Category Archives: Books
Gale Hawthorne, Rebel With A Cause
Today, Guest Postapalooza begins! Our first post is from Satsuma, who is handing Gale Hawthorne a healthy dose of something he needs more from fans: understanding.
Just to clarify– We don’t write many character based posts, so any Peeta-biased sentiment suggested here comes mainly from other guest posts.
Anyway, enjoy!
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Gale Hawthorne, all fan artsy
I’ve noticed that Katniss and Peeta get a lot of attention around here, but Gale, not so much. So here’s my attempt to give the Boy With the Snares some love. Some of this was inspired by the recent debates along THG fandom these days, with some fans being very worried that Francis Lawrence and others involved in the Catching Fire movie, are paying too much attention to Gale Hawthorne as a
character, and giving others (well, TBH, ONE other, his “rival” Peeta) short shrift.
Certainly, Gale DOES seem to fit a certain mold of hero that is often showcased in movies and TV shows. The Handsome Rebellious Action Hero, who has women falling all over him (but lets romance take a back seat to the Cause) like an alpha male should, but is also a Family Man who loves his mother and family, both by blood and “adopted” in the case of the Everdeens. A “local boy made good” who moves up in the world, getting some well-deserved, cathartic revenge on his enemies on the way.
But while Gale seems to fill many traditional “action hero” tropes, it seems only a minority of fans see him as anywhere near heroic. SC manages to subvert those tropes, when another author might have painted Gale’s actions as completely justified, because “we’re fighting a war here” where there’s no room for mercy towards your enemies. Many stories that deal with rebellions against tyrants, portray the rebels as innocent, oppressed people throwing off their chains, who the audience can cheer for without reservation, even as they’re blowing up thousands of people.
What I find to be groundbreaking about the THG series, is that Suzanne Collins does NOT let the rebels off the hook, does not give the reader that cathartic moment when the enemy falls, and all becomes right with the world. She does not use the atrocities committed by the Capitol side to justify those of the rebels. Not only that, while good ol’ Alma is obviously the “other side of the Coin”, to Snow, and her evilness is shocking to some, I don’t think Collins meant for the whole war to be just a struggle for power between Snow, Coin, and their cronies, or for Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, and other soldiers to be mere pawns in their Game-of-Thrones-like schemes. I think Gale’s story specifically makes that much too simple an interpretation.
I never got the impression that Gale is meant to be a mere victim of Coin and her machinations, anymore than he is a mere victim of Snow and his regime. Gale makes his own decision to “take a page out of Snow’s book”, exercises his own agency in doing so, and deserves his share of responsibility for the consequences.
However, just because Gale is not meant to be a hero or a victim, neither is he a villain. If you look at matters from Gale’s POV, we know that he faced hardships all his life due to the Capitol oppressing the Districts, and was almost whipped to death for the crime of trying to feed his family. Not only that, when the Capitol bombed D12, he saw thousands of innocent people brutally massacred, with no way to fight back.
Let’s not forget..
Do I agree with his “fight fire with fire” attitude? No, but I can understand it, and sympathize with Gale’s thirst for revenge. Katniss does as well, when she imagines the scene after Gale tells her, in D2, of seeing children burned alive by Capitol bombs, bombs dropped by Peacekeepers from D2. For a moment, she wants “everyone in the mountain dead”. I think most fans wind up sympathizing with Gale, but not so much that they find his actions completely justified.
What’s also interesting is that, despite his actions, Gale winds up with what might be the happiest ending possible in the world SC has created. Yes, he loses Katniss’s friendship, but he isn’t dead,
maimed, or psychologically destroyed. He hasn’t lost his mother or his siblings and he seems to have achieved some material success with his “fancy job in D2″. Another author might have been tempted to “punish” Gale more as a way to make it quite obvious that He Did The Wrong Thing.
