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What About Haymitch?
It’s come to my attention over time that some characters in The Hunger Games trilogy 
just don’t get as much attention, and face it, as much love as the rest of them. Sure, Peeta’s got the whole artist with a heart of gold thing going on, and Finnick is the heartthrob with the sensitive streak a mile long, and Katniss is the Mockingjay and the heroine, but what about the trilogies resident surly drunk Haymitch Abernathy? Doesn’t he deserve some intense love, and scrutiny just like the three mentioned above? Well, I sure as hell think he does!
Where to begin with Haymitch though? Yeah, he’s a surly drunk, and an all around ass-hat half the time, but he serves a purpose, and he’s far from lacking in the brains department. However, sometimes I feel like the characterization of him as simply the drunk detracts from the reasons why he’s been plying himself with alcohol for the better part of his life. Haymitch is a victor, hard to wrap your brain around the image of him winning anything when he’s alcohol soaked likely 90% of the time, vomiting on himself, vomiting in public, and being showered off, whilst fully clothed, by a teenage boy he’s just met. Wow, the-teenage-boy-he-just-met bit makes it sound kind of pervy, doesn’t it? But that’s the thing, so much of Haymitch is just… strange, and unexplained.
What we know about him is this: Haymitch won The Hunger Games when he was 16 years-old, and he didn’t win by accident, he won by cunning, drive, fortitude, physical strength, and agility. And then there’s that The Capitol likely systematically killed off everyone in his family, including his girlfriend after he won said games. He has very few friends, but he is friends with Chaff a victor from District 11. Me thinks that Chaff and his brand of friendship is likely drinking though, lots of drinking, like black-out-drinking-I-don’t-know-my-name-anymore drinking. Sadly, this drinking
Haymitch in Catching Fire
buddy theory has also prompted other theories that Chaff and Haymitch were also fuck-buddies. Me, I–I’d rather not go there. Also, he’s unmarried, and apparently has no children, ’cause you know– you don’t have to be married to have children. He’s a slob, but that should already have been figured out from the whole vomiting-on-self-problem. Wow, this guy is just a mess, how is he still breathing by the time Katniss and Peeta are unceremoniously dumped in his lap?
So, that’s what we know, or what we think we know. Here’s what we think, or many of us think, aside from the people who believe Haymitch and Chaff are sometimes sex partners: He’s got a raging case of PTSD, which is untreated, undiagnosed, and therefore the effects of being in The Hunger Games are just as fresh as they were when he was 16 years old. Also, he’s quite literally destroying him self from the inside out, because he self medicates with copious amounts of alcohol, i.e. he’s not a drunk by the sheer luck of a horrible genetic proclivity for addiction. Although all bets are off if Suzanne Collins comes out with a prequel about Haymitch, and it turns out his family has a history of substance abuse. He isolates himself on purpose, because The Capitol kills anyone who seems to get close to him emotionally His sense of humor is another way in which he isolates himself, because it’s cutting, dry, and more often than not his jokes and/or quips are at another persons expense. What else can I say about Haymitch, other than that he sometimes gets the best lines in all three of the novels? Oh, I know! That Gary Ross’ directional choices vastly changed the layman’s view of Haymitch thanks to him taking most of his knock-out-drunk behavior out of The Hunger Games film?
Let’s all hope, and pray that the Haymitch of the novels shows up a bit, or a lot more in Francis Lawrence’s renditions of the rest of the series, am I right– or amiright?
Them There Eyes
The “Real” Peeta
Aeris, who covered the fun of Cannes for us last week, is back for another guest post! We know you’ve missed her too.
This time, The Girl With The Flowers (it’s a Final Fantasy reference! Who knew?!) is doing a little study on Peeta’s hijacking and how “real or not real” it makes his character throughout Mockingjay!
