160 posts
Thehungergamesnotes - Thg Notes - Tumblr Blog
Divergent is a bad book, but its accidental brilliance is that it completely mauled the YA dystopian genre by stripping it down to its barest bones for maximum marketability, utterly destroying the chances of YA dystopian literature’s long-term survival
Divergent is a bad book, but its accidental brilliance is that it completely mauled the YA dystopian genre by stripping it down to its barest bones for maximum marketability, utterly destroying the chances of YA dystopian literature’s long-term survival
Divergent is a bad book, but its accidental brilliance is that it completely mauled the YA dystopian genre by stripping it down to its barest bones for maximum marketability, utterly destroying the chances of YA dystopian literature’s long-term survival
Divergent is a bad book, but its accidental brilliance is that it completely mauled the YA dystopian genre by stripping it down to its barest bones for maximum marketability, utterly destroying the chances of YA dystopian literature’s long-term survival
I write fanfiction (I keep it to myself & for myself)
I have been reading the ballad of songbirds and snakes and I’m having many moments of “hey, I have something like this in my fanfiction.” It’s giving me an incredible amount of serotonin.
I see you, Suzanne Collins. I see you. Our brains are like 🤞
W-what did you just say?
Sometimes I think about the Hunger games and I wonder what happened what exactly were the districts rebelling about? And what did they do that was so horrible that not only were they punished by seeing their children fight in a battle Royale to the death but their descendants, born long after anyone who was alive to remember the rebellion were as well.
well in the epilog katniss didnt really seem to want the children or feel anything for them but went through with it becuase "peeta wanted them so badly" so theyre sort of right becuase "woman pushed into having children she didnt want , possibly traumatising hermore becuase of someones desires" is a very anti choce stance.
See, that’s the prevailing viewpoint, but I’ve always had a problem with it. It’s so widely accepted by the fandom, but it ignores that the birth of those children fulfills both the character and thematic arcs of the series.
Let’s look at the entire quote.
They play in the Meadow. The dancing girl with the dark hair and blue eyes. The boy with blond curls and gray eyes, struggling to keep up with her on his chubby toddler legs. It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly. When I first felt her stirring inside of me, I was consumed with a terror that felt as old as life itself. Only the joy of holding her in my arms could tame it. Carrying him was a little easier, but not much.
At first glance, it looks kind of bad. Like Peeta pushed her into having children despite her bone-deep terror. But this overlooks the fact that Peeta waited those five, ten, fifteen years for her to be ready. If he wasn’t concerned about Katniss’ choice, Peeta could have been more forceful in taking what he wanted. He could have left her and found a woman more willing to provide children. But he didn’t. And that heavily suggests that Katniss, in the end, is the one who made the choice.
Katniss feared having children because she feared for their future--feared a world where they’d starve to death, feared a world where they could be ripped from her arms and thrown to the slaughter of the Hunger Games. Katniss fears, more than even her own death, losing those she loves--look at how she was devastated by the loss of her father. Of course she’d be afraid to bring children into a world that’s designed to kill them. But the struggles of the series wouldn’t have much point if Katniss remained trapped in that fear, if her world remained a place hostile to new life. So the end of the series has to show that growth and change.
Of course it’s Peeta who helps her to move beyond her fear. Never forget that for Katniss, Peeta always represents hope. A new chance at life. When she was starving, at her lowest point of despair, he provided, at the cost of pain to himself, the bread that gave her hope. When they were in the Hunger Games, he gave her hope that the world could be transformed into something better by choosing to look beyond their own fears for survival and putting someone else’s needs above their own. Acting, not out of fear or self-interest, but for the good of the other could--and did--change the world. That changed world is one that welcomes children, and makes it possible, eventually, for Katniss to do so, too.
Giving birth to children doesn’t add to Katniss’ trauma. It shows her healing from it. Choosing to hope despite her fear. And what is her reward for it? Joy. Not mere happiness that ignores the pain, but joy that transcends it. Joy that does not erase the fear but makes the fear worthwhile. Joy that heals her enough to face a second pregnancy. And the joy of having two children who don’t know what it means to live in fear.