Now, I’m sure some readers did conclude that the ending of MJ shows there’s no point in trying to do the right thing, that the best way to live life is to just look out for your own welfare, and perhaps that of your family. That doesn’t seem to be the majority opinion, though. Seems SC was right to give her readers more credit, that they could understand that just because good deeds aren’t always rewarded, and evil deeds often not punished, doesn’t mean “there is no good and evil, only power” (to quote a certain character from Harry Potter).
Rebel!Gale
Now, does Gale sleep well at night, or is he haunted by Prim’s death, perhaps that of others? We don’t know. We also don’t know the exact nature of his “fancy job” in D2, but it seems likely that he has a position in the “military-industrial complex” there. Did he go there as a conqueror, to rule over those in D2? Or did he realize that he DID have similarities to the people there, much like Katniss did earlier? We don’t know, and perhaps SC meant for this ambiguity to exist. Another interesting question is whether Gale would have agreed with Coin’s proposal for a Hunger Games involving Capitol kids. I’m really not sure myself. I think much depends on whether Prim’s death led him to question anything, or if he thinks it’s justified to “show them what it’s like to lose what they love”. (That’s a quote from a certain character in Game of Thrones.)
Now, all that being said, will Movie!Gale wind up being shown as more heroic than Book!Gale? Or more romantically desirable, to the point that movie watchers will wonder why Katniss lets him walk away? I suppose the risk is there, especially if they show Gale rescuing people in D12 at the end of CF, or perhaps being part of the tribute rescue mission in MJ. However, at this point I’m still pretty confident that Suzanne, Nina, Francis, and others involved will avoid that trap. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Satsuma
Campaigning for Coin: Alex Kingston
Welcome back to another edition of Campaigning for Coin! Today, we’re discussing an actress best known for her roles on ER and Doctor Who, two very different but very popular television shows. Everyone gather around to hear the fansites’ thoughts on Alex Kingston!
Alex Kingston
Rebekah (Them There Eyes): I’ll be honest, I’m a long time fan of Alex Kingston, starting with her work on the long running, critically acclaimed, award winning, and fan loved NBC series ER. She’ll always be the fish out of water Doctor Elizabeth Corday to me, which I think is a good way to think of Alex. Elizabeth allowed Alex as an actress to explore a multitude of feelings, and experiences to act out over the course of that characters 12 year run. Aside from her work on ER though, Alex has played a gamut of other characters, most famously she’s Doctor River Song on Doctor Who, where she’s really kind of a source of comic relief seemingly majority of the time. And then there’s her work on series’ like Upstairs Downstairs, and the CW’s Arrow. She’s definitely proven her self capable of embodying different kinds of women, therefore I say I wouldn’t kick up a fuss if she was cast as Coin. Her being cast might even bring in a whole slew of different kinds of audience members, because Alex is known from such a diverse collection of projects. She’d bring in the ER crowd, and the younger crowd from the Doctor Who side of things, and the PBS/BBC loving lot from being known for Upstairs Downstairs. Alex Kingston, I simply can’t find fault with this idea. Who’s next?
Savanna from Hunger Games Fireside Chat: I am a Doctor Who fanatic. And as such, I’d hate for my view of River Song to become tainted by seeing Alex Kingston play Alma Coin. However, setting my selfishness aside for a moment, I actually think that Kingston could potentially be a great choice. While her identity as a person is — unfortunately — closely linked to River for me and many others, Kingston is quite adept at slipping into her roles so well that you lose yourself in the character and the story. So with a different hairstyle and an American accent, I doubt Whovians would have trouble seeing Kingston as Coin and not River. I haven’t seen ER, so I can’t speak for her performance there, but Kingston was an absolutely phenomenal Mrs. Bennet in the miniseries Lost in Austen. While having nothing in common with Coin on the surface, if you’re familiar with Pride and Prejudice, then you know just how manipulative and scheming Mrs. Bennet can be. True, she’s simply a small-town meddler and not a political schemer, but after seeing Kingston so brilliantly portray this “ball-breaking” matriarch hell-bent on securing good marriages for her daughters, I would love to see her interpretation of Coin.
