COMPARATIVE REVIEW

“Five Feet Apart”

THEME
Just a few decades ago, the life expectancy for those born with CF was 10. So it is only recently that
people like the teenagers with CF in “Five Feet Apart” lived long enough to truly understand their
disease and their limitations.

CHARACTERS
Stella (a radiant Haley Lu Richardson) checks into the hospital for help with an infection as though it is
her second home. The medical staff are all old friends, especially Barb (Kimberly Hebert Gregory), a
compassionate nurse. Stella knows all the routines and she knows what to bring for comfort, including
her stuffed panda, the laptop she uses for her vlog updates about living with CF, and the pictures from
her bedroom wall.

Stella knows that her best case scenario, a lung transplant, may only work for five years, but in the CF
medical relay race, the best case scenario is always just to last long enough for better treatment to be
invented.

In the meantime, Stella knows that her best coping mechanisms are feeling in control of her “regimen”
of care, organizing the meds cart, taking her pills with chocolate pudding, and visiting the babies in the
neonatal intensive care unit.

Her best friend Poe (Moises Arias) is back in the hospital, too. And so is Will (Cole Sprouse) another
teenage CF patient, there to receive an experimental drug. While Stella is ultra, even hyper-cooperative
in her treatment, hoping to be able to get the lung transplant, Will is a cynic and a rebel, in part because
his prognosis is not as hopeful. Even if the medication is successful, the B-cepacia infection has made
him ineligible for a transplant. Stella presses him to keep up with his regimen, and he agrees if she will
let him draw her.

PLOT
Love stories always have to have a reason to keep the couple apart and in this case, that means literally
apart. Because of their vulnerability to infection, CF patients have to stay at least six feet from each
other. They are like Romeo and Juliet if the Montagues were bacteria and the Capulets were a set of
new lungs.

Latex gloves, no touching, and six feet between them at all times. As Stella falls for Will she says, “After
all CF has taken from me, I don’t mind stealing one foot back.” And so they have a date, still within the
walls of the hospital (apparently hospitals have swimming pools) using a five-foot pool cue to measure
their distance. And then, because they are teenagers, they take some very big risks.

It is tempting to dismiss this story as “sick-lit” but director Justin Baldoni balances the compelling
specifics of CF with the larger questions we all face about creating meaning in a world of uncertainty and
loss. And he does it with two gifted and appealing young stars, especially Richardson, whose exquisitely
expressive face shows us every hope, fear, hesitation, regret, and longing Stella is feeling.
Baldoni clearly learned a great deal from his “My Last Days” television series documenting the lives of
terminally ill people, including a teenager with CF, and he shows sensitivity and insight in exploring these
issues within a fictional story. He makes the most of the way he uses the hospital setting, the atrium
lobby with its drab, sturdy institutional furniture. As Stella and Will fall in love, it seems warmed by their
tenderness and excitement.

Even healthy young people can die. Illness can devastate families, emotionally and financially. It is scary
to love someone and it can be even scarier to let someone love you, especially when you are
embarrassed by your scars. We all try to find a way to feel in control of something, whether it is by lining
up pill boxes on a meds cart and doing what we are told or by putting an “Abandon all hope ye who
enter here” sign on a hospital door and ignoring good advice. “We don’t have time for delicacy,” one
character says, in their case because they may not live a “normal” lifespan, but in reality, films like this
remind us we could all do better at making sure we get the most from the time we have.

“The Fault In Our Stars”

THEME
The Fault In Our Stars is a novel written by John Green, a renowned author of Young Adult fiction. The
story gives an account of Hazel, who can hardly remember life without cancer and has almost given up
hope on her life. She then meets Augustus Waters, a cancer survivor, who reads her favourite books for
her and hangs out with her and this helps her to gather strength. The two of them deal with cancer and
love.

The story is written in a breathtaking way which makes us become a part of the characters and feel the
same emotions. Hazel and Augustus appeal to readers through their sense of humour and their courage.
But behind this courage, both of them hide their pain to protect their families. John Green, through
Hazel and Augustus, brings both: tears and laughter.

