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Oh, That Catching Fire Poster…
We’ve got a special guest post from a fansite friend today! Specifically, Arowana Flounder from Panem Propaganda is hear to talk about the new Catching Fire poster and the references we all REALLY thought of when we saw it! Not everyone knows their art like Them There Eyes, but dammit, we know our Disney movies!
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Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon?
From the looks of the new Catching Fire Movie Poster, Katniss has. Look at her, she’s probably wondering why the grinning bobcat grinned too.
District 12… Is near a canyon?
I can’t say I wasn’t a little disappointed when the Catching Fire poster was revealed. I know a lot of people had been expecting stills or a second trailer or some sort of footage, but I was pretty excited to hear it was a movie poster. Great! Maybe we’ll see a bit of the arena, or some of the new characters!
Many of my friends see my obsession with the Hunger Games series as amusing (and, I think, a little psychotic) so I was looking forward to being able to show them a kickass poster. Instead I see Pocahontas pondering plunging into the waterfall…wait…those clouds…they kind of look like wings or something…It’s a Mockingjay! Katniss is the Mockingjay! I get it!
No one else will! Not if they haven’t read the book! It isn’t kickass like I wanted it to be so that I could show off to people who don’t know the series. It’s mellow and picturesque, and I’m afraid people are going to think it’s a Homeward Bound story where Katniss traverses Panem on foot to find her mother and Prim, who’ve gone on a vacation to San Francisco.
I saw a fan made poster that was absolutely amazing, and it’s probably the reason I’m so disappointed with the official one:
It’s just so atmospheric, and there are new characters holding weapons! That’s pretty exciting right? And two of the characters have their shirts off, something for the ladies *wink wink nudge nudge*. I mean the arena scenes are obviously the best bits of the second book, aren’t they?
Why would Lionsgate make a poster NOT using the most exciting bit of the story, but, instead, featuring the main character looking like Chief Powahatan’s daughter? It’s not like she’s a well-respected member of her society fighting against the oppression of a more technologically advanced (and rather dandy) culture… no, wait…
Ok, it’s not like she’s been trapped in an organised relationship with a guy that it seems to make so much sense for her to be with, but she has confusing feelings for another…oh no wait.
And she doesn’t have a best friend that seems to always get forgotten about in retellings of the st—wait… (Poor Madge).
I’ll admit that last one was pretty tenuous, (this is my first ever blog post and you should be nice!) but the first two strike a chord right? At least they did with me. Suddenly I DID get it. She’s the girl watching her home change. The trailer showed us the changes, all the excitement, now the poster shows us the girl that we saw go through some pretty tough stuff in the last movie, finally home like she wanted to be.
Now here she is, her arrow nocked in place, ready to struggle again, a new day dawning, a new fight ahead of her.
Actually, ok, it might be a little exciting! Who cares if she’ll never know how high the sycamore grows?!
I Bet Peeta Paints With The Colours Of The Wind,
Arowana Flounder
Catching Fire in Cannes
Greetings for the land of no Internet (and pre-scheduled posts!) It’s time for our super exciting round of guest posts to begin!
We kick things off with Aeris, aka The Girl With The Flowers, a French Tribute with a special perspective on the promotion of Catching Fire in Cannes! Take it away, Aeris!
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It’s that time of the year again. Spring? First of all, rain, wind and me hugging my hot water-bottle because the heating’s been officially turned off in my flat does not constitute spring to me. But the point is, I’m actually talking about the Cannes Festival! You know, the stuffy red carpet event which takes place near The Croisette each year in France.
Pretty, isn’t it? *sigh*
Now, I used to take an interest, because I like independent, artsy movies and the Cannes selection usually does a good job of pinpointing which ones are going to be great. Until last year that is, when Amour received the Palme d’Or. And I unsuspectingly, even anxiously went to see it. And thus lost 2 hours of my life and promised myself I would never listen to the festival’s opinion again.
I had to eat my words though, because rumors have been swirling since early April that our very own The Hunger Games: Catching Fire possibly, maybe, might be Cannes bound. Oh, not in the official competition, because Catching Fire is not the type of movie to be selected for that. I mean, even Lord Of the Rings didn’t make it so, you get what I mean. Franchise movies aren’t big in Cannes, sadly. Awful, boring, cringe-worthy, badly acted Movies like Amour are, though. Anyway, where was I? Right. Catching Fire! *channels her inner Jen and shakes like a Chihuahua in anticipation*
Imagine that in your backyard!
So we very recently got confirmation that some kind of promotion for CF was being made in Cannes, at the Majestic Barrière hotel, and let me tell you, it looks good.
Actually, no, it looks FANTASTIC. Can I have one of those for my garden please? And maybe the fiery posters too? No? Even if I say pretty please?
They are going all out on this, and then we hear that Jennifer Lawrence was in attendance at the Catching Fire party on Saturday! Why do I not live in Cannes? (Well, because I live in Paris and other than the fact that the weather is better in Cannes and yes, this year, Catching Fire is actually there, there wouldn’t be much of a point of me living in Cannes. Also the Catching Fire Premiere will take place in Paris, so I’d rather stay there).
Rumor has it they are using this to promoting Mockingjay Parts 1&2 to “international buyers”. Eh. I have to say, I’m not quite convinced about this rumor. Are there really any “buyers” left who are not convinced by the power of The Hunger Games franchise? Who still wonder if they should distribute the movie in their countries?
Europe seems pretty involved with it already. (That being said, I’m a little disappointed in my own country’s “fan attitude”. Or maybe I’m just an über-fan, as in a Tribute, and they are just normal people whose lives do not revolve around The Hunger Games. I can’t quite remember how that feels, so I’ll let it go).
Aeris + Jen = BFFL
Well, whatever the reason, being in Cannes is giving Catching Fire some cred, even though it isn’t in the running for the Palme d’Or. It also might give us news, as they’re most likely going to do some sort of presentation, or even show some footage. And of course, any Jennifer-at-an-event-where-she-will-be-interviewed-and-NAIL-it possibility is something to be thankful for. Also, she and I will be in the same country for a few days, and although I won’t see her, it’ll make the possibility of us becoming BFFs slightly (very slightly) more possible for a few days.
Who said telepathy didn’t exist?
Aeris (The Girl with the Flowers)
Is It REALLY In The Books? Fanon vs. Canon
Welcome to our latest Guest Post which was supposed to be up last night but my sleep schedule is awful!
