April 1, 2012

The Hunger Games

Move over, Twilight trilogy!  The latest thing is The Hunger Games, a trilogy of novels written by Suzanne Collins.  The film adaptation of the first book in the trilogy was just released in movie theaters last weekend.  I didn’t see it during opening weekend because I wanted to read the book first.  My thoughts are below the cut, to spare anyone that might not want to be spoiled.

The story itself is set in a future dystopian society.  The United States as we know it no longer exists.  In its place is a nation called Panem, which is ruled by an oppressive government that rules from a large city called The Capitol (located in what was once known as the Rocky Mountains).  The citizens of The Capitol are wealthy, gluttonous, obsessed with appearances, slightly hedonistic, and quite desensitized to violence and suffering – particularly the suffering of the people that live in the twelve poorer districts that surround The Capitol.

As punishment for some long-ago attempt at rebellion/insurgence, the government of Panem began a yearly event known as The Hunger Games.  Every year, each district is forced to send one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to participate in the Games.  The two participants (or “tributes”) from each district are chosen each year at random, in a lottery that is known as “the reaping”.  Once the tributes from each district are selected, they are then sent to compete in the Hunger Games, where the 24 tributes all fight one another to the death, until there is only one left.  Every moment of the Games is nationally televised.  The citizens of The Capitol watch the events with relish and excitement, while the citizens of the districts are still forced to watch as one by one, the tributes essentially kill one another off.

The main character of the trilogy is Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl from District 12.  District 12 lies within the area that we know today as Appalachia.  Coal mining remains the chief occupation in the district, and in fact, Katniss’ father died as the result of a mine explosion.  Katniss has a younger sister, Primrose – who, in both the first book and the first film, is now 12 years old, and as such, eligible to be chosen for the Games.  When Primrose’s name is drawn at the reaping, Katniss volunteers to take her place.  The boy chosen from District 12 is Peeta Mellark.  Over the course of the Games, Katniss and Peeta form a bond, which is encouraged by their mentors and the audience.  But is what Peeta and Katniss feel for each other real, or is it an act to win over the audience?  And in this game of survival, which is supposed to have only one victor, can both Katniss and Peeta make it out alive?  Or will they be pitted against one another in the end?  I won’t spoil any of that for you here.  ;-)

What I enjoy about this series is that even though the theme of an oppressive, dystopian society has been explored before, both in film and in literature, it’s a message that needs to come out every once in a while.  And in spite of the futuristic nature of the setting, the parallels to ancient Rome were not lost on me (gladiatorial combat, anyone?).  This detail even goes down to the names of the characters who are Capitol citizens, and many of those names have even been taken from prominent figures of ancient Rome (Cinna, Portia, Flavius, Seneca, Caesar, etc.).

Now, I have been fairly vocal in my dislike of the Twilight series, yet there is one major parallel between that trilogy and Hunger Games, that being the Love Triangle With The Girl In The Middle.  In Twilight, that’s Bella, Edward, and Jacob … and in Hunger Games, it’s Katniss, Peeta, and Gale.  But what sets Hunger Games apart is that it is a far grittier and honestly, a more intelligent series than Twilight.  This is the kind of series I had hoped to see in a post-Harry Potter world of young adult literature … and I’m glad to finally see it.

So, how does the movie compare to the book?  Well, while I had seen the trailer before reading the book, I had not seen the entire movie yet, so hopefully that was enough to keep my judgment from being clouded while I read it, heh.  For the most part, I think that a lot of it was how I had envisioned it … although I had imagined the Capitol as looking even more sterile and Romanesque than it did.  The two actors playing Katniss and Peeta were great, and I hope to see more of them.  I was also particularly excited to recognize Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, and Lenny Kravitz as Cinna.  I also appreciated the perspective that the film offered.  The books are written more or less from Katniss’ perspective, in a first-person narrative.  It was interesting to see Haymitch wheeling and dealing with the Gamemakers as well as the Capitol elites.  It was also interesting to see the riots breaking out in the Districts.

In summary, though – I do love this series, and I’m going to pick up the next books in the series ASAP.  I would also highly recommend reading the book before watching the movie, to get the full appreciation and understanding of it.  The books are widely available in hardcover, paperback, or digital format at all major retailers.

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