Doctor Who
Colleen from HG Girl on Fire: In my mind, Alma Coin is cold & manipulative, but she had to have some quality to make everyone trust her. I can easily see Alex Kingston taking on that role. She’s just so versatile. Most people probably know her as a doctor on ER or as the charming (yet not completely trustworthy at times) River Song on Doctor Who. When I saw Kingston’s name on the list of possibilities for Coin, I thought of her role as Boudica in Warrior Queen. She rallies her people to rebel against the Roman Empire and goes down fighting. She’s believable as a leader, and it’s this role I first thought of that made me think she would be a good choice for Coin. But it’s her Doctor Who role that clinched it for me. She plays River Song with an air of authority, but with her own secrets & agenda. She’s all but mastered the ‘I can be your best friend or you worst enemy’ look, and, to me, that is the essence of Alma Coin. And I think the British accent would totally work for Coin.
ER
Kelsey from My Hunger Games: Being a massive “Whovian”, I will forever and always see Alex Kingston as the lovable, sassy and adventurous Professor River Song. So upon first seeing her name among the list of actresses “Campaigning for Coin”, my initial reaction was to object. However, since I am a huge fan of Alex’s, she was worth looking into a bit more. That’s when I realized how amazing of an actress Kingston really is. Looking at her as Dr. Corday in ER, Mrs. Bennet in Lost in Austen all the way to Boudica in Warrior Queen and Dinah in Arrow. Every one of her characters is so different, yet Alex is able to bring them to life so vividly. That alone it is a huge testament to her ability. At this point, Kingston isn’t a household name – and that could definitely work in her favor. The fact that she isn’t incredibly well known could make her an easier choice for Lionsgate, considering their budget. But the fact that she is a very well rounded actress bodes well for the fans. I think she can easily bring Coin to life like she has with so many others!
Courtney & Tiffany from Welcome to District 12: We LOVE Alex Kingston! We are both crazy huge Doctor Who fans, and if there’s a character we love almost as much as The Doctor, it’s River Song. Of course this isn’t the only reason that we are in love with the idea of Kingston as Coin. We’ve seen the duality of her acting solely through the show, and her resume speaks for itself as well. We aren’t worried about her capabilities as an actor to handle Coin in the slightest. She would also be a perfect Coin candidate for the “lesser known actor” option.
The Road to Victory Tour
Hold on to your hats, kiddos! This upcoming weekend is when lovers of The Hunger Games and YA other favorites come together to take it to a new level!
It’s Victory Tour 2013, June 22 – 23!
Yup, Victory Tour was originally a Hunger Games only convention, but it had to be shifted for legal purposes. Thus it became an awesome YA book convention! (Sadly, some people can’t read between the lines on the for legal purposes bit, as if the people behind Victory Tour randomly chose to switch up the theme and upset a bunch of fans just for the hell of it, so they’re still sourpusses. Really?!) To us, this makes the convention EVEN BETTER, as we’re fans of books in general.
Salute your fandom!
We know what you usually think of with conventions: Location, location, location! This is different! Victory Tour is an online convention, so you can participate no matter where you live, assuming you can stream stuff on your computer without it exploding!
For instance, both V. Arrow, author of the research-based book The Panem Companion will be there, juxtaposed by the hilarity of Mark Oshiro from Mark Reads The Hunger Games. And if that doesn’t fill your appetite for dystopia, how about some interviews with Lauren Oliver, author of the Delirium trilogy, and Ally Condie, author of the Matched trilogy? There’s also programming based around all of these books, as well as Divergent, soon to be a major motion picture featuring this guy. *swoon* All are very popular dystopians and if fans of The Hunger Games have branched out in the genre, they’re likely to know and love these books too!
Victory Tour will also be talking to fans who participate in their love for The Hunger Games a little differently, like “Rockingjays” Alex Boyd, Alex Carpenter, Sam Cushion, Steph Anderson, and Hello the Future! Of course, each of them will be playing their original songs based on the books!
If that isn’t musical enough for you, check out From Nightmares to Nightlock, a hilarious musical parody which will premiere during the convention. That’s right, you can find funny things about The Hunger Games SOMEWHERE ELSE too! We ain’t even mad!
