Becoming Divergent
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Lo[ Becoming Divergent: How Moral Perfectionism transcends Virtue Ethics in Divergent (Burger) and Insurgent (Schwentke) Master Film Studies: Thesis Date: 28 June 2019 Name: Marijke van Putten Studentnumber: 5984017 Thesis Supervisor: mw. dr. C.M. Lord Second Reader: dhr. dr. G.W. van der Pol | Becoming Divergent Index Introduction: Experiencing ethics through a dystopian tale ................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: No world for divergents: the interplay of ethical movements in a dystopic world ............. 11 Introduction: creating a dystopian world .......................................................................................... 11 The ethical mix: the political forces within the film world ................................................................ 13 Conclusion: to be self-reliant is to be rebellious ............................................................................... 20 Chapter 2: Fear as a divergent’s catalyst: conformity versus self-reliance ............................................ 23 Introduction: who is Beatrice Prior?.................................................................................................. 23 Jumping into the unknown: a turning point for Tris .......................................................................... 26 Soldiers not rebels: Fear as a catalyst ................................................................................................ 30 How to handle fear Dauntless style: conformity as a strategy .......................................................... 33 Conclusion: becoming knowledgeable and cultivating skills ............................................................. 38 Chapter 3: Inner struggles: overcoming the damaging effects of guilt and shame .............................. 41 Introduction: guilt and shame ........................................................................................................... 41 Lying is denying: how guilt and shame stand in the way of self-transformation .............................. 45 May the truth set you free: do revelations trigger compassion or suspense? .................................. 47 The box: the suspense of moral perfectionism ................................................................................. 49 Conclusion: becoming the one that is worthy ................................................................................... 53 Conclusion: Dare to be divergent .......................................................................................................... 55 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix 1: Plantinga’s stances toward Fictional Characters............................................................... 61 3 Thesis – Marijke van Putten – Master Film Studies – University of Amsterdam – 2019 | Becoming Divergent Introduction: Experiencing ethics through a dystopian tale Politics in the world seems to be shifting; or so it feels. On the one hand people are encouraged to be who they are and celebrate it; consider for instance the popularity of Lady Gaga’s song: Born this way, but on the other hand human rights and equal rights seem to be under stress now that there is a rise in populism and far right political parties and judging by the rise in people marching in protest against them. This might also cause people to be appealed by films that are themed around conformity and rebellion and what better genre to depict this than dystopia’s. In the two films that I will explore, Divergent (Burger) and The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Schwentke)1, the journey from adolescence to adulthood proves difficult for our protagonist, Beatrice Prior, because she is different from the norm. But she also comes to realize that the society she lives in is far from perfect. The political structure in place within the film world is based on moral virtuous behaviour. For instance putting the tribal group, faction, before family. It is not meant for people like Beatrice before she transforms into her new character Tris. In fact, for Beatrice it proves to be nightmarish to live in this society made up of factions, when you cannot conform to just one of them. It is like not fitting into a clique at school, only with the added terror of being in mortal danger if those in power find out you are divergent. This sense of being different, of not belonging, of being unable to conform versus being your own individual self, seems to be a recurring theme in teen films and series. This theme is likely to appeal to a lot of young adult spectators that feel different, and are afraid of becoming a social outcast. Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior is at that age where everybody in their society chooses which of the five factions they are going to spend the rest of their lives at: Abnegation, Erudite, Dauntless, Candor or Amity. The society in this film is divided in factions based on peoples affinity for a certain virtue. This structure is put in place to keep the peace; each group has their own task within the society. For the first sixteen years Beatrice has lived at Abnegation with her family; a faction that is all about helping others. But she never felt she fully belonged there. She was afraid the test would tell her to stay, but at the same time she was afraid it would tell her to leave. The test, in which she undergoes a simulation in her unconsciousness to see what kind of choices she would make and what kind of solutions to problems she would come up with, should have told her where she belongs. But, as it turns out, she is divergent and therefor has an aptitude for multiple factions. This, as it turns out, is a problem and not just in a sense of not fitting in. Divergents are considered a threat to society. The protagonist, Beatris Prior, encounters her first crisis now that she does not have the test to 1 In the remainder of this thesis I will refer to The Divergent Series: Insurgent as: Insurgent. 5 Thesis – Marijke van Putten – Master Film Studies – University of Amsterdam – 2019 | Becoming Divergent rely on. According to cultural scholar Catherine Driscoll “the modern idea of adolescence as personal and social crisis” is one of the four necessary conditions for teen film (Driscoll 12). The other three necessary conditions being: censorship and classification systems to protect youth that rely on “a set of debates about age, maturity, citizenship, literacy, and pedagogy that are not only an important context for teen film but shape its content”; “the emergence of targeted film marketing” and “the translation of modern adolescence into institutions for the representation, analysis, and management of adolescence” (Driscoll 12-3). By institutions I read her to mean she is referring to social theories, like respecting family rules and public policies, like no underage sex. According to her the problems of modern adolescence are defined by these institutions, among which she also gathers new film genres like the high school film. High school, she considers, being a step between childhood and social independence. She also says that the fourth condition: “the translation of modern adolescence into institutions for the representation, analysis, and management of adolescence” overarches the first three: 1) the modern idea of adolescence as personal and social crisis; 2) censorship and classification systems to protect youth; 3) “the emergence of targeted film marketing” (Driscoll 12-3). Meaning that these institutions set the parameters upon which the first three conditions are based. For this thesis I will focus on the first condition: “the modern idea of adolescence as personal and social crisis” (Driscoll 12). From Driscoll’s book it becomes apparent that teen films all deal with ‘coming-of-age’. According to Driscoll “teen film is less about growing up than about the expectation, difficulty, and social organisation of growing up” (Driscoll 66). The journey from adolescence to adulthood in teen films seem to always be troubled and ridden with “the ambivalent relationship between rebellion and conformity” which Driscoll calls “so important to teen film” (Driscoll 22). This leads to a personal and social crisis. Rebellion and conformity are also important themes in Emerson’s theory of self-reliance. According to Emerson the highest virtue in society is conformity and self-reliance is its adversary (Cavell 22). Self-reliance can therefor also be seen as rebellion. Cavell, when explaining Emerson, also claims most people encounter periods in their lives where they do not agree with society and this period is most likely to reveal itself for the first time during adolescence (Cavell 23). Both films, Divergent (Burger) and Insurgent (Schwentke), will prove excellent examples in which the journey to adulthood is complicated by the choice of conformity or rebellion and this I will link to the theory of self-reliance. Conformity generally proves easy if the society you live in agrees with your values and virtues. It becomes problematic however when you encounter not a utopian but a dystopian society. “Pick your present-day dilemma; there’s a new dystopian novel to match it,” says American history scholar Jill Lepore (Lepore). The title of the article reads that it is the golden age for dystopian fiction. “Radical pessimism is a dismal trend” (Lepore). According to Lepore dystopian tales are often sparked by a period of optimism, as a reaction