The Hunger Games

So I just returned from seeing The Hunger Games for the second time and I think I'm a little more scarred than I was the first time around. This may be because for this show, I managed to keep my eyes open for pretty much the entire movie. And there was some scary shit that I blocked out at midnight on the 23rd.

My first not midnight, not falling asleep observation is about the shaky camera. This may have been pointed out to me by several sources between my two screenings but I picked up on it tonight and it kind of bothered me. I appreciated the artistic use of it when they were actually in the arena and I felt like it portrayed the hectic, panicky theme quite well (also, the fact that I couldn't tell what kind of violence was going on was nice for me) but, earlier in the movie, it seemed unnecessary. Why, I ask, did we need the shaky cam vibe when Katniss was hunting in the woods with Gale? The woods is the place that Katniss is most comfortable and at ease. The shaky, uncertain footage seemed contradictory to what I know from reading the books--not to go all book elitist but, um, yeah, Katniss in the woods should have been calm and steady.

The other thing that really stood out for me was the violence and it might have been because I'm generally sensitive to that kind of thing or because of the blog post Maggie Stiefvater wrote about it (god, I love Maggie Stiefvater). In her blog post, she talked about how people expressed wishes that it would have been more violent and I was aghast, mostly because that's not what The Hunger Games is about to me. It's not supposed to be some graphically violent portrayal of kids murdering each other. It's about, well, a lot of things, on various levels but to me it's mostly about Katniss, trying to stay alive for her sister. And yes, there's Peeta's qualms about his humanity and that leads Katniss to want to show the Gamemaker's that they don't own her but this is a story about love* and war and the kids affected by it. It's not supposed to be some depiction of gratuitous violence for the sake of it. I thought there was more than enough violence. Maybe it could have been more personal but maybe the point is that it wasn't**.

I'm pleased with The Hunger Games movie. There's not much I would have changed and nothing is really worth mentioning. I'm pretty excited to see what Jennifer Lawrence does with Catching Fire. And now we wait.

p.s. Okay, the real thing on my mind is the cave scene. All I could think about was how dirty Peeta's face was and then after Katniss got him the medicine and they fell asleep together, he woke up and his face was practically clean. I bet the medicine took care of that for him, right? Because it's magical, sexy face medicine. I see what you did there, Gamemakers. I see that.

*coughcough of the sisterly variety. Keep your pants on.
**I've read reviews where people said each tribute death felt like a punch to the gut. I didn't feel that way.

I met Suzanne Collins (kind of)

First of all, I think The Hunger Games trilogy is distinctly awesome. The writing, pacing, plot, themes, characters and their reactions together make it this amazing look at the human condition and spirit while being a wonderful story. Tragic, depressing at times, but so incredible to read.

I really love those books.

My first experience with their writer, Suzanne Collins, was when I was in a library book club at age twelve. I read three out of five of her Underland Chronicles and completely loved them. They were really great. Then, last summer, a friend was telling me about The Hunger Games--twenty four youth thrown into an arena to fight to the death. I read it out of curiosity but I was so unbelievably thrilled and surprised with what I got in return: an epic story of fighting for your life against all odds while trying to keep your humanity intact. Romance. A story of love and strategy and rebellion. A protagonist who I loved and feared.* This girl on fire who could think for herself and fend for herself and was mature beyond her age.

Instant favourite.

On Tuesday morning, I went with my sisters and mother's to see Suzanne Collins, who I hugely admire, give a talk on her books and stamp them afterwards (pictured above). She spoke about the origin of the books and  how interested she is with war. She drew parallels with reality TV and the ancient gladiators, some of which I had noticed, some were new. She talked about names for her characters, using names with Roman origins for people from the Capitol and District 2 (Cinna, Plutarch, Cato, Caesar, Portia, Brutus) and names for tributes from other districts that reflected their district's job (Cashmere is from the luxury district, Wiress is from the electronic disctrict, etc.). She talked about how desensitized to violence we are with all the graphic news coverage and violent action movies out there which I completely agree with. It was really fascinating.

What was really cool, though, was after her talk when she stamped our books with the Mockingjay tour stamp thing (she can't sign them due to wrist strain). We were at the back of the line which mean no pressure to move on from the table so I asked her what, in her opinion, was Peeta's tragic flaw, a question that has sparked a couple debates between myself, my sisters and my friends.** I stood there for quite a while as she thought about it and she did seem to really think hard. I don't know if that's because she had never thought about it before or because she wanted to give a really decisive answer. Eventually, she told me it was his trusting nature. In their world, seeing the good in people more than the bad can be a vulnerability. And though that is the flaw I had used myself to defend Peeta in the eyes of other's, I was a tad disappointed. Maybe he is unrealistically flawless. I kind of wanted her to give me something substantially bad that couldn't be seen in any way as a good thing, like being too trusting can. I want to believe that Peeta isn't too good to be true. Whatever, I still love him.

As a result of meeting her, I'm rereading Mockingjay. I started yesterday with the end and had tears streaming down my face which doesn't sound good but I love when writing is powerful enough to make my eyes water. Once more, I will say that I love those books so, so much. I can't imagine why more people don't read.

*It was a nice touch to be able to feel a bit more socially and emotionally intelligent than a girl who could shoot a squirrel through its eye with a bow and arrow.
**People seem to think he's too perfect to be realistic. I, personally, disagree.