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It has come to my attention that some fans (and I use the term loosely) truly believe that the jungle scene in Catching Fire is the last time we truly see the “real” Peeta. Real as in, not hijacked, not hating Katniss’ guts, not trying to kill her when they finally reunite, and of course still completely in love with her.
Even in Mockingjay!
Yeah. I’m not getting it. See, first of all, Peeta is still very much his old self in the beginning of Mockingjay. He’s suffered at the Capitol’s hands, sure, but he’s still trying to protect by warning her about the bombing, undoubtedly risking his own life in the process. And he appears multiple times on the Capitol broadcasts during the first part of the book (let’s just assume Lionsgate makes the cut at when he tries to strangle Katniss), hurt, thin, but still the boy with the bread that we have all grown to love (or if we’re being honest, all fell in love with as soon as he was introduced in The Hunger Games). So there’s that.
But mostly, I want to talk about what happens in the second half of Mockingjay. Peeta has been tortured in such a way that everything about Katniss triggers his worst fears, and understandably, he wants to make that threat disappear. Moreover, he now sees her without the love-goggles (what, beer-goggles can exist but love ones can’t? The image isn’t very poetic I know, but it was the best way I could find to express it!), and sees her for what she is. The “real” Katniss. As Suzanne Collins puts so heart-breakingly puts it:
“All those months of taking it for granted that Peeta thought I was wonderful are over. Finally, he can see me for who I really am. Violent. Distrustful. Manipulative. Deadly. And I hate him for it.”
And yet, as Katniss realizes she’s being unfair, and they start playing the beautiful but tragic “Real or Not Real” game, Peeta is gradually brought back to us. He remembers. He bakes. He responds. He jokes a little. He puts everyone’s life before his own, because he’s conscious that he’s still dangerous. But what’s most important is that is he brought back by the one person who “made” this new version of him. Because deep down, he knows who she is and still loves her.
*dies*
Before the epilogue, this new Peeta is still fragile, but he’s working on it. He isn’t the hijacked, scary version of himself. He isn’t the steady baker either. But he’s getting close.
And after the epilogue, Katniss and Peeta slowly heal, helped by one another. I don’t like to say they “grew back together” because that would imply they went their separate ways, and I don’t believe they did. They went through a lot, they got separated, yes, but physically, not mentally. The Capitol tried to turn Peeta into a customized Katniss-destruction weapon, but they failed. Katniss was devastated and almost destroyed by Peeta’s temporary loss, but they never ceased to be the Girl on Fire and the Boy with the Bread.
So I truly believe the “real” Peeta was shining through all along. Sure, sometimes it was only very short peeks, but he was there. Somewhere, deep inside.
Which is why people saying we don’t get to see him ever again bug me. Have we actually read the same books? I mean, if we take that logic, shouldn’t they also claim that Catching Fire is the last time we see the “real” Katniss? She may not get hijacked by Trackerjacker venom in the aftermath of the district 13 rescue mission, but she does a complete behavioral 180 nonetheless.
That being said, I have to admit I don’t look forward to seeing Peeta hurt. If I’m perfectly honest, I’m probably going to bawl all through Mockingjay Parts 1&2. But then again, who isn’t, right?
“You love me, real or not real?”
“Real.”
I Am Not A “Hunger Games Fan”, But A (Real) Tribute,
Aeris (or, if you’re a Final Fantasy fan, “The Girl with the Flowers”)
Victor’s Village’s Panem Vacation
After a certain point of vacation planning, you begin to measure everything in your live by how far away it is from your vacation like “Four more nights of sleep before vacation!” or “One more day of work before vacation!”
Today, my Victor’s Village declaration is “One more post until vacation!”
The closest we’ll ever be to “going to Panem”!
It’s not that I don’t love writing posts or interacting with you lovely people, just that I’m pretty damn excited to sit on a beach and sip mojitos (oh yeah, and attend my only sibling’s wedding)!