Today, Satsuma is taking us through the ropes of Fanon, aka the stuff fans generally believe to be true despite the books never specify and actual Canon plot points!
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So I’ve spent almost a year in the THG fandom at this point. And one aspect of fandom culture in general that amazes and amuses me, is the existence of “fanon”. While many of these widespread beliefs seem to be perpetuated by being repeated in many fanfics, some have become so established that I’ve seen them expressed by fans in replies to fansite questions, and many fans railed at the THG movie for “changing what’s in the books” when the idea was never actually in the books to begin with!
Now, I think some aspects of canon, such as why Katniss voted yes to a certain plan President Coin proposes at the end of MJ, were meant by Suzanne Collins to be up for debate, as to what the “real answer” is. But some other, more minor aspects, not as much. In no particular order, here are some widespread fanon assumptions that I don’t think are established in canon at all:
Hey look! Foxface’s Dad!
1. Fanon: District 5′s official industry is Science. It’s a place where Dr. Frankenstein would likely feel welcome, where the muttations, purified tracker jacker venom, and other elements of biological warfare are dreamed up. (Popular corollary: Foxface herself was created in a laboratory, not conceived by normal means.)
Canon:
Unfortunately for fans who think “I’d love to live in D5 so I can unleash my inner mad scientist!”, the books never actually state what D5′s industry is. I am actually flummoxed as to where this came from. (Unlike, say, District 6, where I think it was quite plausible to conclude, as many fans did, that it was the Medicine district, based on their apparently widespread morphling addiction problem.) I realize that many fans do not accept the movie tie-in materials that present D5′s official industry as Power, not Science. But the fanon version of the official industry isn’t any closer to book canon, though it does make for interesting Foxface fanfics.
2. Fanon: Katniss is a horrible cook. Post-MJ, Peeta does all the cooking as well as baking around the house, because he knows that if he let Katniss try, she might just burn the house down. (Though he is comforted by the idea that at least they have two houses between them.)
Canon:
Katniss’s does state in THG that “I’m not much of a cook”, but that’s far from “I’m such a bad cook that any attempt to do so, will require the services of a hazmat team for the clean up operation”. Is it plausible that Peeta is a better cook than Katniss? Sure. He’s certainly a better baker, both due to experience and passion. But baking is a specific skill set, which Peeta has been practicing since childhood. It doesn’t mean that he’s just as much a whiz at making, say, an omelet, or a stew (especially from nonstandard meats). (Just like Peeta being a good liar doesn’t make Katniss a horrible one. She fooled plenty of people throughout the books, including Peeta himself.)
Also, there is a specific scene in THG, Chapter 5, in which Katniss describes, in detail, how she’d recreate a Capitol version of Orange Chicken back home. “I try to imagine assembling this meal myself back home. Chickens are too expensive, but I could make do with a wild turkey. I’d need to shoot a second turkey to trade for an orange. Goat’s milk would have to substitute for cream….” And on and on. As someone who’s done my share of cooking, this did NOT come across as the inner monologue of someone who can’t even warm up a bowl of Greasy Sae’s stew without causing a kitchen apocalypse.
By Manuelida Desrossy
3. Fanon: Cato and Clove were romantically involved.
Canon:
Certainly, Cato’s emotional reaction to Clove’s death, and the fact that his words, “Stay with me”, are later echoed by Peeta in both CF and MJ, suggest that he did have some kind of connection to her. But was it really a romantic one? Or were they just good hunting partners?
My own take on Cato and Clove is pretty similar to the general take on the Career Pack dynamics posted on Victor’s Village under “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes”:
“The Careers aren’t friends in The Hunger Games, but they have an understanding.At least temporarily, they’re a unit. They care about each other, though not as much as they care about themselves.”
But, many fans seem to see it as canon fact, that Cato and Clove were a couple; enough to rail on the THG movie for having Cato and Glimmer get cozy, “when in the books it was Cato and Clove!” I’ve even seen movie defenders state, not that “Clato is a popular ship, but that doesn’t make it canon”, but that “Isabelle is only 14, no way Gary Ross would have had her hook up with Xander, he’s way too old for her!” With the implication that this age difference was the ONLY reason the movie didn’t showcase Cato and Clove as the second set of star-crossed lovers.
If you ship Clato, I won’t stand in your way. But if you actually got upset at the movie for showing Glimmer flirting with Cato, I think you’re taking your ship a bit too seriously. Might Cato and Clove have bonded either in the arena, or before? Of course. Is it plausible that they were a couple? Sure. But unless Suzanne Collins herself confirms it, it’s not canon, sorry.
(Same goes for Gale/Johanna, Haymitch/Maysilee, and other pairings that are so popular in the fanfic world that even fans who don’t do fanfic, seem to believe these pairings MUST be what Suzanne Collins herself intended.)
And speaking of Glimmer…
4. Fanon: Every single Victor who ever lived was pimped out, not just by Snow, but by whoever was President before him. Everyone, including Mags, Haymitch, Beetee, Chaff, Woof, Blight, Cecelia, the morphlings…Every. Single. One!
Canon:
We don’t find out exactly which Victors were exploited by Snow in this way, and how often. However, while Finnick states he “wasn’t the only one”, he never states that all the Victors were involved. He does imply Cashmere and Johanna were approached, and perhaps this was an accepted part of the life of a Career Victor in D1; I can certainly see this happening to Glimmer if she had been Victor, since she did work the sexy angle in her interview. And that makes me sad, to see Glimmer not just as a girl who’s using a clever Games strategy, but as a girl choosing (or being persuaded) to sell her body as a way to survive; not that different, really, from what some starving Seam girls did in Cray’s house. A subtle reminder that even the Careers were still victims of the Capitol.
But just as not all girls in the Seam became prostitutes, I never got the impression that forced prostitution was part and parcel of the standard Victor compensation package in Panem. I think that if it had been, and 73 Victors had being prostituted around the Capitol for 75 years, the reaction to Finnick’s revelations would have been, “Yeah, yeah, Snow makes the Victors whore themselves out to wealthy Capitol patrons, what else is new?” As opposed to being a shocking scandal that even served as a distraction from a certain rescue mission…
Because when your parents own a small business, you MUST be rich and privileged…
5. Fanon: The Merchant Class of D12 all have arranged marriages.
Canon:
This theory seems quite popular as a way to explain why the apparently kind, decent Mr. Mellark wound up with such a “witch” for a wife. However, Katniss says that one of the few freedoms allowed in D12 was the ability to choose who to marry, or to marry at all. Now, the small population of D12 likely meant that many people wound up “settling” for a spouse out of practical considerations such as whether they could be helpful in running the family business, instead of having some grand epic romance. But that’s not the same as having parents or matchmakers choose your spouse for you. Even Katniss realizes in Catching Fire, that many people in the Seam had assumed she would eventually marry Gale. That might have been a marriage more of convenience than passion, at least on her side. But it certainly wouldn’t have been arranged.
This theory also lets Mr. M off the hook for his actions, or lack thereof, in terms of protecting his children from their mother. “It wasn’t his fault, he was stuck with this horrible wife who his parents made him marry!” The sad state of the Mellarks’ domestic life doesn’t mean they were forced to marry each other. Maybe Mr. M just got swept up in a classic rebound relationship with Mrs. M, shortly after his disappointment that his true love “ran off with a coal miner”. Maybe she got pregnant, leading to a “shotgun” marriage.
I think this is quite plausible, actually, considering how the Mellarks’ eldest son is too old for the reaping, and hence at least 3 years older than Peeta, even though both sets of parents (the Everdeens and the Mellarks) seem to be around the same age. But even if he was pressured into marriage due to pregnancy, that’s far from the kind of arranged marriage where he didn’t even see her until the day of the wedding.
6. Fanon: When Peeta has a flashback, he experiences everything he did during his initial episode of tracker jacker venom induced psychosis…including his homicidal thoughts and behavior toward Katniss.
Canon:
JekyllandHyde!Peeta is a popular interpretation of post-hijack, post-war Peeta in many “post-MJ” fanfics. But though nothing in canon specifically rules OUT this possibility, I think that Peeta’s recovery by the time he returns to D12 is meant to be much more advanced than this. Note that he tells Katniss that Dr. Aurelius didn’t let him return earlier. Now, Dr. A’s ethics as a psychiatrist might be slightly shady, but SC doesn’t portray him as a total quack, either. I think she meant for the reader to know that Peeta had been declared by a competent mental health professional, to no longer be a threat to society. SC, through Katniss, refers to “moments” when he clutches the back of a chair until the flashbacks pass. Moments. To me, this suggests these flashbacks last a few minutes at most. Not hours, or even days, the way some fanfics have it.
Besides, would Peeta really have returned to Katniss’s side, and her bed, if he had any doubts about whether it was safe for her to be around him? If he was really having flashbacks that lead him to try to choke Katniss again every week, like some fanfics have it, would he really allow himself to get anywhere near her, even if Katniss does her best Bella Swan impression and proclaims that she loves him enough to accept the risk that he could kill her? I just don’t see this as consistent with Peeta’s character. Peeta, who cried after inadvertently killing Mitchell, a mere acquaintance, and asked to be killed because he feared “It’s only a matter of time before I kill someone else”. If he was so concerned about squad members who he’d earlier dismissed as just “guards”, why would he risk the life of someone he actually loves?
All this is speculation, of course. But I think it’s important to differentiate between speculation and fact. (Though, of course, good ol’ SC left a lot of ambiguity about what’s Real or Not Real, anyway.) Also, I’d love to hear from YOU! What are other “fanon” theories you can think of that are widely believed, but aren’t really supported by canon?
Satsuma
Will The Real Katniss Everdeen Please Stand Up? Part 2
Here’s to another guest post Monday! This week, Satsuma is back with the conclusion to her “Will The Real Katniss Everdeen Please Stand Up?” article! Enjoy!
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Hi everyone! Here is the (hopefully) long-awaited Part Two of my Katniss essay, focusing on a common misconception; that Katniss is, essentially, “Gale with tatas”. Katniss herself states, at the end of MJ, that “what I need to survive is not Gale‘s fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction.”(MJ Ch.26) Seems pretty obvious that she thinks she’s more like Gale than her “dandelion” Peeta, right? But wait! Yes, both Gale and Katniss have “plenty of fire”. But is Katniss really filled with the same rage, hatred, and destructiveness that she attributes to Gale?
By RatGirlStudios
Now, way back in Chapter 1 of THG, Katniss reveals her anger and resentment towards her mother for her neglect after Mr. Everdeen’s death, and admits, “I’m not the forgiving type”. But after her mother lends her the blue dress from her merchant days for the reaping, she states that “I’m trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn’t allow her to do anything for me.” Also, after Gale reacts badly to Madge’s comments about going to the Capitol, she notes, “His rages seem pointless to me, though I never say so”. (Quotes from THG Ch.1)
Is Katniss being a hypocrite here? Maybe, but not completely, because while both Gale and Katniss get angry, the difference is how they deal with it. Though Katniss admits that she can be angry and unforgiving, she is also shown trying to overcome these tendencies. When she does give in, it’s usually in stressful situations, such as after the THG reaping, when she tries to get her mother to “promise me you’ll fight through it” (THG Ch.3) even if she dies. They also argue over Gale’s pain medication after he’s whipped in Catching Fire, but she apologizes later. She is reluctant to trust her mother, but she certainly doesn’t hate her, and gains more sympathy for her as she goes along.
When I went through the books for other examples of Katniss becoming visibly angry, I realized that most of the time, it’s under periods of stress, unlike Gale, who goes on his anti-Capitol rants during their time in the woods, which Katniss usually finds relatively relaxing. One example is when she gets angry at Peeta in THG when she loses sight of him when they are trying to gather food. (BTW, I think the movie version of that scene definitely captured the essence of both Katniss and Peeta’s reactions.)
Here, she actually states outright, “My fear comes out as anger.” (THG Ch.23). Now, after Peeta hugs her, she does “push away, trying to sort out my feelings”, so she hasn’t quite connected the dots as to why she cares so much. But that seems to be what’s really fuelling her anger. Come to think it, this whole scene (in which Peeta also gets angry and Katniss notes that “he’s trying not to lose his temper”) seems to have parallels with the disastrous first conversation Peeta and Katniss have in Mockingjay. I won’t go further into that here, though, since the topic of “Did Katniss do right by Peeta in MJ” is a whole discussion in itself.
