Rue Was Played By Biracial (African-American And Danish) American Actress Amandla Stenberg In The Movie

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.

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.

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"

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.

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

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