Oh, and did we mention that THE COOLEST CATS IN TOWN will be there?! That’s right: FANSITE REPS (INCLUDING ME!) will be on hand to discuss how to be badass via Internet and other such things on Sunday at 4pm!
It’s Not Too Late To Register Here!
The Girl With The Pearl
The Hunger Games Fans Speak!
The new book trailer for Catching Fire launched earlier this week. It is– dare I steal a word learned from Lydia on The Lizzie Bennet Diaries?– ADORBS!
In addition to Kimmy from Mockingjay.net and Aldrin from Down With The Capitol, who were part of the original fan trailer video, this one features Courtney, aka Twiffidy’s partner-in-crime over at Welcome to District 12! Along with many other totally worthy fans who submitted great videos!
Observe.
What we love about this is that it’s NOT some professional thesis on why we should love the books. With a few exceptions (here’s lookin’ at you, Katniss cosplayer and hi-def camera green screen gal!), it’s quick and blurry and shaky. It’s geekily over-excited, despite the guy who says “It’s the perfect blend of everything you want in a novel” as if he’s reciting a meatloaf recipe.
Why do we enjoy the chaos of it so much? When we tell people about the books, IT’S LIKE THAT. We’re throwing our arms around and squeaking. A special “all over the place” version of the plot is described in ten seconds flat and we’re pretty positive that the person we’re speaking to didn’t understand a thing. And then we let out a little cough and say something like “Really, though. You should check it out. It’s great.”
By spotlighting fans for giving their simple, honest opinions on the series, you allow the book to sell itself much better than an expensive campaign quoting authors and critics. There’s a critic out there who LOVED the worst book ever written, we’re sure. The books are already pretty high on the credibility scale, so just let the existing audience tell it like it is!
The video is only oart of PHASE ONE of a great summer-long promotion from Scholastic! Get the details on all the fun UNDER THE CUT!
Read the rest of this entry
Guest Postapalooza Contest!
Every once in a while, we take this glorious thing called “vacation”. Sometimes one right after the other, sometimes overlapping! On the site, chaos ensues!
We accept guest posts any time of year and LOVE posting them. Half the time, we sit there reading them and saying “Why didn’t I ever think to write about this?! It’s great!” There are also some occasions in which we straight up need guest posts to keep the site from being a barren wasteland of nothingness. This is one of those times!
WIN IT!
So to encourage you lovely readers to share your insightful, hilarious, original perspectives on ANYTHING Hunger Games related– movies, books, characters, actors, merchandise, advertising, the crew… the sky is the limit!– we’re running a little contest!
Send a guest post to thevictorsvillage@gmail.com no later than June 17th (though the sooner, the better!) and you’ll be entered for a chance to win One [1] of two [2] mini theatrical posters from The Hunger Games!**
Rules and Guidelines:
- All posts must be submitted by 11:59pm PST on June 17, 2013.
- Multiple guest posts are allowed.
- The post must be at least 3-4 paragraphs, not just a few sentences, and it must make sense. It’s not that we don’t trust you… You just wouldn’t believe some “guest posts” we’ve received in the past!
- After the final guest post submitted within the allotted time frame has been posted, readers will vote on their favorite guest post via online poll.
- ** If you submitted a guest post in May to help cover The Girl With The Pearl’s vacation, you are automatically entered into this competition!
Though not mandatory, we encourage you to BRING THE FUNNY as much as possible!
May the odds be ever in your favor! …More importantly, we will love you LIKE WHOA!
A Song of Mockingjays and Fire
If you’re a Game of Thrones fan – heck, if you follow entertainment news in the slightest – you know what a big shock Sunday’s episode was to watchers of the show. Monday morning, it was all anyone was talking about. For those that have read the books and knew about the Red Wedding, it was less of a shock and more of release from the anticipation of it. Behind every camera filming the shocked and devastated reactions of the unaware and unspoiled (unsullied?) fans was a book reader who saw it coming.