I appreciate that having children doesn’t magically erase Katniss’ trauma. Children are not a magical balm that will heal all ills and will bring fulfillment to every woman’s life, and the series isn’t arguing that it does. As the passage above shows, she will continue to live with her fears and regrets. But with Peeta and her children around her, she will also live with new life. And love. And always, always, hope.
Honestly? The only valid love triangle in a YA novel is the one in the Hunger Games, solely for its deeper metaphorical meaning. Like in the movies, it got blown out of proportion as a "ooo who will Katniss kiss, identical hunk #1 or identical hunk #2," but in the books the meaning is written so much better. It's way clearer how they represent her future, like Gale can hunt and wants war and to fight, and Peeta can bake and he's strong and soft. To Katniss, it's so much clearer in the books how in choosing one, she's either choosing to scrap along and fight, or to heal and grow from the trauma she faced in her youth.
And look like this is a short summary, I'm just pissy about how much the symbolism was reduced in the movie until it was "ooo love triangle romance marriage kissing ooooooo"
As a longtime fan of The Hunger Games, I admit that I probably won’t be able to critically analyze how good the worldbuilding was for Ballad’s story for a while. I’m definitely still in the “wow, new information about one of my special interests!” phase. But if there’s one thing I already know was a smart decision - aside from making Reaping Day July 4th - it was the story of how the Games were created.
This crime against humanity that the masses in the Capitol have long accepted as a fun spectacle by the time the 74th rolls around? That Snow sees as a necessary means of maintaining control and preventing chaos in the districts? The whole thing literally started as a joke. A laugh two drunk friends shared while doing their homework. Then it got co-opted by their professor and put into practice as equal parts a means of punishing the districts and a self-serving experiment to validate her ideas about humanity’s need for control.
I’ve seen a few people complain that this cheapens the Games, but if anything, it makes the book even more haunting. How timely is this? We’re living in a world where a substantial number of people write in joke candidates or refuse to vote at all, yet are horrified when everyone is left to deal with the consequences. The fact that nobody can tell the difference between an actual headline and something from The Onion anymore has become a meme. And if the people voicing their concerns about the rise in authoritarianism around the world are anything to go by, the state of the world is, for all of its absurdity, no joke at all to the people who stand to gain the most from it.
The most uncomfortable part is that this is a prequel, where we know that the Games keep going for another 60 years. Given how symbolic everything in this series is, I think Casca and Crassus’ story is meant to be a warning.
Nobody thinks anything like the Hunger Games could ever actually happen, much less become normal.
Nobody would ever allow that to happen to their kids, to their world! It’s just a joke, right?
But the joke stops being funny when it becomes real and we have to live with it.
One of my favorite parts of the Hunger Games was how, in the beginning, Katniss was jealous amd resentful of the townies for not having to work in the coal mines. Then, over time, she realizes they aren't the true enemy. Then she sees the other district kids as so much better off than she is, because at least they don't come from district 12. But then she realizes they aren't the enemy either. And then she hates the other victors, before realizing they have all been exploited just as much as she has. So the enemy must be the Capitol citizens, who benefit from the exploitation of the districts, right? Wrong again. They are just uninformed and pampered people who have been kept in the dark about the true horrors faced by the rest of the country. Most of them, when push comes to shove, are perfectly willing to help the war efforts.
And slowly, over the three books, all theses separate factions of downtrodden people start to see each other as allies instead of enemies, and that is what propells them to eventual victory over the true enemy, the government that tried to pit them against each other. Just fun, totally fictional things to think about that have nothing whatsoever to do with our current life.
Rue was played by biracial (African-American and Danish) American actress Amandla Stenberg in the movie The Hunger Games.
She was a 12 year old tribute in the Hunger Games, which she died competing in. She was stabbed with a spear by an opponent.
““The first time that Katniss has to go into the cylinder and she goes up into the arena and looks around and sees it for the first time,” says Lawrence. “Knowing that when that trumpet blows she could die. The thing that’s great about her is she’s not a murderer. She’s a hunter, but she’s not a killer. I told Gary, ‘I totally understand if you don’t hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone her face cannot be badass. It has to be broken.’ She has to be heartbroken because she just took another person’s life. It’s so tempting, especially with a cool, big budget franchise movie, but we have to remember that she’s a 16-year-old girl who’s being forced to do this. These kids are only killing each other because if they don’t, they’ll die. It’s needless, pointless, unjustified violence. So there’s nothing cool about her. It’s not like she looks around the arena and goes ‘Yeah, I got this, I’m going to do this.’ I think she looks around terrified and thinks, ‘Well there are all the million different ways that I can die.””