Of course, that got me thinking about vacations in Panem, where there’s really no option to travel to a faraway beaches to simply sit around and only drink things with those little umbrellas in there. Their beaches are crazy eroded versions of ours, used for practical purposes like fishing. District citizens along the coastline seem to do their share of swimming, but Katniss certainly doesn’t recognize it as something people do for fun. It’s a skill set! When you work on a boat, being a strong swimmer is preferable to dying in the midst of hard labor.
Plus, District citizens are too deprived for days off, let alone vacations! Those fancy schmancy things are reserved of the elite class of Capitol citizens!
There’s a really disturbing quote in the books in which Katniss explains that Capitol citizens really only have a few places to vacation: THE OLD ARENAS. Because those pampered little prisses sure as hell ain’t gonna make it in the districts! The Capitol citizens travel to the secure former arenas, where they go on tours, witness reenactments, and get to explore the life of a tribute… except with way less things that can kill them. Scarely, it’s not all that different from those “Live Like A Hunger Games Tribute” fan tours out there right now! It probably doesn’t hurt that most of the arenas are in charming, exotic locales that are breathtaking once you remove all the DEATH from the equation… and the food is scrumptious.
The way to vacation, right thurrrr!
Capitol citizens are narrow-minded and spoiled and not that bright, we know. But don’t they ever wonder what’s going on the the world outside those arenas?
There’s 12 districts! Probably with uncharted territory in between! All sorts of different people! No matter how much they love themselves and their way of life, were none of them curious about something that DIDN’T involve the games? Didn’t Finnick fangirls want to do to District 4 and kiss the ground he once walked? Or see the places where famous, glorious battles happened during The Uprising 75 years ago? Or not be in The Rockies because it’s not exactly known for the amazing weather?
Some vacations are panem et circenses, but others are much more than that. We see the sites. We try new things. We go to museums, for goodness sake! We get lost and eat too much and stay in questionable temporary living spaces! These Capitol types don’t know what they’re missing out on, but let’s hope they wonder.
Adios, Mi Amigos!
The Girl With The Pearl
The New Catching Fire Poster
Yesterday a new poster for Catching Fire was released to the public, and yeah– that happened. I could literally leave it at that, because right now I’m feeling like the saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” might be a good idea to employ, and also I’m a little bit exhausted from all the feelings, and– y’know, life? Believe it or not, us here at Victor’s Village do have lives, and a lot of our lives have nothing to do with The Hunger Games.
It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with this fact, but we don’t have to like everything released having to do with The Hunger Games franchise. However, I think we all kind of wish we did. Which brings me to this, I can respect the new poster, appreciate its artistic aesthetic, the supposed back story, the color scheme, whatever– but all I get when I look at it is, it looks like a book cover from the ’80s. This was my Honest-I’ve-Just-Woken-Up reaction to it in all its trademarked Instagram-ed filter-y glory. And there I sat in my Frank Lord Wright-esque desk chair, in desperate need of a coffee, and perhaps in need of some consolation, and commiseration, because as much as I know on an intellectual level that I don’t have to like everything designed, and released for this franchise– like I said above, I wish we did, or I wish I did. So, I felt like my feelings were wrong, that if didn’t like it there’s something wrong with me, maybe I’m not sensitive enough, I’m not open-minded enough, I didn’t know enough about 19th century oil paintings, I’m not a big enough fan to embrace everything and all things Hunger Games, and also, perhaps I’m a horrible human being? I didn’t go get that coffee, I sat in my chair, I emailed a friend, who thankfully got back to me within minutes– and it was a salve to my own disjointed, disillusioned thoughts, because they also didn’t like the poster, and they’re just as invested in the film franchise as I am. And then I started seeing other people’s reactions, reactions like this one.
