual leader — which injected spirituality into the genre.
Oh, what’s a dystopia without a romance? Four (Theo James) turns from mentor to romantic partner to Tris (Shailene Woodley) during the Dauntless training sessions. (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
Dystopia has been used in the science fiction genre on a semi-regular basis since 1927’s Metropolis. But now with The Hunger Games and Divergent, the genre is a pop culture phenomenon. Both franchises started as best-selling books with loyal devotees and now they’re popcorn movies taking in millions of dollars.
Dystopias become blockbusters
Why so many successful dystopias now?
America’s psyche seems to have been seriously wounded since two events: the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2008 financial meltdown. And we seem to be in a stage where we’re realizing that. The landscape has been permanently altered. There’s no going back.
Sept. 11 made Americans feel vulnerable to attacks and terrorism. For a while the country seemed to have a sense of unity. But pre-emptive war under Bush and over-the-top surveillance under Obama has led many to feel Sept. 11 led us to an era of paranoia instead of an era of co-operation. The opportunity for some good ultimately coming from something evil was lost.
The stock market crash of 2008 was the culmination of an economy that’s been spreading income inequality since the 1980s. There was a bailout for those at the top and no help for most Americans. So we’re now living in what appears to be a permanent stagnant economy. Lack of social mobility, poverty, underemployment, disconnection from community, technological overload, and income inequality are a reality for too many.
Tori (Maggie Q) gives Tris (Shailene Woodley) a hi-tech test to find out what faction she’s best suited for. The results conclude she doesn’t test into any one faction, which makes her divergent, a non-conformist, and a threat to the government. (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
And the kids get it. The younger generation senses this. That’s why they’re responding to movies like Divergent and The Hunger Games.
Factions and fragmentation
Divergent is set in a futuristic Chicago where society is broken into five factions. The Erudite are intelligent and serious, the Dauntless are brave and bold, the Candor are truthful and honest, the Abnegation are selfless and helpful, the Amity are peaceful and joyful. Those who can’t make their way into one of those groups are the factionless who live in poverty or have demeaning jobs.
The main character Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) is part of the Abnegation faction. She’s 16 and at the age where she must decide which of the five groups she wants to join. She takes a test to find out what group she’s most predisposed to. She’s divergent — fitting into more than one category — which means she’s a threat to the government. She keeps that a secret. But during the official choosing ceremony she leaves her Abnegation group to join the Dauntless.
Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet) is the icy and calculating ruler of a futuristic Chicago. She is part of the Erudite faction which uses technology, surveillance and the military to control the masses. (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
Beatrice changes her name to Tris. Then she goes through painful physical and psychological training to join the Dauntless faction. She finds out there’s a catch to the training that puts her on the edge of disaster.
And there’s more danger. There’s a power play by the Erudite. They’re using surveillance and the military might of the Dauntless to destroy the Abnegation and their ideas about a more selfless society. But Tris finds a connection with Four (Theo James), a mentor who is sympathetic to her — and he becomes a potential love interest.
A coming of age story and a social statement
Part of this movie is a coming of age story. Tris empowers herself by taking on challenging situations to conquer her fears. But like many coming of age stories, she has to leave an Eden of some sort behind. Life isn’t the same for her after she leaves Abnegation. She so gains something and loses something.
But the bulk of the movie is a very socially-charged statement that makes parallels to contemporary America. It tells us we’re a country deeply divided into factions. And who’s winning? The technocrats and the military who form an alliance and use surveillance and military might to rule. The ideas of humility and modesty represented by the Abnegation are being overrun.
As in America now, there’s a near worship of technology while at the same time a feeling that more selfless virtues are vanishing. In the world of Divergent, this all breaks up the sense of community and family. “Faction more than blood,” is what some characters say about what it takes to survive.
Beatrice’s mother (Ashley Judd) and father (Tony Goldwyn) are part of the selfless Abnegation faction. But Beatrice leaves the humble faction to join the daredevil Dauntless faction where she changes her name to Tris. (Photo courtesy Lionsgate)
The world of future Chicago is ruled by the icy Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet). (Whether intentional or not, the similarities in appearance between Winslet and Hillary Clinton are striking.) “There’s a certain beauty” in the rebellion against the government, Matthews says, but it still must be crushed.
Like The Hunger Games, Divergent is about transforming society as part of a group; it’s not about individual liberation. It takes a group to change things. Social injustice is causing sin and making people commit crimes. And it must be stopped.
This film really moves. Sometimes the pace is too frenetic and frantic. At times I hoped for some longer pauses in the story so that I could get some dialogue. It may not be as well-paced as The Hunger Games, or cover as much territory, but it’s a powerful story that tells us how we’re losing our soul and mojo now in contemporary America. It may have a futuristic setting, but it feels here and now.
Here’s the trailer for “Divergent”:
