The Hunger Games trilogy (books and movies)

Book cover images from Scholastic News Room
The Hunger Games was a popular series of young-adult books and its movie adaptations. I just read these novels now and just watched the four movies, and I find that it's as relevant now as it was when it first came out.

Most of us are probably familiar with the story of Katniss Everdeen and The Hunger Games. In a post-apocalyptic world, Panem, a state which was once known as North America, stages an annual Hunger Games where 24 tributes from its 12 Districts fight to the death. This is Panem's way of controlling the districts and preventing another uprising. The 12 Districts work to the bone to support the lavish lifestyle of the Capitol. The Hunger Games in the story is part beauty pageant, reality show, gladiator game, and the Minotaur's Labyrinth.

Katniss Everdeen, a poor girl from District 12, volunteers herself as tribute when the tribute lottery picks up her sister's name, Primrose. Her father is dead from a mining accident, and she's not that close to her mother. She hunts animals to feed her family, and the person she cares most about is Prim. She has a best friend and hunting partner, Gale Hawthorne.

When she volunteers for the games, her life changes.

The Hunger Games
The first book was grim but action-packed, we are introduced to Katniss. It's more interesting to read the story through her perspective, she's cynical but strong. She's not a perky, happy protagonist, but because of the world around her she's rather gloomy and has little interest in friendship or romance. She has Gale, her best friend who sort of has feelings for her. When she volunteers, she entrusts her mother and sister to his care.

When she volunteers for the games, she meets new people: Peeta Mellark, her former schoolmate and now her fellow District 12 tribute. They have a mentor, a former Hunger Games victor, Haymitch Abernathy. Peeta is the opposite of Katniss, he's friendly, charming, and innocent at first. Haymitch is an alcoholic, who doesn't get along with Katniss at first (but as the story progresses, we see that Haymitch and Katniss are very alike).

Katniss's concern is survival, but the Hunger Games is more than just a survival game. It is a show for entertainment, and here it's not only skills that matter, but just as important are charm, popularity, and likeability (Peeta excels at this). You would think Hunger Games tributes are paraded around like beauty pageant contestants only to be slaughtered.

In the Capitol, she is beautified and dressed by a team of stylists. Cinna is her fashion designer, and one of my favorite characters from the series. Because of her flaming grand entrance costume and her interview dress, she's dubbed and marketed as "the Girl on Fire." Haymitch also has this wild idea to make Peeta and Katniss a sort of "love team" to enhance their popularity, which Katniss hates at first.

District 12 is one of the poorest districts, so Katniss starts out as an underdog among all the stronger tributes. When the Hunger Games starts, she hides instead of going out actively killing. She meets an ally, Rue. The book's suspense turns up during the games. As a reader, as the violence gets bloodier, you start questioning the methods of Panem and the sick entertainment of the Hunger Games.

In order to save herself and Peeta, she plays on the "Star Crossed Lovers" and pretends she loves him for the screen. If you know the ending, Katniss outsmarted the Hunger Games by pretending she would kill herself with Peeta. The Gamemakers preferred to have two victors than none at all. Little to Katniss knowledge, her little act of rebellion in the game would have widespread repercussions for her and all of Panem.

Catching Fire
This is the book I loved the most. Katniss is out of the Hunger Games arena but it seems like life outside the game is much more difficult to play. She and Peeta have a "Victory Tour" to all the 12 Districts. President Snow, the ruler of Panem, warns her that she must do everything to convince him and the whole country that her love for Peeta is real.

Now there's some sort of love triangle between Peeta, Katniss, and Gale. The two boys are vying for her attention, while Katniss is not that interested (but she does admit she had moments of having sexy feelings for Peeta). To add to her romantic trouble, Gale also shows his feelings for her. However, she must put on a show of being in love with Peeta.

But the President declares the 75th Quarter Quell, where every 25 years a special, ruthless twist is added to the Hunger Games. For this Game, tributes will come from the existing victors. I think this was done to prevent the victors from inspiring revolts against the Capitol. So this is Hunger Games: the All-Stars Edition. Peeta and Katniss once again must go to the arena, this time with other Hunger Games winners who are older and more experienced.