I could have gone on an entirely different route with this article, I hope you know that. I could have waxed philosophic over the artistic merit of the poster, how it’s a beautiful, and beatific portrait of Katniss, like something that should be accompanied by Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, that she looks stately, warrior strong, that the clouds are ethereal, that the wings in the clouds are symbolic, and give me butterflies in my tummy, but, guys– they don’t. I can embrace the idea that this poster, and the Capitol portraits from a couple of months ago, are perhaps paintings done by Peeta Mellark, which is why their aesthetic, and their styling are similar, but what I keep thinking is– this isn’t going to grab people’s attention in the right way. However, does that really matter? The film is coming out in six months, this is one poster in probably a string of others to be released, we might even get more released at San Diego Comic Con in a couple of months. This poster is a blip, really– just a blip, and in a matter of weeks there will be something new we can painfully over analyze, intellectualize, and give back stories to, to make our selves feel better.
Until then my friends, until then.
Them There Eyes
The Enigma of Mrs. Everdeen
What makes a good mother?
There are plenty of elements, but there’s certainly not a specific recipe to being a successful, loving parent. It’s not easy for everyone and some people deserve the benefit of a doubt.
Does THIS look like she doesn’t care?
During the time we spent reading The Hunger Games trilogy and a long while after, we tried to figure out whether we loved or hated Mrs. Everdeen. She, the overworked but often considered saintly Hazelle Hawthorne, and the vicious Mrs. Mellark are the only living representations of motherhood we see throughout the story. Of the non-abusive two, Mrs. Everdeen is the “worse” mother, in the most basic sense, but it’s hard to tell whether or not she’s a bad mother…
We’ve heard the theory that after her husband died, Mrs. Everdeen stopped loving her children. Like “Oh, your dad is dead? BAM! Forget you then!” Or better yet, that she NEVER loved them, which the books don’t imply at all. We don’t buy it.
It could be the opposite, in fact– Mrs. Everdeen loves her family so very much that when the realities of poverty and death hit her in the wake of her husband’s passing, she’s crippled by it. She recognizes the state of the nation and the death of her husband and the inevitable death of her children, which would have been the case for both the Everdeen and Hawthorne families had one of their children not become hunters, no matter how many jobs each mother took on.
She saw the darkness in the world that would soon consume her family and because she loved her family so much, she couldn’t function at the very thought of it. When she realizes after months and months that they are not completely doomed, she begins to come out of her stupor. She recognizes that she has an emotional condition and, the book implies, begins to take medicines. However, we’re nawwwt talking psychiatrists and first-rate care. There’s still some demons in there that she can’t deal with all on her own, which is why she can’t always bring herself to actively participate in her children’s lives and ultimately decides to part from Katniss. It’s easy to assume that she did so for her own selfish reasons, but is it possible Mrs. Everdeen stayed away for Katniss’ sake, knowing she couldn’t be the support figure Katniss needed?
Expect Ghost!Mr. Everdeen ain’t much help here…
It’s hard that tell on what scale to rate a parent in Panem, because it’s not about things we know like cheering at sports events, taking us out for ice cream, and giving dating advice. You could say that supporting the family is the ultimate sign of love and by failing to do so, Mrs. Everdeen was a “bad” parent. But think of all the people who are out of work and/or dealing with mental illness today– Do they all not love their families? We think they still do.
There’s one thing we’ve learned from the plight of many literary mothers. We are super lucky to have moms who can only be described (obnoxiously) as DA BOMB!
Happy Mother’s Day To All the Moms Out There!
The Girl With The Pearl
The Hunger Games Don’ts of Etsy, Part 2
People think fans of The Hunger Games will buy ANYTHING. No, seriously! It’s not just the book publishers or film studios trying to do it these days! If you thought some of the products they’ve put out for production were a little over the mark, just spend a little time on Etsy and you’ll be running back to the comfort of NECA’s lanyards and pencil sharpeners.
We highlighted some of the outrageous things Etsy sellers have the cojones to sell to Hunger Games fans in an earlier post, but there’s just so much more out there that we had to write up Part 2!
