For my text review I decided to analyze the movie Divergent which came out in 2014. Divergent is based on a dystopian society that has been split up into different fractions. When a child turns 16 years old in this world they have to take a test which decides what fraction suits them best. There are five different fractions that value different human characteristics. Our main character, Beatrice or Tris, chose to join Dauntless which is like the police or enforcers of this new society. If she doesn’t pass basic training then she will be dropped from the fraction and will become fractionless, hence she will be living in poverty. After completing different stages of her initiation, Tris realizes she is divergent because she is able to manipulate the simulations that they are put in. She keeps this a secret because she knows she could be killed for this. As the movie goes on, the fraction that controls the law, Erudite, puts a tracking device in all of the members of Dauntless. Tris wakes up to find that Erudite is using the device to control the members of Dauntless. Since she is divergent, the device doesn’t work on her but she acts like it does. Erudite uses Dauntless to kill people in a different fraction to show their power and how they want to gain control of the government. Tris then escapes to fight against Erudite and stop the simulation and device to save the fractions.
Power is a main theme in this movie. Erudite wants control of the government so they decide to wipe out Abnegation. They try to do this by taking control of the fraction Dauntless. This leads to a lot of death and destruction in the city and between the fractions. This film also displays different identities. We learn that there are five different fractions for society. We also learn that there is a group of people called divergents because they seem to not fit one of the fractions. The thing is that they fit all of the fractions. Everyone in this movie is seen based off of their identity or in other words their fraction. People are seen less then others due to what fraction they are in. This is like the concept of the other. People are treated differently because they do not fit in with one’s group or culture. This leads to fighting, killing and destruction in the movie. I feel that the author of this movie series wants to teach us that we should accept everyone even if they are different from us. We all have different strengths and weaknesses and if we work together then as a collective whole we can overcome anything.