Tris Prior and her love interest, Four, engage in an intimate moment towards the end of the film. Photo from divergentmovies.com.
[Warning: This article contains spoilers for the book and film versions of “Divergent”]
It all started with Twilight– yes, that one. Twilight was the first in a set of Young Adult fiction series with female protagonists that went Hollywood. The second was The Hunger Games, and the third and most recently, with the first movie released in March of this year, is the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth.
However, “Divergent,” diverges, if you will, from its predecessors through its portrayal of it’s heroine’s love interest. There is no love triangle, and this gives the relationship between Tris (our heroine) and her beau, Four, room to develop beyond the tinglings of jealousy.
However, that isn’t what makes “Divergent” so interesting. While it feels somewhat forced, “Divergent” is a film that shows consent in a relationship– and it is a young woman setting those boundaries, not a sadistic hundred-year-old vampire who ends up overstepping them anyway because he “can’t resist.”
When Four and Tris first kiss, she tells him, “I don’t want to go too fast.” It seems a little weird, right? They just kissed, once, and she’s already telling him she wants to go slow. That is one of the problems with “Divergent”– it clearly shows Tris saying “yes” or “no” when taking steps in her relationship, but the film fails to make it evident that Tris wants anything at all.
Sure, Four and Tris kiss a few times, but neither of them show a desire to go beyond that, which makes it difficult to understand why Tris voices her fear of “going too fast” at all.
The book is, of course, more nuanced on this front– Tris does not fear the speed at which her relationship with Four progresses, but rather any form of intimacy, a fear that clearly develops from her being encouraged to conceal her feelings throughout her childhood.
While it isn’t executed perfectly, it is good to see “Divergent” discussing consent instead of showing its heroine deciding between her two suitors in a time when rape culture, or the idea that assault survivors are “asking for” attacks, is so prevalent in society.
Let’s hope for more Divergent, less Twilight in Young Adult fiction and film– then at least we’ll know we’re headed in the right direction.