Here is a warning to THE FAULT IN OUR STARS fans: this post might make you extremely jealous! Teenreads intern Brianna Robinson got attend a super special TFIOS Tumblr event, which was full of all the surprises nerdfighter could hope for. Read below, and try to hold it together until the movie hits theaters on June 6th!
If you’ve read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, there’s a distinct possibility that you’re still reeling from the beginning, middle and ending. It’s just that type of book. No matter whether you read it when it first came out or just recently when you saw the movie trailer, you’re likely to have dissolved into a ball of tears, snot and feels. It’s okay, it happened to the best of us.
I read the book two summers ago. I actually read all of John Green’s books back to back because I was feeling particularly masochistic and hoped to bring on the torture. But really, I felt like I was long overdue for a reading binge session and I had heard a lot of great things about his books.
So I read them. And to be honest, my reactions to them blend together after a while, but I clearly remember curling up on my bed with the TFIOS and getting to the last 50 pages and everything was so blurry because I couldn’t keep in my tears. I told myself I wouldn’t cry at the book. I said: “self, you cannot cry at this book. It’s meant to be a tearjerker, you must resist.“
But I did. I sobbed. And for the sake of spoilers, I won’t tell you what scene it was that made me break but let’s just say it involved a cigarette that a character can finally light. I was done for.
And then the book exploded. Not literally, but on the internet and in the media. And On Tumblr, especially on Tumblr. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS quickly became a New York Times Best Seller, a top pick at library and book stores, and so on. It was great, because it was a fantastic book, but at this point I had moved on to other books and had forgotten the magic of TFIOS. I was a senior in college and forgot the grand sweeping emotions I had and the need to make something out of life, like Augustus Waters wanted, and to be better than oblivion.
It wasn’t until the movie and the “Super Secret Tumblr Meetup” that I remembered exactly how this book made me feel.
I had no idea what to expect. My TFIOS loving heart had turned into an indifferent beast but excitement at the words “Tumblr” and “Super Secret” had warmed me up again.
We knew that John Green and cast of the TFIOS were doing a press junket somewhere in NYC. We knew that the movie screening was going to be the day before. We had no idea how awesome it would be.
At 8:30 on Sunday morning we received an email telling us to be at the Crosby Hotel in SoHo. The meetup, to be kept super secret still, wouldn’t be held until 1:30 to 4:30. My friend Melissa and I were speculative but excited. She had even painted her nails blue with “Okay” and “Okay” in clouds, just like the cover. But we wondered --- what kind of meetup lasts three hours?
When we got there, we were greeted by the lovely Rachel Fershleiser, in charge of all things book and literary at Tumblr. I’ve admired her outreach skills for a long time and have told her so. She greeted us enthusiastically and ushered us into a swanky lounge. Tumblr swag (bags, stickers, pins, nametags) were scattered around the table along with cake trays filled with cupcakes (the red velvet ones were my favorite) and brownies.
We were encouraged to mingle and hang out, which we did. No one knew quite what was happening until we were directed toward the big flat screen TV. Rachel told us we would be watching the Press Conference from here. I was a tad disappointed at this because I had thought we might actually get to go, but as the conference started, I was relieved that we weren’t there.
In the room, we got to laugh, yell every time Tumblr was mentioned, and generally talk about what John Green and the actors said. The press asked a few questions, Tumblr asked a few questions virtually, and the moderator said a few things (unfortunately, she wasn’t great but I get how tough moderating a panel can be).
I loved the discussion of how magical it was for John to see his work on the screen. He spoke how he would watch from the monitor and openly cry, which I thought was great. It must be an amazing feeling to see things you’ve imagined and created actually coming to life.
Laura Dern, who plays Hazel’s mother, said that she felt really supported by John and that at the end of the day, “there would be John Green with open arms embracing [them].”
They spoke a little about how Amsterdam was a lovely place to visit and that Shailene loved the pancakes, which made me grin because I adore pancakes.
I also kind of fell in love with Nat Wolff because he just seems so hilarious. Apparently he improvised a lot of lines in TFIOS. And comedy and improvisation? That’s the key to an awesome actor, in my book.
When asked about the elephant in the room, the fact that Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play siblings in Divergent but love interests in TFIOS, Shailene actually had a classy answer. She said that being familiar with each other in one role made them closer in this role, and their chemistry made the characters shine. I agree. Not to spoil it but I thought they had really great chemistry.
Which brings me to my next point. After the press conference, the lovely Tumblr and Fox people who hosted the event surprised us with the movie screening! The 25 or so of us in the room broke out into excited chatter. The back doors opened and light streams in from the outside, and for a brief second I wondered if we were going to move outside to get to the movie. But then, Nat Wolff and John Green stepped in.
Of course they were there. I’m not embarrassed to say that I wasn’t the only one whose shocked, excited expression greeted the author and actor.
They were so sweet, thanking us for showing up and saying they hoped we’d enjoy the movie. I managed to get a shaky phone picture as John profusely thanked us for the support. The official Tumblr photographer snapped a photo of me. Apparently, my look was priceless.
John told us that he hoped we enjoyed the book and then quickly added, “if you read it. “Melissa --- always bold and hysterical --- yelled out next to me, two feet from John, “it’s a book?”
He laughed at her and said, “obviously from your nails, you’ve read it” which, besides his presence, was probably the coolest thing that could have happened.
Now, because I had fangirled and acted about 10 years younger all day, I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. I would eat the popcorn and candy they gave out and sit stoically through the movie. I would reacquaint myself with the characters and the story I had fallen in love with.
I wish I could say I didn’t cry and ruin my makeup and choke on a sob near the end. I’m not going to spoil anything for you because that would be rude, but the whole theater was sniffly and shaking. And you know what? It felt good to feel with them and experience it with fans. If you’re going to see a movie, you might as well see it with a theater packed with people who want to watch it with you.
I was really impressed with the movie. The book held up in the adaptation. The characters felt real. Nat Wolff’s improv made me laugh, as did the rest of the comedy. And the soundtrack? My love for that soundtrack knows no bounds. I wish I could read the book for the first time with that soundtrack on repeat. Like many good soundtracks, it added to the emotion and the journey of the film.
The last thing I can say, besides how awesome the day was, is that you all need to read this book and see this movie. To paraphrase a quote, it’s a pain that demands to be felt and characters that need to be met. The issues of cancer, death, family and first love should be discussed and thought about carefully in media, and John Green and the movie team puzzled all of that out it perfectly. I urge you to go see this movie and if you’re in Nashville, Dallas , Miami or Cleveland than you need to go to the Tumblr meetups for the movie. It was fantastic and I know you will have as much fun as we did. But go, have fun, laugh and cry with Augustus and Hazel and then share the stories with other people. Okay? Okay!