— Jennifer Lawrence on The Hunger Games (via maytheodds)
hot take: katniss is a revolutionary female hero because she's not really a hero. she fights for people, not for a greater good, and she's willing to do awful things for her family, including killing innocents. she believes in a revolution because she wants freedom, not because "it's the right thing to do." she's not a quirky female hero who always knows what to say. she's awkward and self-depricating and blunt and not likeable, which is implicitly stated in the books and movies. she's not comfortable in feminine clothes, she hunts, she's scared and social uncomfortable in a way that makes others uncomfortable. she's volitile in a way that's very different than the normal quirky female lead, she's not some manic bipolar idea, she's a real person with genuine issues. she's harsh and sharp and cruel and mean and she's not perfect. she's not even very likeable. she doesn't speak much to others and when she does, it's mostly angry or cutting. but she's astounding and breathtakingly tragic while being real and raw and absolutely human.
hot take: katniss is a revolutionary female hero because she's not really a hero. she fights for people, not for a greater good, and she's willing to do awful things for her family, including killing innocents. she believes in a revolution because she wants freedom, not because "it's the right thing to do." she's not a quirky female hero who always knows what to say. she's awkward and self-depricating and blunt and not likeable, which is implicitly stated in the books and movies. she's not comfortable in feminine clothes, she hunts, she's scared and social uncomfortable in a way that makes others uncomfortable. she's volitile in a way that's very different than the normal quirky female lead, she's not some manic bipolar idea, she's a real person with genuine issues. she's harsh and sharp and cruel and mean and she's not perfect. she's not even very likeable. she doesn't speak much to others and when she does, it's mostly angry or cutting. but she's astounding and breathtakingly tragic while being real and raw and absolutely human.
my ideal suzanne collins written heroes of olympus would end with an epilogue of annabeth permanently blinded from tartarus being handed her daughter by percy. she asks what color her eyes are and he tells her they’re green like his. she tells him she doesnt remember what that looks like. the end! :)
Divergent is a bad book, but its accidental brilliance is that it completely mauled the YA dystopian genre by stripping it down to its barest bones for maximum marketability, utterly destroying the chances of YA dystopian literature’s long-term survival
ok but the hunger games literally did mention it All like… the use of propaganda by the elite as an attempt to divide the minority groups they oppress by making them perceive each other as rivals and prevent them from recognizing and uniting against their real enemy? check. criticism of the way we consume media with no consideration for other people’s privacy like we’re entitled to every detail of their lives and a lack of empathy for their pain because it makes good entertainment? yeah. realistic depictions and explorations of the effects of trauma, particularly that caused by conflict? hunger games has you covered. acknowledgement of the existence of and links between racism and classism, and that conventional standards of beauty are influenced by the societal elite, which people are encouraged to harm themselves in order to conform to (the fact that the weathier people in district 12 are white, blonde and blue-eyed while the coal miner families are mostly people of color; that the two poorest districts, 11 and 12, have majority poc populations; that most people, katniss herself included, consider prim to be prettier than katniss partly because she looks like her white, blonde, blue-eyed mother, who was from the wealthier part of the district; that the first thing that happens to the tributes when they’re taken to the capitol is they they’re “prepped” to conform to capitol beauty standards before they even meet their stylists in ways that literally violate their bodies permanently, and that many of the capitol residents have extreme body modifying surgery that can take a severe toll on their health and wellbeing in the long term)? none of this is accidental, and is both brought up and criticised multiple times throughout the trilogy. the sexualization of minors for adult consumption, especially young celebrities? the fact that politicians in positions of power and authority gain those positions through corruption and by considering anyone harmed in their acension collateral damage? the significance of propaganda and social influence in modern warfare? the misery caused by poverty, which is caused and intentionally maintained by the wealthy elite? the brutal and violating experience of living in a surveillance police state, especially as a member of a minority group and/or poor person? the inherently immoral and corruptive nature of warfare and the military and the unimaginable atrocities and suffering it leads to for ordinary civilians? every YA dystopia novelist tried so hard to be mrs collins but most didn’t even understand half of what went into her books that made them so compelling.