But I will address the idea that Katniss lacks compassion, or doesn’t care about the welfare of those outside her small circle of “kin”. It does seem that Katniss usually feels compassion for people she’s had time to bond with, or who remind her of others she feels connected to. (But isn’t that the case for others, like Peeta, as well? His gift to Rue and Thresh’s families was likely unprecedented, and impresses Katniss, but there’s no sign he was planning on giving anything to the families of the other tributes. I can see the D8 girl’s family watching him in D11, and not really being THAT impressed.) And as the story goes on, her circle of “kin” seems to get larger. The story arc about her prep team shows this quite well.
By Alex Merrill
When Gale visits Katniss post-reaping in THG, he compares the Games to hunting animals, and Katniss admits internally that “if I can forget they’re people, it will be no different at all” (THG Ch.3). At first, she finds the prep team to be “so unlike people that I’m no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet”. On the other side, Flavius says post-Remake, “You almost look like a human being now!” (THG Ch.5) What a microcosm of the tendency to dehumanize the “other” on both sides of the Capitol-District divide. In CF, even Peeta is disgusted when the “preps” encourage them to essentially binge and purge.
Yet, when Katniss finds her prep team imprisoned in D13, she is appalled, and demands they be set free. She also, interestingly, assumes Gale shares her outrage, at one point wondering “if he‘s thinking about his own brutal flogging back in 12”. So when he asks her “why do you care so much about your prep team?”, her first response is to “open my eyes to see if he‘s joking”. (MJ CH.4) They then argue, and Katniss actually tells Gale that “hurting them, it’s like hurting children”. This is months before the “compassion bomb” and “cracking of the Nut” debates.
Speaking of children, what about Katniss’s “yes for Prim” vote, when Coin proposes that a version of the Hunger Games be conducted using Capitol children as tributes? It seems that the breakdown among the general leadership is roughly 50-50 as to whether this was a sincere “yes” or not. And while it seems the majority of serious fans do think the vote was a ruse, there still is a sizeable minority, maybe 30-40%, who take it as face value.
By Terry Blas
Now, I personally never thought Katniss was sincere. But I suspect that Suzanne Collins meant for the average reader to respond the way Mark from markreads.net does. The possibility that the vote was a ruse doesn’t even occur to Mark, who is horrified over it, states “This is the tragedy to end all tragedies”, and thinks that Snow won in the end; until, of course, Katniss shoots Coin instead. (See http://markreads.net/reviews/2011/03/mark-reads-mockingjay-chapter-26/)
In order to get that reaction, obviously, she needed to make it somewhat plausible that Katniss actually would be capable of sacrificing the Capitol kids to sate her need for vengeance. It is true that Katniss, much earlier in MJ, rejects Peeta’s call for a cease-fire, and doesn’t register any objection, internal or external, to Gale’s statement that “If I could hit a button and kill every living soul working for the Capitol, I would do it.” (MJ Chap. 2) Her “if we burn, you burn with us” outburst in D8, (MJ Chap. 7), after she shot down Capitol bombers with no qualms about killing the pilots, seemed rather vengeful to me as well.
However, when Gale later asks, after the battle in D2, “what difference is there, really, between crushing our enemy in a mine or blowing them out of the sky…the result is the same”, Katniss points out that “that kind of thinking… you could turn it into an argument for killing anyone at any time. You could justify sending kids into the Hunger Games.” (MJ Ch.16) Okay, maybe SC didn’t mean for the average reader to believe the vote after all, after that giant piece of foreshadowing….
Also, note that what got D2 to finally join the rebellion, was not the actual attack on the Nut, but Katniss’s plea to the injured man who emerges from the mountain, that “I‘m tired of being a piece in their Games”. (MJ Ch. 15) Yes, she gets shot for her trouble, and many Gale fans interpret this turn of events as proving him right. But then the mine workers turn on the Peacekeepers, and D2 falls into rebel hands fairly easily. Would Gale’s plan been as successful?
BTW, I don’t see this as a “What Would Peeta Do” moment (as do some who think Katniss needs Peeta as a moral compass because she doesn’t have her own). When Katniss is repulsed by Gale’s suggestion that the rebels kill everyone in the Nut, she’s not thinking about Peeta at all. She only starts thinking about Peeta once Haymitch brings him up. And even then, her thought is “he would be able to articulate why it is so wrong”. (MJ Ch. 15, emphasis mine.) While Katniss does wind up borrowing Peeta’s words, she’s not borrowing the ideals behind them.
Back to the vote! You could accuse SC of cheating here, by not letting the reader see Katniss’s exact thoughts at the time of the vote. But Katniss does NOT express any desire for anger or vengeance. She does express some despair when she thinks “nothing will ever change”, but if she’d just given up, why would she bother to ”weigh my options carefully, think everything through”. (MJ Ch.26) Her musing about whether Haymitch truly understands her, also seems to reflect calculation and planning. A Katniss who coldly calculates the deaths of innocent children, strikes me as extremely out of character. I also doubt that Peeta would have wanted such a woman to bear his own children.
So, what actually does fuel the “fire” that Katniss refers to at the end? A general lust for life that has been rekindled once her depression lifted? Love for her family and friends (a definition that is much more fluid at the end, than when she started)? Some level of righteous anger, or a passion to defend the innocent? I think all of these may apply, and still not equate to the “rage and hatred” she sees in Gale at the end.
Satsuma
(AKA Tangerine, Clementine, and Mandarin. Not to mention the actual name on my birth certificate. Yep, I go by many different names, just like Katniss.)
PS: Well, actually, it’s not just in the end that she realizes this about Gale. Unlike Katniss, who does grow and mature over the course of the series, Gale doesn’t (another difference between them). Instead, the events in MJ simply show Gale for who he was all along. In D2, Katniss recalls that “back in the old days, when we were nothing more than a couple of kids hunting outside of 12, Gale said things like this and worse. But then they were just words. Here, put into practice, they become deeds that can never be reversed.” (MJ Ch. 15)
Hmm, care for some fries with that foreshadowing? While Gale’s plans for D2 are actually shot down by D13 leaders, including Coin, her later adoption of his “compassion bomb” to target not just Capitol citizens, but Prim, winds up being the ultimate deed that can never reversed. It makes sense, then, that Gale’s friendship with Katniss does not survive Prim’s death. Many have argued that by refusing to forgive Gale, Katniss is being a hypocrite. But I think that even if Prim had lived, Gale and Katniss would have eventually drifted apart, because their values were just so different.