Let’s look forward to November 2015. Imagine you’ve got a TARDIS or Delorean or something. We all know what happens at the end of Mockingjay. We’ve grieved, we’ve lamented, we’ve read the books and know that Finnick gets his head bitten off by a humanoid reptile mutt and that Prim has been blown to pieces and Snow gets trampled by a crowd. When we sit down to watch the movie in two years, we will have seen it coming. But the question is, will everyone else?
In many people’s minds, The Hunger Games is a young adult book, so it’s likely that non-readers are expecting it to be that dark. Surely, Finnick, who is so beloved, will escape harm to be with his wife and watch his son grow up. Of course, Prim, who Katniss loved so much that she volunteered for the Hunger Games to save her, would survive until the end. And no doubt, Katniss would be the one to bring Snow down with an arrow to the heart.
Whenever I talk to anyone who has only seen the Hunger Games movie, I always say, “Just wait until Mockingjay.” I warn them that they won’t see any of it coming, and they never believe me. Mockingjay Part 2 is likely to shock audiences when it is released in 2015, and I can’t wait.
I’m sorry for the Mockingjay flashbacks
Twiffidy
Spare News
Mockingjay casting news is just, spare. So, when even some paper I’ve personally never heard of prints a tiny article stating that such and such, or so and so, is in talks with Lionsgate about a role in Mockingjay– I sadly pay attention. Actually, I kind of have to, it’s that or I write a retrospective on why I wish Taylor Swift hadn’t been included on The Hunger Games soundtrack. And who the hell wants that?! I surely don’t. Here’s the deal, so far only two people have been rumored to have had supposed conversations with the Mockingjay films’ casting department, that I can remember, and they are Rebel Wilson– and the weirdest rumor yet, William Levy.
You read me right, and if you’re at all like me, you’re doing a little um, well “what the fuck!”-ing, right now. Yes, with arm movements, jerky ones, perhaps you’ve dislocated your shoulders in this process, maybe you’ve fallen off your chair, or your sofa, maybe you’ve gravely frightened some people on public transit who are sitting near to you? I
Stuff and other stuff, eyes.
dunno, I’m not you, I am me– and I think the idea of William Levy, Spanish language soap opera star, Dancing With the Stars contestant, and also the guy who hits on a giant brown M & M in a commercial, allegedly being in talks to take a role in Mockingjay is the weirdest thing I’ve heard since a friend of mine told me she likes Velveeta. Yes, because this just makes the most sense ever, the guy who people thought would make a good Finnick, even though he’s clearly very much so over 30, (he’s 33), is a shoe in for some role none of us ever thought of him for, because we’re brain dead, or dead already. Guys, am I dead?
Okay, melodramatics aside, this is all just a rumor, unsubstantiated by a paper I had never heard of until yesterday afternoon. So, I’m not going to get ahead of myself entirely, I’m going to say this: If there’s any truth to this rumor at all, he’s clearly a better actor than I thought he was. However, I can’t help but go further and flail over the fact that there are simply no logical roles for him to be up for, at least not when examining the roster of characters initially. I mean, there’s Boggs, who’s middle aged, there’s Doctor Aurelius, who yeah– that’s not working, and then there’s characters like Pollux, Castor, and Messalla. If I was Debra Zane, which clearly I am not, Levy would be up for a role of someone from the Capitol, ’cause he’s a very aesthetically pleasing man person, and factoring in that the man has a thick Cuban accent that he cannot put off, my money’s on Pollux. Why? Because he doesn’t speak… at all. But who’s gonna play Castor!?
Guys, I really don’t like that Taylor Swift was on The Hunger Games soundtrack.