REREADING THE HUNGER GAMES - some thoughts™
okay so i reread the hunger games for the first time in like… 8 years or something and boyyyyyy it was a ride:
* this book came out in like 2008, but goddamn it’s still relevant as fuck * i absolutely adore the fact that it wasn’t a traditional “rise against the government” story, where the girl was The One and she did All The Things - Katniss was thrown into all this shit somehow under the radar, with adults still running the rebellion, but choosing her as a symbol and honestly she’s like “i have no idea what the fuck to do, but i’ll listen to Haymitch and Cinna - adults who know more stuff than I do, and hopefully not get killed” * i also liked the fact that her and Peeta’s traditional roles were reversed: she was the hunter, he was the baker (who was doing the FROSTING on cakes int he bakery, like, i stan) and this was Suzanne Collins saying fuck you to expectations about what roles men and women are supposed to fulfil * this book is disguised as another YA bullshit, but my dudes, holy fuck no - even if you take out the whole “we’ll send your kids to murder each other in an arena for our entertainment” - it deals with a shit ton of issues: PTSD, abandonment, alcoholism, children way too young being forced to take the roles of providers in their respective families, how entertainment affects the way we see the world, how media manipulates perception - like, this shit is Deep™
* it annoys me that at one point, this book/series was reduced to Team Gale vs Team Peeta, when… it was honestly about SO much more. And tbh, the progression of the love triangle was natural - when you share a life and death situation with someone, it’s completely natural to have at least some conflicting feelings towards that person, so Katniss’ indecision over Peeta and Gale is completely fucking normal for an adult, let alone a teenager just discovering themselves and exploring their heart
* the writing is Really Good, even compared to newer books that I’ve personally read and adored - it’s intense, fast paced, I flew through this in a couple of days and even knowing the story, it was still gripping and adrenaline-fuelled
* Peeta is completely underrated as a strategist - like, that kid is Smart™ as fuck
* Katniss and Rue’s relationship was such a punch in the gut, because it really solidifies the idea that these are kids, paying the price for something they had no hand in, paying the price for a past they had no choice in and no control over, and I’m unashamed to say that I, a woman in her 30s, still cried ugly tears when Katniss sang her song for Rue
* honestly, my dudes, just… pick up this book and read it, because it’s so, so much more than what the movies reduced it to (I love the movies, but… yeah) - this shit is a dystopian masterpiece and Suzanne Collins is a queen, we stan
The hunger games & the selection parallels:
Caste system with numbers where you’re identified that way “I’m from twelve” “I’m a Five”
Randomly selected from every part of the country
Unfamiliarity with the Rich Lifestyle
Getting shipped off to the rich capital
Terrible dictator
Rebellions i guess ??
Makeovers and interviews
Discomfort with the makeovers and the interviews
Guy from hometown vs new guy who is wholesome
Difference ^ being that america actually gives a shit about them
Literally young children, I can’t even insult them becaude they’re a year older than/same age as me and I’m a dumbass so they are too
New and changed America with a different name
People in competition are slowly eliminated until the last one is standing
I’m going to keep reading and see if there are more but goddamn
things the hunger games movies left out that should have been included (side eying you, gary ross)
katniss should have been a woman of color.
gale was also a man of color. most likely haymitch was too.
katniss was disabled in her left ear.
peeta and the district 10 tribute were disabled - peeta’s leg bit off by a mutt and the district 10 tribute having gone into the games with a pre-existing cripple.
THE TRIBUTES SHOULD HAVE BEEN PLAYED BY TEENAGERS
cato begging clove to stay with him, showing his rare humanity and emphasizing the fact that the tributes were literal children and NOT warriors.
the movies should have focused on the victors more, and their lives after winning the games - especially annie/wiress’s mental illnesses and finnick’s forced prostitution not long after he won the games at 14 years old
stop whitewashing canonical characters of color, stop erasing disabilities, and more importantly, stop with the nauseating shaky cam. that was weird and unnecessary.