The Hunger Games Movie Scene Print Art, Drawn Left Handed
Once upon a time, some dude took 5 minutes to draw and color the chariot scene with his non-dominant hand and the result was… somewhere between Beavis & Butthead and The Muppets. Put that on high quality paper and it’s totally worth $15, right? …Or just have some 8-year-old recreate the scene for you sometime.
BOOBS Real or Not Real Embroidery
The *cough* artist behind these babies claims it’s a Hunger Games item because it uses the book quote in a way that mocks the series by using the “real” meaning of the question “Real or Not Real?” Also, NOT REAL given how hideously uneven they are, even from a side view!
Sexy Hot Team Peeta Flame Sparkle Totebag
Step 1: Take a promotional still, photoshop on fake cuts and make Josh Hutcherson’s eyes look demonic. Add text that is EXTRA PIXELY.
Step 2: Print image, iron on to bag.
Step 3: Add rhinestones and MOAR FLAME, this time in a bow.
Step 4: List product under every word that might excite an 8-year-old girl!
Hunger Games Crazy Lady Novelty Pin
You mean you’ve NEVER wanted to show your fandom love with a pin in which some deranged looking character with coils for hair and beads for limbs is wearing a cut up Hunger Games poster as a dress?! That’s got a lot of charm and sentimental value, right there!
Katniss and Peeta Couple Earrings
For those of us who have decided it’s not enough to dangle Katniss and Peeta on either side of their face! We must frame them against bright red bows, like a tacky old Christmas portrait! That will show the world how much we love the series!
Jennifer Lawrence Devotional Candle
MOTHER OF GOD! Most of us like Jennifer Lawrence, but not this much! You can now praise her (or one of many other celebs photoshopped into a biblical scene) with this image on an 8-inch candle. We’re not sure if we should laugh or cry.
We’re Laughing and Probably Going To Hell,
The Girl With The Pearl
Many thanks to Savanna from Hunger Games Fireside Chat for finding a couple of these, including that last kicker!
The Cutting Room Floor
After seeing the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, we’re all really excited at the confirmation that certain scenes made it into the movie: The District 11 man’s salute! The Katniss/Gale kiss! The whipping!
Potentially a 7 hour movie! ..We’d watch it.
Even though it’s just the tip of the Catching Fire iceberg (…Fire iceberg?! Whaaaaat?), the trailer also helped us come to terms with some things that were cut. When you see the man from District 11 being murdered, are Bonnie and Twill’s open-ended deaths in the woods still a huge deal? Is the brutality against Darius necessary to portray when you see the Peacekeepers being equally brutal with Gale or the rioters?
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: IT’S A MOVIE. Things will change… or more likely, they’ll be cut. We don’t always love it, but we accept it.
In that spirit, we’ve been thinking of some other things that can be cut from the movie without really hurting our feelings.
- The Storm of the Century - No, not the Stephen King book (though that has no place in Catching Fire, obviously). Remember in the beginning of Catching Fire when there’s a massive storm that snows in all the residents of District 12 for about two weeks, thus giving Katniss precious time to try (and fail) to glean some information about The Rebellion? Since nothing really comes of it, we could probably go without it.
- Broken Foot - WE KNOW. This is the “Always” moment! Of course we need that line. If that line doesn’t make it in there, we will hit a bitch. Perhaps only figuratively… we’ll see. But the line doesn’t have to come in the context of Katniss breaking her foot after the fences in District 12 are electrified. On screen, the scene in which Katniss returns home and tries to hide her injury while the Peacekeepers give her information she and the audiences already know followed by her recovery wouldn’t seem as dramatic and would take up precious time from more deserving scenes. Peeta and Katniss have ample opportunity to be adorable elsewhere!
- The Second Quarter Quell - We were once desperately hoping for this video or flashback, but now we’ve pretty much accepted that there won’t be a full-on breakaway to Haymitch’s brilliant bit of betrayal. New actors and new locations are probably way too much work for one scene not even featuring the main actors. Hopefully, we’ll get a quick, gritty recap for older Haymitch in there!
