I had two thoughts as I walked out of this film. One, there seems to be a trend towards female heroes in teen lit, so does that mean there mostly female teen readers? Two, does it seem like the writers of these teen movies like to use the threat of suicide to get their characters out of last minute tricky situations? Actually, there was a third thought: I liked this better than Hunger Games.
I don’t need answer to my questions. I am intrigued, though, by the idea that the female teen has an inordinate amount of power to drive pop culture. I remember seeing a news snippet like a decade or so ago where a marketing woman said that the kernels of hot trends can be foreseen if one pays attention to teen women in suburban Detroit. I’m not sure if it’s factual or if I even heard it right, but it just sticks in my head for some reason.
I was never bored during this movie, but I have been a little bored during the Hunger Games movies. Even though Divergent used the evils of conformity theme as a major plot element, it still felt fresh to me.
I could be biased because Divergent also had Chicago as a backdrop, so that was pretty cool. I don’t remember them filming it here, which makes me think it’s mostly a digital Chicago. Regardless, Navy Pier, The University of Chicago, CTA, and the Hancock have some great parts. It’s neat to see, for some reason, maybe because it’s so familiar.