Jen and That Other Josh
Happy Guest Post MONDAY!
Yup, you read that right! We like to do some bobbing and weaving of schedules every now and again, just to keep you on your toes!
Today, we’ve got a great guest post from Hunger Games Book Bookclub! It’s all about one of our journo crushes, who brings out the best in a certain actress and doesn’t see much credit for creating hilarity!
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I may not BE very funny, but I am a FAN of someone who is: the Hunger Games fandom’s very own Jennifer Lawrence. (OK, folks, we don’t actually own her… it’s just an expression.) If you’ve been around the Hunger Games fan block, you’ve probably seen a few humorous interviews with Jennifer and Josh. No, not Josh Hutcherson. I’m talking about Josh Horowitz, the interviewer from MTV.
Josh Horowitz is a lovable, quirky, nerdy guy that interviews Hollywood celebrities. If this were a “Pretty in Pink” scenario, Josh would be the Duckie character. He tries to ask different questions from same old, same old. A great example would be his MTV “Yes or No” show. He asks the questions and the answer from the celebrity must be a “Yes” or a “No”. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, yes… and no.
Jennifer, do you know where your Stockholm Film Festival award is? Ummm…
In the course of Hunger Games events, Josh Horowitz has had plenty of opportunities to interview Jennifer Lawrence, sometimes by herself and sometimes with her Hunger Games leading man, Josh Hutcherson. All of their interviews have some funny moments! Here are a few of my personal favorites:
- When Josh Horowitz asks how Jen and Josh Hutcherson met. Hutch can’t quite remember, but Jen is very insistent that they were dancing and that she was wearing a white dress, not a pink one! (Girls remember that sort of thing.)
- When Jen says that Josh Hutcherson is so charming, it is like a dog licking her face.
- When Jen tells Josh Hutcherson that he is sexier than Robert Pattison because of his accent: “You sound like a hick sometimes!”
- When Jen keeps saying to Josh Hutcherson about Katniss and Peeta’s eventual nuptials, “We’re getting married, AACK!”
- When Jen says, “I sound so annoying when I talk about myself in the past!”
Glasses off!
There are other funny Jen/Josh moments, but if you really want to get a laugh, then you need to see the comedy sketch that Jen and Josh (Horowitz) did together when Jennifer tries to improve Josh’s interview skills. It includes her yelling at him, spraying him with bronzing spray, breaking off his glasses, etc. Doesn’t sound as funny on paper, but this is physical comedy, folks. You’ve gotta see it at MTV’s After Hours at the Movie Awards.
And for our Word Power exercise for the day, if you remember the interview where Jen uses the word “COPIOUSLY”, find a way to include it in your comments below!
Hunger Games Bookclub
What Does Peeta See in Katniss Anyway? (Part Mockingjay)
Guest post Tuesday strikes again! Hunger Games Book Club is here to finish off her series “What Does Peeta See in Katniss Anyway?” and she’s doing it fanfic style, telling everything from Peeta’s POV!
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My name is Peeta Mellark. I am seventeen years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen. My plan was to sacrifice myself in the arena so that Katniss could survive. But other people had plans as well. I was taken prisoner by the Capitol. I was tortured. I thought I was going to die. Maybe it would be better if I had.
Let me tell you my story in the way that I remember it… Before I was reaped into the Hunger Games, Katniss was a fantasy to me. The first time I heard her sing, I was a goner. I would watch her from afar but never approached her. One time, I even took a beating from my mother to give Katniss bread, but I could never work up the nerve to speak to her. I couldn’t meet her gaze… I would always look away.
Peeta doesn’t want them to turn him into some kind of monster
After I was reaped into the Hunger Games, I wanted to find a way to still be myself. I might not be able to win the Games, but I could refuse to let them change me or turn me into some kind of a monster that I’m not. I was determined to sacrifice myself for Katniss, to protect her long enough for her to win the Games. Yes, it’s true that I had a crush on her but it was more than that. I admired her. It was clear that her family was everything to her and even as a young girl, she shouldered the burden of caring for them. How could I not admire that? My own mother was abusive, controlling, and angry. If I could protect someone who was pure and innocent, it would keep me from being just a piece in the Capitol’s games. In this way, Katniss and I were alike: self-sacrificing… she for Prim, and I for her.
After we won the Hunger Games, Katniss and I had a period of coldness. I didn’t want that to continue on our Victory Tour so I made the first move to forgive, to let go of my hurt that she had acted in love with me during the Hunger Games. I knew that Katniss felt something for me but she hadn’t really figured it out yet. Gale was in the picture too and she was not sure about her feelings for him either. But there was something real between us underneath the act we played for the Capitol. For example, we worked on the Everdeen family plant book: Katniss wrote plant descriptions and I painted them. It was our first time doing something normal together. Just being friends.
When Gale was whipped by a fanatical Peacekeeper, every thing normal fell apart. Then we were reaped into the Quarter Quell. It stole away from us any chance of normal and any hope of mine that Katniss would make up her mind about me in a romantic sense. Besides having to face the arena again and knowing that even our best odds meant that only one of us was coming home, it was devastating to feel forced into asking her to marry me in front of the cameras. I wanted it to be real. But I turned my pain into a weapon by dropping a “bomb” on the Quarter Quell audience that we were already married and that Katniss was pregnant.
The marriage and pregnancy wasn’t real, but we had a few real moments: the day on the roof, that time on the beach. In the Quarter Quell arena, I gave Katniss this pearl. She accepted my gift. But with the giving of the pearl, came my realization that she was determined to save me this time, to sacrifice herself for me. I didn’t know what to do to convince her otherwise… my best efforts to persuade her to save herself backfired. All her stubborn will and self-sacrificing nature was directed at me this time, not Prim.
But she didn’t save me. District 13 rescued her and I was left in the clutches of President Snow, who began to hijack my mind. Maybe he believed I could give him information about the rebellion, maybe not. Mostly, he just wanted to break Katniss, and his best chance of doing that was by breaking me. My mind was something that I’d always been proud of: my objectivity, my right words at the right time, my charm. But the hijacking stole my mind. I couldn’t tell what was real and what was not. I held onto reality long enough to warn her about a bombing of District 13 but it was interspersed with doubt.