In 2014, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths in
the United States. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the U.S., accounting for
nearly 1 of every 4 deaths. The Fault in Our Stars is directed by Josh Boone based on John Green's
bestselling 2012 young adult novel. The author has written a poignant and heart-rending love story and
the director has created a film adaptation that eludes the melodrama that has often dragged down
other cancer movies. Anyone who has had cancer touch their lives will empathize with the three main
characters — their struggles, desires, and vulnerabilities.

CHARACTERS
Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) is a 16-year-old girl who has been fighting thyroid cancer
since she was 13. She is alive thanks to an experimental drug but because the cancer has affected her
lungs, she has trouble breathing and needs to have an oxygen tank with her wherever she goes.

PLOT
Her mother and father are upset about Hazel's depression. She responds with the observation that
"Depression is a side effect of dying." Her mother insists that she attend a support group for teens
meeting at a local church. The leader has placed a large rug with an image of Jesus on the floor; he tries
to witness to the Lord but there is not much response to that approach. Hazel is bored with the meeting
but can't help but notice that a boy named Augustus (Ansel Elgort) is staring at her. He is a cancer
survivor who has a prosthetic leg. His best friend Isaac (Nat Wolff) has already lost one eye to cancer and
has been told that his other eye will go shortly. After the meeting, Isaac makes out with his girlfriend —
eager to enjoy the pleasures of romance before going blind.

Gus invites Hazel to his house and they exchange their favorite books. Hers is An Imperial Affliction, a
creative work about a teen with cancer that has deeply affected her. His is an action novel. They both
commit to reading the other's book and keep in touch as they do. Soon they are hanging out together at
the support group and elsewhere.

As her condition worsens, Hazel tries to distance herself from Gus who has fallen in love with her. He is a
charming, clever, and sincere young man who takes it upon himself to lift her spirits by constantly
reminding her of how beautiful she is and what a special person she is in his eyes.

Gus secretly writes Peter Van Houten (Willem Dafoe), the reclusive author of An Imperial Affliction, who
lives in Amsterdam. Hazel is ecstatic when he replies, and she emails him too. More than anything, she
wants to meet him and have him answer some questions about what happens to his other characers
after the main one dies at the end of his book. Van Houton does invite them to come to Amsterdam, and
Hazel's mother accompanies them on their adventure. But their meeting does not go as the Americans
had expected. Still, the trip proves to be a a turning point in these young lovers' relationship in many
ways.

CONCLUSION
First time, when I saw the trailer of “Five Feet Apart” I thought that they are plagiarized the idea of the
movie “The Fault In Our Stars”. But if you see the whole film, you can easily see that it's just another one
of those movies about a sick teenager who helplessly falls in love with someone he or she undoubtedly
can't be with, but nonetheless goes for it anyways. It shows that expectations and reality are seldom the
same.
Of course, I can see the major similarities between “Five Feet Apart” and “The Fault In Our Stars”. What
left me feeling surprised (and ultimately happy), was that "Five Feet Apart" led such a different lesson
than “The Fault In Our Stars”.

“Five Feet Apart” leads the story of two hospital patients battling cystic fibrosis which is not infectious
for others, but extremely dangerous for each other (patients). In the most shortened version I can give
you, CF is a progressive, genetic disease that damages the lungs and digestive system. While CF patients
are not as affected by other "normal" human beings, CF patients are strictly to be apart (six feet to be
exact) from other CF patients at all times. As I said, “Five Feet Apart” follows the idea of being lucky for
what you're able to do, more specifically who you're able to touch and feel, without any repercussions,
especially the ones you love.
Obviously, being the movie that it is, the two people that do fall in love are set in paths where they
ultimately can't be together.

In “The Fault In Our Stars” we also can see two patients, one of them has terminal thyroid cancer that
has spread to her lungs. Believing she is depressed; her mother urges her to attend a weekly cancer
patient support to help her make friends with individuals who are going through the same thing. There
Hazel meets Augustus Waters, a charming teenager who lost a leg to bone cancer but has since
apparently been cancer-free. In the end of the movie Augustus dies from cancer.
To sum up all, I recommend to watch “Five Feet Apart”, because it is more suitable for all age groups,
especially for teenagers. There might be similarities between the two but each of them can hold on their
own. However, for sure, both movies will make you cry.