Them There Eyes
New Gigs, and Social Networking
I don’t know if Jennifer Lawrence ever thought she’d have producer tacked onto her name just shy of 23 years-old, but apparently that’s what’s happening in the ladies life in the very near future. Yep, our Mockingjay (she’ll never not be the Mockingjay, I hope she knows that by now), it was announced today that she’ll be teaming up for the second time with her friend, I’m assuming they’re friends by now, I mean they certainly like to work together, so I assume friendship is part of their personal equation–Susanne Bier, as both actress and producer. Bier, if you’re drawing a blank, is the director of Jennifer’s forthcoming film Serena, y’know the second film that Jen co-starred in with Bradley Cooper. Also, if my memory serves me right, Jen’s the one who suggested Bradley to Bier in the first place, way to go, right? All right, here’s the skinny on this new film, which is titled The Rules of Inheritance, which is based on a memoir of the same title by Claire Bidwell Smith. It’s another deep character driven story, where dysfunctional people learn to cope, and thrive, at least that’s the gist of what I’m getting from what I’ve seen briefly written about it.
I’m not much of a non-fiction reader myself, so this one quite simply slipped my notice. I
Jen and Bradley in Serena
have to say I’m a little bit vicariously proud of Jennifer for taking this leap, some I think were worried that she’d suffer the post Oscar win curse, but that’s simply not happening. She’s working just as much as she was before she won that statuette, more quite possibly. And the caliber of the projects she’s taking on are by no stretch of the imagination, more, well– better. C’mon, a couple of years ago she was doing House at the End of the Street, which is not exactly the best suspense/horror film ever to be made– nope the king of suspense title goes to Hitchcock, and horror– I have no clue, I don’t watch horror films. Wait, was House at the End of the Street even a horror film? This just proves how much I know about the genre! I should take a bow for my ignorance, just imagine I’m curtseying right now, ‘kay?
Now for the social networking news bits! A Star Squad 451 team member has deemed Twitter his new playground, or more like– his new tool for releasing news and trailer links. Liam Hemsworth joined Twitter! Yep, he did this while I was at Bed Bath and Beyond looking for a milk frother, and checking sheet sets for thread count. Again I’ll use the phrase, way to go– but this time it’s directed at Liam. Way to go, boy-o, you’ve just joined the 21st century!
Let’s all hope that Liam learns to be as adept at Twitter as his fellow Hunger Games constituents have, like Sam, Bruno, and Alan.
Them There Eyes
Campaigning for Coin: Tilda Swinton
It’s that time again, the time in which we examine yet another actress potentially in the role of the multidimensional President Alma Coin. This week the lady in question is none other than a Victor’s Village favorite, Miss Tilda Swinton of London, England!
Them There Eyes aka Rebekah: When I read Mockingjay the first time it was in the throws of needing to know what happens next above anything else, sometimes that included water, so when I was picturing the characters, like Alma Coin—all I saw was a woman with sharp features, cutting eyes, silver bobbed hair, a slender build, and a presence that screamed intelligence, cunning, and fortitude. It wasn’t until the second time I read that book that I realized I was picturing Tilda Swinton, or a version of her, the whole time. So, now I can say it without any qualms, I think Tilda Swinton is ideal for the role of President Alma Coin. She’s a fine actress who’s made a name for herself as a character actress above the need for fame, in fact most of her work has been supporting roles, like her work in The Beach, The Deep End, Vanilla Sky, Adaptation, Young Adam (one of my favorites), Constantine, Broken Flowers, Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the impacting independent film We Need to Talk About Kevin, and most recently the critically acclaimed Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom. She’s of course most famous for her work in the blockbuster Narnia series as the White Witch, so obviously she knows how to play a quietly menacing character, but she’s not the kind of actress that people will go see a film just to see her, she’s an ensemble actress, the kind who thrives off the work, and the people she’s collaborating with. And to me she’s pleasant surprise to see when she shows up in films, even if sometimes her characters are not the most warm and fuzzy types. That’s another thing about Tilda, she never picks boring parts, and she never adhere’s to one genre, she’s open, and she always, and I mean always delivers. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that she’s already worked with Francis Lawrence on Constantine, and her schedule, according to her IMDb page, is wide open. Debra Zane, casting director extraordinaire, please hear my shouts, call Tilda’s people ASAP!