The Simplest Things Katniss Knows to be True
Eventually, though, I was worn down by the torture and hijacking techniques. When I saw Katniss again after District 13 finally rescued me, I thought she was threatening my life. She didn’t feel like a real person to me, more like a mutt that must be put down. I remembered that I had previously loved her but everything was so distorted. I couldn’t tell anymore what was an act and what wasn’t on her part. I couldn’t figure her out.
It seemed like everyone was moving me around in this elaborate mind-game: Katniss, Snow, Coin… everyone. Eventually, I recuperated enough for Coin to send me with Katniss’ team to infiltrate the Capitol. Her team created this game—“Real or Not Real”—to help me figure out what had really happened. Most of my questions were about Katniss. Sometimes she answered them. Sometimes I couldn’t even bear to ask.
But I began to remember more and more what was real. I began to feel and act like my old self, at moments between madness. Katniss responded to me with a plethora of emotions, but when it counted, she was still trying to protect me. And when Katniss assassinated President Coin and tried to take her nightlock to end it all, I couldn’t let her. I was still trying to protect her too.
After Panem fell and I recovered from my burns, I returned to Victor’s Village. Honestly, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. My family was gone. Katniss and Haymitch were the closest thing to family that I had. Despite all the betrayals and disappointments of the last year, they knew me better than anyone else. So I waited for Katniss to heal and I waited for myself to heal.
Mellark family album?
When I asked her if she loved me, real or not real, she said, “Real.” And I knew that she did love me. Katniss saw me at my worst, but she’s also saw me at my best. She admired how I could articulate right and wrong. My voice reached her when no one else’s could. We protected each other. That’s who we were; that’s what we did. Katniss appreciated my kindness, my steadiness, my warmth, my unconditional love. Perhaps she had taken those things for granted before, but now we went through too much for her not to appreciate them, to appreciate me. This is what we did together: we wrote a book of remembrance for the loved ones we’d lost and we sealed it with our tears. We promised each other that we would live well and make their lives count. We wanted a new beginning.
That was then; this is now. Some people will hear our story and it will move them toward hope. Some will hear and it will move them toward anger. We will be misunderstood. But know this, I believe that no matter how bad the losses may be, life can go on and it can be good again. My life has gone on. My life is good again. This is my greatest gift to Katniss. And now she is ready to receive it. Like a necklace of pearls, each real moment is strung together until there is wholeness and beauty again.
My name is Peeta Mellark. I am almost forty years old. My home is District 12. I was in the Hunger Games with Katniss Everdeen. We fought Panem and won. We still bear scars but we survived. Now Katniss and I have our own family in a world without Games. All these things I longed for… now they are real.
Hunger Games Bookclub
What Does Peeta See in Katniss Anyway? Part Catching Fire
Welcome back to Guest Post Tuesday! Today we’ve got Part 2 our of 3 from guest writer Hunger Games Bookclub that examines the relationship between Katniss and Peeta from book to book! Dig in!
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The Girl of His Dreams?
Caesar Flickerman: Peeta Mellark, come on down! So, Peeta, it looks like you DID get the girl.
Peeta: Yes, I suppose I did.
Caesar Flickerman: I must ask you—now that you are engaged to the Girl on Fire— what do you see in Katniss anyway? Inquiring Capitol minds want to know!
Peeta: Well, some people might say that I have an eye for beauty… a weakness for beautiful things, at least when it comes to Katniss.
Caesar Flickerman: Yes, yes, no surprise there. She is quite the beauty.
Peeta: She still has no idea about the effect she can have on me. We had this one perfect day all to ourselves: a daylong picnic where we could just enjoy being together. I keep wishing I could freeze that moment and live in it forever.
Caesar Flickerman: The Hunger Games must be a real damper on the whole romance thing.
Peeta: Definitely not ideal. You know, Caesar, my first memory of Katniss was when she was five years old. I noticed other girls, of course, growing up, but I compared them all to her. Still, I never worked up the nerve to talk to her until we were in the Games together.
Caesar Flickerman: I find that very surprising! You—suffer from insecurity? Peeta, say it isn’t so! You are such a charming, confident and handsome young man.
Peeta: Sure, I can get along with anybody and most of my schoolmates would think of me as being popular at school. But when it came to Katniss, I suppose my courage failed me. Since returning from the Games last year, we’ve had more than a romance, we’ve become friends too. For instance, in the past year, we worked together on the Everdeen family’s book of plants. Katniss described the plants and I painted them. It was the first opportunity we’ve had to do something normal together.
Unforgettable
Caesar Flickerman: Normal is not a word that describes you and Katniss…
Peeta: No, not with a year sandwiched between two Hunger Games. I suffer from nightmares as result of our time in the Games, but being with Katniss is a great comfort to me. When we’re together, it feels like we guard one another from the dangers of the past and the future.
Caesar Flickerman: Friend. Lover. Fiancée. Comforter. If you had to rank them, what is the number one quality you see in Katniss?
Peeta: Well, Katniss and I share a… for lack of a better word, like-mindedness. There are many times that she has spoken what I have already felt. I don’t have enough fingers to count all the times in the last few months that we have been in agreement without saying a word. Sometimes it feels like we can read one another’s thoughts. Without any discussion about how we would face the Quarter Quell procession, we found each other’s hands and knew we would go into this as one. To give you another example, although I can’t go into detail, I can tell you that when Katniss and I compared notes about our Quarter Quell private sessions with the Gamemakers, you’d have thought we planned the whole thing (even though neither of us knew what we were doing before we went in the room). I don’t know, Caesar. Finding that compatibility with someone, with Katniss… it makes me brave.
There’s more to Peeta than meets the eye. But then, you already knew that, right?
Hunger Games Bookclub
Editorial Note: For those of you book-nerds that want to know where I got this from, here are some of the page references that shaped my opinion of Peeta’s favorite things about Katniss from Catching Fire: Romance – CF pages 245-6, 352; Friendship – CF pages 160, 162, 167, 276; Comfort/Safety – CF pages 72, 159, 193, 222, 244, 260, 335, 345, 366; Like-mindedness – CF pages 59, 79, 80, 212, 235, 241, 243, 244, 257, 258, 304, 366.
Catching Fire, The Trailer
It’s Guest Post Tuesday!