- “The Baby” - Some people love this moment, but we’re in love/hate with it. It’s complicated! What Peeta did was a brilliant move if Capitol audiences are stupid enough to really believe it. For some readers, it’s an eye-roll worthy first step off the Hunger Games bandwagon. A moment when you stop and go “REALLY? The majority of this society actually feel for that? C’MON.“ The alleged marriage should be enough to get Capitol interests in the film without running the risk of Peeta’s good intentions being too far out there.
Yup, those training outfits…
- Victors Training - We know there will be some of this, based on the still of Katniss and Finnick, but we could live without it being too involved. The politics of the Victors’ alliances don’t become clear until the arena, so it shouldn’t take too long to show that Katniss isn’t sure how to interact with these people when she still doesn’t know who to trust when the training session ends. The varying strengths and skill sets also become most apparent in the Arena, like Beetee introducing the crew to his specially designed wire, so we’re not missing much.
- The Spile - How many Victors does it take to get water from a tree? Four. Plus some serious thinking over the course of several hours. Or how about Mags already knows how to use a spile and we don’t watch giant tropical beaver-rats chew down the trees to drink as our protagonists dehydrate? Pretty please?!
Of course, this is an open floor! What Catching Fire book moments that weren’t already included in the trailer could you do without?
We’re Not Picky (Except We Totally Are),
The Girl With The Pearl
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer Breakdown!
Time for another reaction post, this time for the NEW CATCHING FIRE TRAILER! As you can tell, we’re still flailing!
If you’ve never seen our group reaction posts before, they can get pretty damn long. Therefore, we’ve contained most of it under a cut! So refresh yourself by watching the trailer once more, read on, and don’t forget to hit READ MORE for the full effect!
HELLO THERE, TENSION DRIVEN ANXIETY!
TGWTP: Okay! Let’s start with Katniss and Peeta and the Victory Tour. Was it what you were expecting?
Twiffidy: This seems like a much darker version of what I imagined the Victory Tour to be, but I like it!
Them There Eyes: Yes and no. I was expecting more glamour, but I honestly like the grittier side of it that they’ve shown in this.
Twiffidy: Yes exactly, a lot grittier.
Them There Eyes: I like it a lot. I wanted more darkness in the 1st film, so… this is actually living up to my expectations more than that, and I’ve only seen snippets.
TGWTP: Yes! I loved the first film, but I didn’t feel the tension like I wanted to, This time around. It’s there. You definitely see how the experience changed the characters too. The settings aren’t just dark, they are too.
Twiffidy: Totally, even Peeta who was smiling and waving on the train in the first movie
Them There Eyes: Yes! The 1st time I watched this trailer I didn’t take it all in. The second time, it took my breath away, it was so intense.
Twiffidy: He pretty much doesn’t smile.
Them There Eyes: Peeta’s lost his innocence, I think that’s what this trailer is telling the world.
TGWTP: I love that he’s unhappy but still gentle. They cut out his outburst in the attic from the trailer, but I hope it’s in the movie. It’s so powerful because he usually IS so sensitive.
Them There Eyes: I just remember how non-fans of the series watched the 1st film, and said they thought Peeta was weak. I don’t think they can call him weak anymore, he looks kind of pissed actually.
Twiffidy: Totally.
These guys?
PEACEKEEPERS LOVE DOCTOR WHO
Them There Eyes: Can we please talk about the symbolism, of those Peacekeepers costumes!
Twiffidy: I’m really believing that “riot gear” theory from a while back
Them There Eyes: It’s seriously disturbing how their backs resemble a reptile, and then they go crawling, or slithering into that crowd of earth tones like they’re evil ice reptiles.
Twiffidy: Oh man, if that’s any foreshadowing to the reptile mutts…!
Them There Eyes: I never thought of that! But… yes please!