Courtney/Tiffany from Welcome to District 12: Tilda Swinton is a top choice. Again, she often plays a position of power and her physical structure (specifically in her face) are straight edges. This goes very well with Coin’s description of her hair which is very precise. Those straight lines in her face says cold and calculating, making her a great choice for Coin. Let’s also not forget that she would go well with the other adult actors being an Oscar winner. We have no doubts about her acting ability, and her physical looks seals the deal. The only possible downer we could see in Tilda is that you’re not supposed to suspect what kind of person Coin REALLY is. What will newcomer’s opinion be of Tilda Swinton in this role? Will the audience assume she is not what she seems because Tilda Swinton is playing her? Much like the book, Coin’s “”alignment”" should be ambiguous to the audience.
Emily from Down With the Capitol: Tilda Swinton would be a brilliant casting choice for our President Coin. I am a huge Narnia fan and she wowed me with her performance as the White Witch in the franchise. It’s obvious to me that she would be able to pull off cold hearted and power hungry Coin. I have also seen her in Constantine (which Francis Lawrence directed) and thought she was great. She really has a knack for 
twisted, calculating characters—which Coin definitely is. In my mind, she looks the part. She’s the right age, has very unique, fierce looking features and definitely has those “eyes that could burn straight through you”. One of my biggest issues with this casting is that I want a seasoned actor, but not someone who would be too recognizable or would not be detachable from their previous roles. To me, Tilda Swinton fits the bill perfectly. My only concern is that she’s done the mega-hit book to movie franchise before and I don’t know if she’d want or need to do it again, but my fingers are crossed that Francis Lawrence is able to give her a call.
Adam from HG Fireside Chat: Tilda Swinton has always walked that tight rope between benevolent and menacing, whether it be in The Beach or — in what was a masterful performance — Michael Clayton. Coin embodies both of those characteristics, at first seeming to be the savior of Panem, but later, a ruthless commander with great ambition and chipped-away morals. Swinton possesses the acting chops, the look, and the complexity to deliver. She would be a mighty fine choice, capable of bringing a potent element to the Mockingjay films and, more specifically, to the ascetic stylizing of District 13.
Amie from HG Girl On Fire: If you’ve seen The Chronicles of Narnia then you know that Tilda Swinton has the rare and perfect ability to be insatiably evil while you can’t take your eyes off her every move. She was oddly comforting to Lucy Pevensie as she welcomed her into her cold arms, while have plans that would only benefit herself while being the end of Lucy and her brothers. She was the driving force of the Narnia film, bringing the white witch to life like never before on screen. This is an important quality the actress who plays Coin must have, while she is not considered evil, she has
Tilda as the White Witch
lost the ability to have human compassion like many other victims of the Capitol Dictatorship, which causes her to have little boundaries to how she chooses to he run her regime in District 13. Tilda had a calm yet unsettling demeanor, no matter how honest she is or how much she has your back, you know there is much more where it comes from and you are a afraid of what you must do to earn such loyalty from her. I can see her every move as Coin already, and that makes me nervous, because Coin is eerily predictable, a replica of a certain Capitol leader Katniss thinks is her real enemy, and soon realizes she has been mistaken. As far as Tilda Swinton’s look, her interestingly plain face and minor facial expressions remind me perfectly of Katniss’s description of her as “slush that you wish would melt away”. Tilda is beyond talented as an actress, and very simple like Coin. She can hide her true intentions behind her cold eyes with perfect grace, and Tilda Swinton would be my pick for our Coin for Mockingjay P1 and P2.