Today, we’ve got a great post from Abel Toy, who has thought long and hard about the advertising for Catching Fire and come up with some scenarios for the upcoming teasers and trailers!
If you want to speak your mind about anything Hunger Games, send your guest post in to thevictorsvillage@gmail.com!
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Warning: This post contains major Catching Fire spoilers, and possibly Mockingjay spoilers, so please don’t read this unless you have read the three books.
The trailers for the first film were done in a very cool way. They decided not to show anything that happens on the arena, so as not to give too many stuff to people before they watch the movie. Of course the most recent trailers that were released after the film show more footage, but I’m talking about the trailers released before the film here.
I have seen too many trailers giving away too much information about the films. They show big spoilers that happen very close to the end of the film, and it kind of ruins you the experience. Even if most of us here have probably read the books, there’s still a lot of people who don’t know how the story continues, and if I was one of them I wouldn’t want the trailer(s) for Catching Fire giving away too much information.
Too little?
Because what happens before isn’t really something that would make new people go to see this film. Yes, I know, it’s the second part of a really, really famous, high-grossing franchise. Yes, I know, it’s really cool and once people see it they’ll be blown away and completely happy that they did. But they still need to market this film, and while marketing it for the fans is awesome for us and makes us excited over and over again (and I’m not claiming they won’t, I’m fairly sure we’ll have some marketing towards us), we’re already going to watch it: they need to convince the skeptics.
So, how are you going to convince the skeptics without revealing this big event? That Katniss has to make a big tour around the Districts isn’t a really exciting thing to sell. And focusing on the revolution side of the story isn’t exactly telling the truth, because that’s basically Mockingjay, not Catching Fire. So, how to do it?
I have a few ideas on how to approach this, from different points of view.
Teaser trailer
The easiest thing to do. Those are usually for the people who already want to go see this film, and you show very tiny bits without really saying what’s it about, so it’s the perfect place for some fan marketing. I’m talking about less than 30 seconds clips, cause those are the best teasers!
CGI: Awesome but timely!
Here’s a few ideas, in a bullet list, because the writers of this site love them and I’m not going to be less!
- Showing an aerial shot may be too much, as it spoils the whole “it’s a clock” thing, but a few shots of the beach, the forest, the cornucopia would be great, and just showing the arena isn’t revealing. After all, if Katniss and Peeta hadn’t been chosen to go there, they would just mentor kids who do have to go there. Just scenery bits, to make us drool over the fantastic imagery. I’m not sure about it, though, cause I’m pretty convinced the CGI for the arena will be in-the-works till the last minute!
- Angry District 11. Angry District 8 in the Television (some low-res television stuff with the lines and everything, you know). Gale’s whipping. This wouldn’t be OK in a major trailer, cause it’s just selling the rebel side, but for a teaser it’s perfect.
- Peacekeepers outside Katniss’ house (if we’re going to get the electrified fence scene). Gale’s whipping (yes, I’m really looking forward to this scene, not because I hate Gale -I don’t- but just because of the intensity of it). The Hob burning in District 12. This would be perfect to show how life is getting even worse for people at District 12 after what Katniss did. Oh, evil Katniss. It’s your fault.
- I’m really looking forward for something like this: Plutarch shows the watch to Katniss. “It starts at midnight”. Then, Wiress: “Tick Tock. It’s a clock.” – Too bad it’s too revealing (or maybe not, if done right? I wouldn’t risk it, though).
- Train. Showing the various districts. Party at Snow’s mansion. Just a very short montage about the Victory Tour. Not a really exciting teaser, but at least we get to see how the different districts are.
- Snow telling Katniss to convince her. Dramatic teaser right here!
- “Want a sugar cube?” – showing some of the victors without actually saying anything about the arena would be great.
- Bonnie & Twill District 13 stuff, if it’s going to be in the movie at all.
- Drunk Katniss. Because it’s sad but also hilarious.
Lots of ideas for teaser trailers. Those are very easy to think of, in contrast to the main trailers shown next.
There’s more teaser trailers that can be done, those are just a few. What do you think they could make?
Main trailer(s)
Here’s the meaty stuff. A video between 1 and 3 minutes, a basic explanation of what’s the story going to be about without revealing too much and making people want to see it. A major challenge.
There’s a lot of ways to do this, of course, and I cannot wait to see what they come up with, but here’s a few ideas:
- Snow’s visit to Katniss. The “convince me” stuff. A few clips of the tour, maybe also showing life at District 12. Gale’s whipping (such a powerful and relatively spoiler-free bit, c’mon, how can you NOT show it on the trailer?). Ending it with Katniss asking Snow if she did the right thing, and him answering no may be a bit too much, but would really make a good ending to the trailer. – We’re not mentioning any of the arena here, but we aren’t selling just the rebellion side either. And it’s quite of an exciting trailer.
- Showing a bit of Victory Tour and District 12 stuff. Snow’s big announcement. Everyone freaks out. Some clips of the victors. Some clips of the arena. – That’s what everyone of us want to see, but unfortunately it’s a tad spoilery. Oh well
. If they ARE going to reveal it, make a good trailer out of it!
And that’s it. Can’t come up with anything more. It’s HARD. I seriously wouldn’t want to be the one who has to decide what’s the trailer going to show.
That’s it. I’d like to have an interesting conversation with you guys on the comments about this, talking about some fan-trailering (comes from fan-casting, get it? 
), what can they show, what should they show, what they CAN’T show… everything.
I just want to see Johanna, Finnick and Plutarch. And the arena, gotta love the arena.
Abel Toy (Rolpege)
Let’s Do The Time Warp Again!
Twiffidy is off on a lovely trip to Disneyland, but in between jealously dreaming that we are there with her, we realized that this would be another great opportunity to show off YOUR thoughts on the series! Remember, guest post submissions are welcome at any time! Just send them along to thevictorsvillage@gmail.com!
Today, we’ve got a fantastic post from Lindsay, who’s got her own take on the hotly debated Hunger Games series timeline!
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Panem, WHEN are you?!
When it comes to THG, the question of timing truly begs to be addressed. Are we 100 years into the future? 1000?
