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  • It should come as no surprise that I'm always on the look out for

  • dynamic, engaging, and strong female characters in pop culture

  • and the latest fictional female representation that has everyone talking is Katniss Everdeen,

  • the dynamic protagonist of the Hunger Games novels written by Suzanne Collins.

  • For those unfamiliar with the trilogy, the novels are set in a future dystopian North America,

  • in a country called Panem.

  • The title of the book is a reference to an annual event organized by the oppressive government

  • in which 24 children are selected at random to participate in a televised death match.

  • In the Hunger Games, as theyre called, the children are forced to brutally murder one another until only one is left standing.

  • For the purposes of this video, I’m going to set aside the fact that some of the analogies Collins is trying to draw

  • to reality TV, professional sports, and war begin to fall apart when scrutinized closely.

  • I appreciate her attempt to critically comment on social issues,

  • I just don’t buy that parents would passively give up their children

  • to be slaughtered on national TV without a serious fight.

  • The death match as spectacle theme is really only believable

  • when the players have been dehumanized or othered by society,

  • either as convicts or slaves for example,

  • it doesn’t work when it’s just randomly selected children from the general population.

  • That said, in this video I’m going to focus mainly on the

  • portrayal of Katnisscharacter in the first book and the movie adaptation.

  • I thought the first The Hunger Games novel, published in 2008 was a captivating, engaging and riveting read

  • and I really enjoyed being immersed in the science fiction world that Collins creates.

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

  • The story follows Katniss, a 16 year old from a poor, coal mining community in district 12.

  • She struggles to provide for her family in the absence of her father

  • and later to survive the brutality of the Hunger Games.

  • She is a tough, no-nonsense, responsible, young woman

  • who uses her smarts to support her family in an oppressive, and seemingly hopeless situation.

  • Katniss is not reduced to her gender,

  • meaning her behaviours and actions aren’t attributed to her being a woman,

  • she is not sexualized and she is not objectified in the book.

  • Her real world concerns and priorities of family and survival are put in sharp contrast

  • to the superficial values imposed on her by the Capitol government

  • as she is being groomed for the Hunger Games media spectacle.

  • These preparation scenes provide a critique of the beauty industry and also of the decadence of the wealthy

  • in contrast to poor and working class districts who can barely afford enough food to feed their families.

  • Katniss demonstrates empathy and compassion for those around her including her friends, family,

  • and those oppressed and underprivileged in Panem.

  • Later in the arena she also builds a trusting and supportive relationship with Rue, the young tribute from district 11.

  • Later, when Rue is tragically killed, Katniss treats her death with honor and respect.

  • The romance elements of the first book were only slightly grating,

  • much of it was Katnissuncertainty about Peeta’s feelings for her

  • and her confusion about whether he was being genuine or just acting.

  • It was clear Collins was setting up a love triangle between Peeta, Katniss and Gale ala Edward, Bella and Jacob.

  • This is nothing new in novels targeted at girls and women and I could look past the cliché of it

  • since it wasn't central to the plot in the first book.

  • Katniss' naivety when it came to dating and relationships make sense

  • given her age and her difficult economic, social and family life,

  • her naivety and confusion is an understandable part of her character's growth,

  • but only in the first part of the trilogy, unfortunately the love triangle takes a much more prominent role in books 2 and 3.

  • There’s been some understandable criticism of the rather extreme levels of violence in the novel,

  • especially considering it’s marketed to young adults.

  • I think this is a fair point however the way Katniss perceives and uses violence makes her somewhat unique.

  • Especially in comparison to other so calledstrong female characters

  • whose strength often stems from their ability and willingness to use violence.

  • Although, Katniss does possess the hunting and tracking skills to survive in the harsh terrain of the arena,

  • she remains troubled and disturbed at the idea of personally murdering another human being

  • even within the context of the death match.

  • Admirably she can’t bring herself to wish death on her opponents or even her enemies.

  • Knowing full well that if they remain alive she can never return home.

  • These moments illustrate that Katniss hasn’t become completely desensitized to violence and suffering

  • even though she’s forced to participate in a horrifically violent system.

  • That said, I do wish Collins was more consistent in writing Katnissresponses to death.

  • When Rue is killed the event is written as deeply traumatic and emotional for Katniss.

  • Katniss is not made to run off seeking revenge, but allowed to mourn in a really human way.

  • We follow along as she struggles through the process of grief.

  • She appropriately feels shock, pain, guilt and temporary depression.

  • To Collinscredit, she writes this emotional process as a testament to Katnissstrength as opposed to a weakness.

  • Yet when Foxface is accidently yet tragically killed via poisonous berries, Katniss doesn’t even bat an eye.

  • She shows no emotional reaction whatsoever

  • despite the fact that this young tribute from district 5, hasn’t hurt anyone during the games.

  • Although, Katniss doesn’t have a personal relationship with Foxface, her death

  • should still be represented as tragic and upsetting.

  • It should go without saying that in reality, violence is

  • traumatic and it has very real and lasting consequences for everybody involved.

  • So I’m not arguing for stories to be completely free of violence,

  • but I am arguing for violence to be portrayed consistently and to reflect its emotional and physical repercussions.

  • In a media culture that sensationalizes and glamorizes violence, it’s refreshing to see a character like Katniss,

  • react to violence in a more honest and genuine way, at least most of the time.

  • I appreciate that Collins doesn’t have Katniss emerge from the arena unscathed.

  • She experiences serious physical and emotional consequences and by the end of the games,

  • her sense of safety and trust have been shattered.

  • When the game makers announce that there can only be one victor after all Peeta throws his knife away in protest

  • and Katnissautomatically assumes that he’s about to attack her, so she loads her bow and aims an arrow at his heart.

  • Later when the Capitol doctors are operating on Peeta,

  • Katniss has a panic attack, and believes for a moment she’s back in the arena.

  • She imagines the medical staff as a pack of muttations attacking her friend.

  • These examples are evidence of the delusion and paranoia that Katniss understandably suffers

  • as a result of the extreme trauma she experienced during the Hunger Games.

  • These scenes help to separate her from many of the so called

  • strong female characters in popular culture who just replicate

  • the stoic, unemotional, unaffected, macho archetype where somehow they

  • go through extreme violence and trauma with no visible effect at all.

  • So it's refreshing that Katniss is allowed to go through a period of post traumatic stress

  • and that the emotional experience ultimately works to make her a stronger character, rather than a weaker one.

  • Some people have been asking is Katniss then a feminist character?

  • Because of her compassion, empathy, cunning, resourcefulness and intelligence,

  • I think she embodies many feminist values, at least over the course of the first book.

  • In my next video I'll talk about the movie in comparison to the book,

  • especially in relation to its portrayal of gender and also violence.

  • Whenever a novel is turned into a film, there are going to be some major differences,

  • and I'll discuss which of those changes were successful and which were not.

  • So be sure to check it out.

  • The Hunger Games fan art I used in this video was made by these amazing illustrators.

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

  • please support me and my work by donating today.

  • You can visit feministfrequency.com/donate

It should come as no surprise that I'm always on the look out for

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