Finally, I have proof: reading has its benefits.  Because I read the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, Ms. Mosiman, after receiving an offer to send two Breezes staff members on a special assignment, asked Brynne Erb and I if we would care to attend the Red Carpet Screening of the film Divergent at the Mall of America.  We said yes.

Having no idea what to expect for such an event, we arrived early, checked in, and found our designated spot in a long line of press outlets.  There were several other high school and college teams, many, many bloggers, and photographers. The very official, laminated Minnetonka High School sign was taped to an actual red carpet alongside tags for Armstrong High School and Minnehaha Academy.  While the other students looked calm and professional, I was very nervous and very excited to meet the author of the Divergent series, Veronica Roth, and the actor playing Tris’s brother Caleb, Ansel Elgort.  Even though Ansel has a relatively minor role in this movie, he plays the main character in the much-anticipated film The Fault in Our Stars, another book inspired film, coming out in June.

Though I had not pored over pictures of these two individuals, it was clear the VIPs had arrived when everyone started screaming—by everyone, I mean a large mass of adolescent girls who probably had a shrines to the cast in their bedroom closet.  Veronica and Ansel went down the line of the fan section, signing posters, books, and hands, and taking lots of selfies with devoted admirers.  Needless to say, there were tears.

Finally, the stars made their ways over to the press line.  High school outlets were the first to have their interviews and I tried to model my conduct after the Armstrong students as they clearly actually knew what they were doing.  Then, Ansel stepped in front of us, and wait for it—he was a normal person!  I asked what faction he would choose, if he had to.  (For those of you who have not read the book, read it. It will tell you that the Divergent society is divided into five factions, each based on a specific personality trait but there are those who don’t fit into this factioned society, and they are, wait for it, the Divergent.)  He acknowledged that the whole dilemma Tris faces is that “human beings aren’t supposed to make a decision at age sixteen and do that for the rest of their lives.  Humans change.”  However, that day in particular he would choose Dauntless, who are active and  always out doing things, as on the tour he has been restricted to “eating and sleeping.”  I mean, that sounds pretty swell to me, but I guess being active is good too.

Veronica went down the line next, and because she had her novel published during her senior year of college, I asked what advice she had for other young writers.  She replied, “the key when you’re young is just to do it a lot…it’s important to just write because you love to write.”  After we were briefly interrupted by chants of Ansel’s name, we asked if she knew where she was going with the story when she first started.  She revealed that the end of the last book has always stayed the same.

Then it was movie time!  We were ushered to reserved—*cough* prime—seats (benefits, people, benefits) and listened to Ansel and Veronica give a quick introduction to the film.  Now, I won’t give away any big spoilers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  There was a surprising yet pleasing amount of humor, and I thought the pacing of the story was quite effective.  Of course, injured or sick movie characters seldom actually look injured or sick and, as whenever books are transferred to the screen, there were several differences from the original plot.  But the film gave faces to the favorite (and despised) characters of the novel, giving a faithful, exciting view into the world of Divergent.

All in all, I had a whole bunch of fun at this movie screening.  Meeting Veronica and Ansel, and getting to talk with them and ask them questions was an amazing experience.  In addition, I’d say seeing any movie before it actually comes out is awesome, and this movie, adapted from an excellent book, was also quite superb.  So go forth and read, because you never know what benefits are in store.