TGWTP: They’re definitely meant to look like a insect or reptilian sort of SWAT team
Them There Eyes: Oh, their helmets remind me of a monster from Doctor Who as well. I can’t recall, but it was a motor cycle geared up soulless cyborg type thing. I think it was from the Tennant era?
THE WHITE ROSE OF BROMANTIC DESIRE
TGWTP: Snow and Plutarch, anyone?
Twiffidy: I swear it reminds of Varys and Littlefinger talking at the counsel table on Game of Thrones
Them There Eyes: I am digging this whole new kind of canon, where the Gamemaker, and the president have little chats.
Twiffidy: Plotting the Games together.
Them There Eyes: And yes, it’s very Game of Thrones-y. I wish Tyrion would walk in and drag a chair to the other side of the room, and just… be amazing
TGWTP: Guys… I think I ship Snow/Plutarch now. Is that wrong?
Them There Eyes: Plutarch/Snow will be braiding each others hair soon… it’s bound to happen.
TGWTP: They bonded over their love of antique furniture and death and now they’ll live happily ever after, right?
Them There Eyes: Yes, happily ever after watching Finnick Odair do what he does best…
TGWTP: Until Plutarch totes turns out to be the best spy ever, that is. He’ll reluctant sneak out at that point, never to be heard from again!
Reaching to hold hands, obvs!
Twiffidy: Snow seems to have way more respect for Plutarch than he did for Seneca.
Them There Eyes: Oh, yeah. He absolutely has more respect for him, he probably thinks he’s less of a threat ’cause he’s older, and a little bit fat, and more old fashioned.
Twiffidy: I think it’ll make the twist of Plutarch’s character that much more surprising. Also, Plutarch seems way less comical than he does in the books.
Them There Eyes: Yeah… maybe that’s just a persona he puts on for Katniss, and this is Closed Doors Plutarch?
TGWTP: Yes! They’ve made him sinister with Snow, which I think works better for film. Maybe in Mockingjay, we see that other side more?
Twiffidy: It’ll be interesting to seem how he acts in the open. The first movie implied that the Head Gamemaker is kind of a public figure.
Them There Eyes: Seneca was more than a figure, I think he was a celebrity in his own right, and then he got a big head because of it.
Them There Eyes: Also, gotta say it… I think it’s telling that Hoffman kept his New York accent. I also think it’s a “tell” to those who are paying attention that he’s a rebel.
Twiffidy: And yes, he could’ve done so many different kinds of voices for Plutarch, it seems like an interesting choice.
TGWTP: Yes, especially where Donald Sutherland’s voice is some much more structured and rigid.
TGWTP: I love how PSH says “They’ll hate her so much, they might just kill her for ya”. Honestly, that is my favorite line in the whole trailer. I DON’T KNOW WHY.
Them There Eyes: Because it’s so delicously evil?
TGWTP: YES, because it is so deliciously evil and so how I picture Plutarch!
Them There Eyes: Yes, a slimy pig in a great suit?
TGWTP: Exactly.
The Big Bucks
I’m about to lay the truth on you like no one has ever laid the truth on you before. Contrary to popular belief none of us here at Victor’s Village, or any other fan-site, or blog dedicated to The Hunger Games are paid by The Powers That Be, otherwise known as Lionsgate Studios. I know, I know– but many of us got to go to the world premiere of The Hunger Games in Los Angeles, and we also occasionally have awesome merchandise to give out during contests! Gotta say though, none of that is evidence that supports the notion that we’re in any way, shape, or form monetarily connected to the people who own the rights to The Hunger Games. We are, and will always simply be this, fans. We may be a little different from your average fan of the series, because we have taken our passion to a higher level than simply reblogging GIF sets on Tumblr, or tweeting that we can’t wait to see the film again, or how much we love Peeta, or Katniss, or Finnick, or even Buttercup. Nope, we have blogs, we have sites that we pay for the rights to own the domain names of with our own money, we have podcasts, Google alerts up the ass, and we have extra flat rate mailers in our closets just in case we’re running a contest, and one of you out there has won something from our prize stores. There’s one thing about us though that I think we can share on some level, we’re unabashedly, unequivocally in love with The Hunger Games trilogy, some of us might even go so far as to say we’re obsessed.