Here we meet other interesting victors. We also see that these 'winners' are not really victors - most of them hate the Capitol, most are struggling with trauma from their experience in the Games. Even after winning the games, their friends and family may also be targeted if they don't follow what they're expected to do. "There are no winners, only survivors," as Haymitch would say.

But I love that the main characters realize they can't do anything against the Capitol anyway, so they just go with the flow and try their best to spite them instead (Peeta and Katniss on their tests with the Gamemakers). I also like that we got a deeper look at Haymitch, Peeta, and Katniss. I love that they showed how Haymitch won the Hunger Games.

The story doesn't end with one victor. Behind the scenes, the rebels against Panem are working and the 75th Hunger Games is part of the plan. The arena is attacked, the remaining victors left are divided: Katniss is taken by the rebels, Peeta is captured by the Capitol.

Now, Panem is at War. District 13 still exists as the Rebel Base, and Panem's districts are also revolting against Panem. Katniss is cast as "Mockingjay", the symbol of the rebellion. Katniss is more traumatized than ever. She doesn't wholly get along with District 13 and its President, Alma Coin.

What's interesting is this was also a war on propaganda. Katniss is cast as a rebel hero, and it's uncanny how she is marketed, costumed, beautified, photographed, and video-recorded for propaganda videos - it's quite similar to her short shot at fame before her first Hunger Games.

Mockingjay is the most violent and brutal of all three books. I love how it depicted life at war and the hard choices you have to make for survival. Katniss is broken, but she still tries to fight. Chapters 25 until the end is brilliant, though there are moments where she deals with suicidal thoughts and post-traumatic stress disorder. I think Katniss Everdeen may be the most traumatized girl in literature - she's already quite damaged by her father's death and life in District 12, added by more trauma of watching kids die and struggling for survival during the games, the life after the games, and having to deal with another Hunger Games, plus the war she's fighting.

The Movies

All I can say about the movies is they are brilliant and true to the books. My only complaint would be Mockingjay would be better as one movie. Part 1 was a drag, there were long moments of nothing. But during its release, most YA book adaptations have their last part split into two (Twilight's Breaking Dawn, Harry Potter's Deathly Hallows). So I guess they're stretching it so they can get squeeze out the most money from the franchise.

There's a lot of things in the books that didn't make it to the movies. But for me, this is acceptable as long as long as it retains the story. If they were true to the last detail, it would have been more expensive. For example, in the story, Peeta lost his leg and was replaced by a prosthetic. Katniss had a friend, Madge, the mayor's daughter who gave her the Mockingjay pin. This is the omission I don't like, because in the first book Katniss is shown as a loner and unfriendly, and Madge may be her only other friend other than Gale.

Kacey Rohl (playing Abigail Hobbs in Hannibal) is my ideal Katniss
I think the casting is spot-on. I love the actors playing President Snow, Alma Coin, and Rue. Woody Harrelson as Haymitch and Lenny Kravitz as the fashion designer Cinna was perfect. There was a lot of fuss over Jennifer Lawrence playing Katniss, as the character is described as having "olive skin". But I think her acting was excellent and the author herself approved. But my ideal Katniss would be the Canadian actress Kacey Rohl (who notably played Abigail Hobbs in the NBC TV series Hannibal). As Abigail, she portrayed this mix of innocence but also murderous brutality. As I read, I didn't imagine Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, it was Kacey in my head.

My favorite thing about the movies is the fashion. Katniss and Peeta's entrance in the two Hunger Games with all the flaming clothes, and the burning dresses in the first and second book. Probably my favorite is the wedding dress that transformed into the Mockingjay dress complete with wings. They did a good job of designing these iconic clothes that Katniss wore. Fashion fueling revolutions? It was brilliant.

The Story
I just downloaded books analyzing The Hunger Games. It came out at the right time when it did - reality TV was all the rage then. But as I read it, it's scary because it could be real. Not the actual Hunger Games, but it portrays the reality of living in fear in a totalitarian government. The story is a very striking portrayal of PTSD, trauma after war, suffering, and pain. It's a story marketed for a younger audience, and I wish I read that at that age. It's a story that leaves you with a lot to think about.

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