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  • In my last video I took a look at Suzanne Collins' dynamic young protagonist Katniss Everdeen and

  • deconstructed her character in relation to gender, violence and feminism

  • over the course of the first novel in the Hunger Games trilogy.

  • If you haven’t seen it yet, go ahead and check it out.

  • The Hunger Games movie adaptation directed by Gary Ross

  • and starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, was released in March 2012.

  • The film broke records at the box office proving yet again, that women can lead successful blockbuster films.

  • Take note Hollywood.

  • I had two big concerns going into the movie.

  • First, that the violence would be glamorized,

  • especially considering the medium of cinema tends to sensationalize explicit violence and gore.

  • I was pleasantly surprised that the filmmakers strategically chose to limit the depictions of violence

  • and largely avoided celebrating the bloodshed.

  • My second concern was that Katnisscharacter would be sexualized on screen,

  • thankfully the filmmakers very intentionally chose not to sexualize her at all,

  • even in a scene when she’s taking a bath.

  • This is a truly remarkable accomplishment given a

  • Hollywood system that insists on sexualizing practically all their female leads on and off screen.

  • Obviously, whenever a novel is turned into a film there

  • will be notable differences because of time constraints and other factors.

  • Let’s take a look at just a few of those differences.

  • If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie yet (spoilers) fair warning.

  • While reading the book we are inhabiting Katnissmind, via first person narrative.

  • we're following her inner dialogue so we know her fears, desires, and needs,

  • in a much more intimate way then the film can deliver.

  • This isn’t necessarily a flaw in the movie but I did feel like the horror of the Hunger Games,

  • and the debilitating fear and anxiety that the tributes would feel didn’t come across quite as well.

  • However, on screen we are given some hints and clues into the complex feelings of Katniss

  • via Jennifer Lawrence’s incredible acting

  • and because the camera was able to linger long enough for her non verbal expressions to come through.

  • A less skilled actor wouldn’t have been able to pull this off.

  • Although I did really enjoy the movie there are a few major shortcomings worth mentioning in the film adaptation.

  • While I was impressed with the overall look and feel of the wealthy Capitol city,

  • it was disturbing that the art directors chose to have effeminate and apparently queer men

  • exist only as part of the decadent, superficial and rather sociopathic ruling class society.

  • The decision to portray genderbending as somehow exclusively

  • the product of uber high fashion elitism is deeply problematic.

  • In the first novel, it is made clear that Katniss (and presumably the other tributes) are

  • hyper aware that their every move and action is being watched and scrutinized by the arena audience,

  • much like the reality TV shows of today.

  • So in addition to trying to survive, the tributes are performing and acting

  • as a way to gain sympathy and gifts from sponsors.

  • Strangely, this performative layer is not emphasized or prioritized in the movie,

  • at least while they are inside the arena.

  • So for instance, in the book it’s made clear that Katniss is faking her affection for Peeta

  • in order to solicit medical supplies while, in the movie

  • its more ambiguous and we are lead to believe that she may be genuine in her feelings for him.

  • Later, what’s interesting about the novel is that Katniss has difficulty separating the performative aspects

  • of her relationship with Peeta for any genuine affections they might feel for one another,

  • underneath all the pretense.

  • Secondly, when I watched this film in a packed theater on opening night,

  • I experienced this horrible moment of cognitive dissonance in the scene where Thresh brutally murders Clove,

  • the young, female tribute from district 2.

  • Here is the problem,

  • we as the audience in the real world are watching a story in which, a fictional capitol audience in turn

  • is watching and deriving pleasure from the death of children.

  • So understandably, you and I are supposed to be horrified by the whole media spectacle of the Hunger Games.

  • But when Clove’s head is bashed in and her lifeless body is thrown to the ground,

  • the real life audience in the theater I was in actually cheered and gained satisfaction from her death.

  • Ironically, we are encouraged by the filmmakers,

  • through the construction of this scene to behave in the same way that the Capitol audience does.

  • Disturbingly, the filmmakers intend us to enjoy Clove’s murder

  • and see it as justified because they have set her up as a dehumanized and ruthless figure.

  • This is an utter failure on the part of the filmmakers to be consistent about portraying the horror of the death of children.

  • If the filmmakers are trying to make any statement at all about the reprehensible nature of the hunger games,

  • they need to be consistent in the way they portray all deaths as horrific.

  • The fact that Clove’s death wasn’t portrayed as appalling, is a major failing.

  • Interestingly, even when Cato, the main villain in the arena is killed,

  • we weren’t meant to celebrate his death, and I’ll go into that in just a second.

  • Although, Jennifer Lawrence does a phenomenal job in the role of Katniss,

  • we should take a moment to talk about race and casting in the film.

  • In the book Collins clearly describes Katniss as having olive skinned and straight black hair,

  • so you’d think that the casting call would reflect that,

  • asking for actors with olive skin and straight black hair.

  • But, in fact, the casting call specified that only Caucasian actors

  • would be allowed to audition for the role of Katniss.

  • Unfortunately, this is not just an issue with just one film or one casting department in one studio,

  • this is a problem across the board, everywhere in Hollywood.

  • And one of the major consequences of this type of systemic whitewashing is that the stories of women of color

  • rarely make it on to the big screen and actors of color aren’t even allowed to audition for most leading roles.

  • For more information on challenging white washing in Hollywood check out the Racebending website.

  • I do want to point out a couple things that I think the movie did better than the original novel.

  • First, the film’s format allows us to see multiple events happening simultaneously in different locations.

  • So when Katniss shows compassion for the fallen Rue and then signal’s her solidarity with Rue’s District 11,

  • we are shown a cutaway of the spontaneous uprising in that district.

  • This is missing from the book but ends up being one of the most powerful and effective moments in the movie.

  • While I think one of the major failings of the book and the movie was that there was no attempt,

  • not even a little bit, to humanize the career tributes including Cato, Clove, Glimmer and Marvel.

  • In the movie especially, they are portrayed as completely sadistic,

  • inhuman monsters who take pleasure in killing to an exaggerated and unbelievable degree.

  • However, the film version treats Cato slightly differently towards the end.

  • In the scene where the three remaining players are trapped on top of the cornucopia,

  • an emotionally distraught Cato, laments the fact that all he knows about life is killing.

  • He realizes that he isn’t going to emerge victorious and we see his carefully constructed,

  • entitled reality fall to pieces. We are given a glimpse into the human being underneath the learned savagery.

  • During this interaction, Cato turns towards the sky taunting the game makers and the capitol,

  • saying are we giving you a good show in a desperate and unhinged voice.

  • This is a critical humanizing moment that illustrates

  • the twisted brutality of the games and its emotional impact on even the most ruthless players.

  • This stands in stark contrast to the novel where Cato is dehumanized from beginning to end.

  • I’m really glad the film made this change, but I wish they had also humanized

  • the other career tributes, at least a little bit.

  • So in conclusion, I still highly recommend reading the first book and going to see the film.

  • I think overall, and especially in comparison to the rest of what Hollywood has to offer, Katniss

  • is one of the best young female characters I’ve seen on screen in a long time.

  • Disappointingly, over the course of the next two books, Catching Fire and Mockingjay,

  • Katnisscharacter growth not only stops but actually regresses in many ways.

  • I’ll go into details about the failings of Books 2 and 3 in a future video,

  • but for now I’ll just say, if you haven’t read the two books already, I wouldn’t bother.

  • If you liked this video and want to see more in depth analysis of female characters in pop culture,

  • please support me and my work by donating today.

  • You can visit feministfrequency.com/donate

In my last video I took a look at Suzanne Collins' dynamic young protagonist Katniss Everdeen and

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