So, the next time
someone’s mind stumbles upon the thought that we’re paid for all this work, which it is work, do not ever forget that, and that we’re just talking things up because it’s all about the money, stop your self. Here’s the deal though; we may not be paid for our time, our energy, and our efforts, but we are rewarded everyday, or at least every week by the thought, the indicative proof that we’re not alone in our passion by interacting with you out there, as well as fellow fan-site runners, and bloggers, and that the time we take out of everyday, the time we take away from our families, from our pets, our real life jobs, are appreciated both by you out there reading our articles, listening to us on podcasts, subscribing to our Twitter-feeds, site alerts, that cast members from the franchise are willing to engage with us, and that Lionsgate Studios does care about what we have to say, and that they do give us kindness by paying attention, and gifting us premiere tickets. Mostly it’s about the fact that we’re not just yelling into a giant black void. This is what they call being paid the big bucks, because the bucks are invisible, and you can imagine them to be enormous, and with so many zeroes tacked on at the end.
The funny will be back next week.
Them There Eyes
The Flailingly Real
Know what’s real, what’s flailingly real that is? Oh yeah, Catching Fire news! Rejoice with us now, because we’ve had nearly a month + long dry spell, and we’re close to dying of thirst. Seriously, I was going to do another fan-casting post, or talk about racism, or who in the cast has the best smile, that’s how faint I was feeling. Alas the spell is over, and real news has fallen into our collective laps at the behest of MTV! Oh, MTV, how we make fun of you, and will probably continue to make fun of you, but you have been bequeathed the rights to the first trailer of our beloved Catching Fire, therefore we have to show a modicum of respect, sort of.
So, the skinny is this, news broke this morning via our older brother with the atrocious haircut, or– MTV, that in ten days the Catching Fire trailer will debut during their broadcast of The MTV Movie Awards. And then the Internets went crazy! Yes, people are being bombed, and terrorized in their homes in Syria, North Korean dictators are waving their dicks around threatening war, because the west hasn’t been taking him seriously, and in our little corner we are freaking out over a presentation of clips from a movie! I don’t judge, ’cause hell, 
I know what The Hunger Games is about, and if people took what Suzanne Collins had to say more seriously, maybe more dictators would join monasteries, realize that bombing their people is fucked in the head, and just maybe stop hanging out with Dennis Rodman, ’cause god knows that man doesn’t have that much to say anything about, except perhaps what Madonna looks like naked in person. Reality is messy, and we like to hide in a world where good triumphs over evil, yes– in the form of a reluctant teenage heroine with mad bow skills. Thankfully we’re getting a fix of our favorite drug in a matter of days, and by favorite drug I mean actual moving footage featuring our heroine, our hero, and their wacky looking sidekicks!
If you’re new to this madness, i.e. you missed all the tumult that surrounded the release of promotional materials for The Hunger Games in 2011, this is all pretty standard. I say standard, because last time around MTV also debuted the first trailer, or teaser trailer. I am personally still unclear on whether or not the trailer that will be burning our souls Sunday after next, is in fact a teaser or a full length trailer. As far as I know teaser trailers are never over a minute and thirty seconds long, but the press release is stating that we’re getting 2 and a half minute grade A amazing, or 
hopefully somewhat brilliantly fashioned together collection of clips that will tell only a sliver of the narrative we all know so very well. I’m okay, really– even though I sometimes feel like they’ll switch out the real footage for a man sitting on a lawn peeling an orange, because I also feel like this whole being in the somewhat know about this franchise, is really about being able to hold it together mentally, but all whilst in a state of constant confusion, and emotional flux. I’ll be okay, really. Where’s my paper bag?
Them There Eyes
