There’s a movie coming out this week called The Fault in Our Stars. A brief synopsis is that it’s the story of a teenage girl (Hazel) with a terminal illness who meets a teenage boy (Augustus) at a support group who immediately takes a liking to her, despite the fact that Hazel feels insecure with herself due to her cancer and the fact that she has to always carry an oxygen tank around with her everywhere as a result. As their relationship blossoms, Hazel is reluctant to fully let Augustus into her world, because she feels that as she is terminally ill, she doesn’t want to burden anyone with the pain of her eventual death. Undeterred, Augustus pursues her heart, because pain is supposedly inevitable, and there’s no sense in trying to avoid it at the cost of living your life.
In other words, it’s a heartfelt romantic plot that is just about guaranteed to make the vast majority of viewers cry. It’s also based on a true story, which makes it all the more soulful and beautiful in a sense. But for all intents and purposes, it has the makings of a good movie that will undoubtedly make people feel sadness, but the overlaying message will be one that of happiness.