Carla from Mockingjay.net: I don’t think there’s any doubt as to why Tilda Swinton is part of this list; most people would recognize her from playing characters that are in positions of power and demand attention– from Archangel Gabriel to the White Witch– and out of her impressive repertoire, her antagonist roles particularly stand out to me. Even her real life traits, her appearance, facial features and tone of voice inspire one to think of a serious, highly intelligent and sofisticated mind. I have no doubt she can pull off a great President Coin if she’s cast. My only doubt is: would it be too much of a good thing? Coin would do anything for power, certainly; she was a
Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton
woman without scruples and we’ve seen Swinton play roles like that memorably. But I don’t want her to seem TOO calculating, TOO manipulative. To me, Coin has to have a certain appeal to the people as well; she wasn’t a good person, but she was a competent president, as far as the people of Thirteen were concerned. So in my head, Coin has to straddle the line between shady antagonist and straight-out villain, much like Donald Sutherland does as President Snow. And I think Tilda Swinton might come across as too unapproachable for that. I wouldn’t mind if she’s chosen, personally, because I do think she’s amazingly talented, but I think there are actresses out there who would portray this duality in a much more natural manner.
Jacqui from My Hunger Games: Tilda Swinton is mesmerizing. She’s fascinating. She’s avante garde and I love her. I love her for her work on David Bowie’s video for The Stars (are out tonight) and I love her because she slept in a box at the MoMa as part of an art installation. Tilda is a gender bender and she plays luminious, ambiguous characters to perfection. In her career she has played the archangel Gabriel in the oddball comic book movie Constantine, the White Witch of Narnia, an Italian housewife, a woman who watches men age backward in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button while sipping tea with them, the mother of a teenage boy who commits a high school massacre and a Virginia Woolf character. She’s also the new face of Chanel, is about to star in the sci-fi thriller Snowpiercer, then follow up with a vampire romance called Only Lovers Left Alive. There’s nothinig this woman can’t do and she could certainly pull off a President Coin that looks like a legitimate face of the revolution, while harboring cruel intent. She would be perfect and a huge coup for the franchise.
Lee from The Hob: Tilda Swinton would make a very interesting President Coin. Her acting range is vast – playing an Archangel in Constantine, to the White Witch in the Chronicles of Narnia films, and contemporary fare such as her work in Michael Clayton – giving viewers confidence that any role she takes will be striking. Ms. Swinton becomes totally subsumed by the role she is portraying; cold, remote, and powerful. She always leverages the actors’ tools of physical and vocal attributes. Her President Coin would be frightening and riveting to watch.
The Power of Prim
We’ve all had some time to shimmer down and think about it, yet the opinions on the Catching Fire trailer are STILL largely positive! Let’s face it– We probably would have squealed and cheered for a trailer filled with LEGO characters when it was first released, so long as it was a trailer. But the fandom gets whiny and cynical after a while, most times. This trailer seems to have passed with flying colors, because whining is at a minimum!
Prim and her plait get tough!
Things have changed between the Catching Fire book and the movie trailer, for sure, but there’s one change that has got us totally psyched. It goes a little something like this:
“You saved my life. You give me a chance.”
“Yes. To live.”
“No. To do something.”
And our reaction was essentially “WAIT… WAIT… IS PRIM A PROACTIVE CHARACTER NOW?! WHAAAAATTTTT? TEN POINTS, Y’ALL!” *various loserface dance moves*
Way back when, we admitted that one of the very few problems we had with the series was the characterization of Prim… or lack thereof. Katniss loves her little sister more than anything and constantly talks about how lovable and special and determined to make a difference she is, but we never really see her being any of that firsthand until she dies, which does take away some of the power from that moment. She’s more of a sidelined victim of circumstance, who keeps her distance and tries to make the best of the whole freaking country going to hell.
Annnnnd then we cuddle!
It looks like Francis Lawrence and/or Michael Arndt might have seen it too. (It’s not just meeeeee!) In a few short lines of the 2 minute trailer, Prim gets something you never really see her display in the books: Guts and determination. She won’t be a meek child who is simply thrown into these troubled waters. She’s choosing to dive in, against the advice of her own sister, at that! While they’re still in District 12!
To be clear, Prim probably would’ve become a Healer/ Doctor either way and that is a very proactive, conscious move that her character takes. But it’s nice to see her choosing the path instead of simply falling into it. It fleshes out her character. As an audience, we get to see that she really cares and is pretty fantastic… and not just because her older sister tells us so. And when she cares, we care!
Atta girl, Prim!
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The Girl With The Pearl