I don’t think Collins herself has a particular date in mind, though she noted in one interview that “…we have to allow for the fall of North America and the rise of Panem, plus seventy-four years of the Hunger Games… we’re talking triple digits.” On the other hand, the books do provide us with a few tantalizingly vague clues. If you missed them the first time, they include…
- …Katniss’ assertion that District 13 was “the work of centuries”. (Mockingjay)
- …the reference to “hijack” as “an old English word”. (Mockingjay)
- …Plutarch’s rather fairy tale-esque description of ancient Rome. (Mockingjay)
- …the condition of the abandoned homes at Katniss’ forest refuge. (Catching Fire)
In my opinion, this was probably the most interesting tidbit—and the one most likely to be overlooked! While most of these old vacation homes have been reduced to rubble, the few remaining structures feature sagging windowpanes and rotting wood. If you know anything about glass, you know that the warping process can take hundreds of years—another piece of evidence in favor of the “several hundred years plus” argument. These houses may even date from our own time, comprising the last remnants of a bygone era. (I’d say “golden age”, but it’s unlikely that Katniss has the historical context to make such a judgment.)
What follows is my own personal THG timeline. Take it with a grain of salt, and by all means, let me know if you disagree!
Second Quarter Quell
Before “The Hunger Games”
2020-2100: Global meltdown begins. War rages, seas rise, and famine claims countless lives.
2100-2150: Fall of North America. The governments of the United States, Mexico, and Canada fall into varying states of disarray.
2200-ish: Rise of Panem.
2290s: The Dark Days take hold. The Districts rise up, to horrifying consequence.
2300: The First Annual Hunger Games is broadcast live throughout Panem.
2325: First Quarter Quell. In a shocking display of Capitol cruelty, each District is forced to select its own tributes.
2350: Second Quarter Quell. Each District is required to provide two male and two female tributes- twice the usual number. Haymitch Abernathy, a scrappy young upstart from District Twelve, emerges as victor.
2358: On May eighth, Katniss Everdeen is born.
2362: In late May, Primrose Everdeen is born. (Exact date unknown.)
The Hunger Games
Late May –early June 2374: Twelve-year-old Primrose Everdeen is reaped into the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games. Before she can join Effie Trinket onstage, her sister volunteers to take her place.
Mid-to-late June 2374: Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are crowned as joint victors.
Catching Fire
November 2374: Katniss and Peeta traverse Panem for their bittersweet Victory Tour.
March 2375: The third Quarter Quell is announced. To prove the Capitol’s ultimate power, twenty-four victors must return to the arena.
May 8th, 2375: Katniss Everdeen celebrates her 17th birthday.
Mid-to-late May 2375: The Capitol stages a Very Special—and somewhat anticlimactic– Reaping.
District 13!
Late May 2375: Unbeknownst to Katniss, District 12 is bombed into oblivion. 90% of the population is killed instantly.
Late May 2375: Plutarch Heavensbee rescues Katniss, Finnick, and Beetee from the Quarter Quell arena. Unfortunately, he is unable to save Peeta, Johanna, and Enobaria, who are summarily abducted by the Capitol. En route to District 13, Gale informs Katniss that their home is no more.
Mockingjay
June-November 2375: Katniss adjusts to life in District 13.
November 2375: President Coin orchestrates a plan to snatch Johanna, Peeta, Enobaria, and Annie Cresta from the Capitol’s clutches. At Katniss’ urging, she also agrees to offer all four ex-tributes full immunity. In exchange, Katniss consents to become the Mockingjay.
December 2375: The former captives arrive in District 13.
January-March 2376: Katniss and Johanna train for the upcoming battle against the Capitol.
March-April 2376: Katniss and Finnick’s unit, Squad 451, advances on the Capitol.
April 2376: The war ends with a rebel victory. According to the prior agreement, Katniss is granted the privilege of executing President Snow. However, at the last moment, she opts to shoot Coin instead. After a quickie trial, during which she is deemed insane, Katniss returns to District 12. Soon afterward, Peeta and Haymitch join her.
(Epilogue) Late 2390s: A thirty-something Katniss reveals that she and Peeta have married and started a family. (Sadly, information on the other victors is not forthcoming.)
Where art thou, Johanna Mason?
Lindsay
How The Hunger Games Changed A Life
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for another guest post!
Today we’ve got a post from David, who’s Hunger Games inspiration helped him overcome some major issues in his personal life. It’s a really touching story, so give it a whirl and tell us how The Hunger Games has affected your life!
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TRUTH.
The Hunger Games changed my life. In the future I will look back the date March 23, 2012 as the day that I changed for the better. I got into the Hunger Games phenomenon/fandom/series at the midnight screening for the Hunger Games. Before that I only learned of the Hunger Games from reading the web as the hype was building up to the premier. During this time I had no interest in the series and no intention to see the movie. The only thing I heard about the movie was the rumblings of it being a Twilight replacement. Boy, was I wrong about that!
As a early 20′s male anything with Twilight even mentioned in a sentence makes me go into a violent table flipping tantrum that only a sentence were a action movie is mentioned can cure. That association almost put me off forever and the only thing that changed that was some opinion pieces on two websites; io9.com and jezebel.com. They talked about this dystopian future, the issues the story brings into the forefront of the readers mind, a strong young female heroine who THINKS for themselves, and how the Twilight (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ love triangle is not a major part of the story. After reading these stupendous things I went and got a quick synopsis off of Wikipedia, which is the single worst place to get synopsis from. To say I was intrigued, but not totally convinced.
Life-Changing Female Heroine!
So, Thursday the 22nd roles around with me still having no inclination of seeing it right away. Then I read this article that changed my mind. I decided to see it and on a whim and at 10:30 pm I decided to see the midnight showing. That might be the best decision I have ever made in my life. The movie exceeded all expectations and left me thinking for weeks about life, love, work, and myself. This lead to me accidentally buying the first book (Amazon said the ebook was free and lied to me) and read it in a day. I preceded to willingly purchase Catching Fire and Mockingjayand read them back to back in two days, After finishing, it left me blown away and literally speechless.
These feelings would lead me to change my life. Seeing and reading what Katniss did to save her family and how hard she worked to stay alive was a inspiration. As a 20-something overweight slacker who was failing through college, this is what I needed to read. If a sixteen year old could survive against all odds, I could do what is need to make my life what I want it to be. So I cold turkeyed caffeine and completely removed it from my life, started eating less and healthier, and started to be more active. Now almost five months later I feel the best I have felt in five years and now have a drive to study and try my best to finish my degree.
All this is thanks to a great and wonderful series.
David B.
