Monday, December 2, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I chose that picture just because it's funny not because I thought the movie was dull, in fact the opposite, I really enjoyed the movie and how it treated the characters.  I had seen the first movie in theaters when it came out and I remember being so annoyed.  (I did not read the books however so keep that in mind) I was annoyed because of how they had to form the relationship between Peeta and Katniss as lovers and not just really good friends, but I thought it was new and exciting that Katniss was acting to love Peeta for their own safety, she cares about him even if it isn't completely about sex and dating like how it seems to be in every other movie. 

Walking into the new movie, Catching Fire, I watched the opening scenes praying to the movie gods I would not be forced to watch Katniss have sex with any of her man crushes, and I was so relieved that it did not happen in this film, not every story needs to have sex in it.  This movie in my opinion was way better than the first one in many ways, for one, Katniss' character was more confident, stronger, and clever.  She is independent and above all cares the most about the people around her than herself.  She doesn't need a man or anyone for that matter to come and save her from all her problems, if anything she saves the men around her more often.  The movie satisfies the viewer in the sense that myself personally I was constantly in a state of tension, anxiously hoping somehow Katniss could just kill Snow and save everyone from the terrible fate that the capitalism is breeding.  Its a complete satire on our capitalist society and how the 1% control the fate of the majority, they play games with their lives because to the 1% everyone else's lives don't matter and there is nothing anyone can do about it because of all the power the 1% has.  Its so frustrating when you put it into perspective of what is happening here in our society and how clearly the current events and theory's impact films and media. In the last paragraph of the article "Striking Where Myth Meets Moment", they pretty much sum up how I felt about Katniss;
 "One of the things that “The Hunger Games,” on the page and on the screen, suggests is that the myth is changing. Boys (and men) are still boys, of course, including in movies, but the very existence of Katniss — who fights her own battles, and kisses and leaves the boys, only sometimes to save them — suggests cultural consumers are ready for change, even if most cultural producers remain foolishly stuck in the past." 
It gives us hope that if enough people think or act in a certain way it will change society around us.  That in time things will change no matter what, things will never stay constant.  When Katniss starts seeing rebellion actions taken by other people in different districts she is forced to realize that change cannot be stopped and she is too deep to be unrelated with the uprising.  This time the games are special because it has been 75 years since the first games was held and its a quarter quelth, which of course Snow manipulated to see people who have won suffer yet again.  No victor is safe!  Katniss of course is chosen and Peeta volunteers.  The make alliances with some of the other victors to keep Katniss alive, which is revealed later.  So there were some great action shots and special effects while they were trying to stay alive in the fighting dome and sadly characters had to die off.  But in a turn of events Jannis smacks Katniss on the head and stabs her in the arm so the other victors trying to kill them chase after Jannis and leave Katniss.  Eventually Katniss gets a stroke of genius and ties the conductor line to an arrow and shoots it into the dome ceiling right at the exact moment turning the whole system off!!!  At this moment she is blown back by the blast and watches the roof cave in, she is certain that she is going to die, that there is no future left for her.  The ship comes and picks her up and she wakes up next to Beetee on the floor of the ship.  She gets up and discovers she is okay, Peeta and Jannis are caught, Finnik, Haymitch, and Plutrach are on the ship and discussing plans.  The truth comes out, Katniss is the symbol of the revolution!  And all of the people on board are apart of it, this whole time they were apart of it.  She finds out Gail is there too and he tells her about Primrose and her mother and that there is no district 12 anymore.  The End!

As described in the articles the character of Katniss is unlike characters we are used to seeing.  Her existence threatens the norm and pushes boundaries of gender and what is portrayed in mainstream media about gender norms.  Also some people think they have to view this movie in a love story way, that in the end it's all about what boy Katniss will chose to have sex with (I mean have a relationship....).  This is all too common when dealing with a female lead and male characters surrounding her, it always has to be about what man she is going to end up with...well I believe Katniss really doesn't want to think about what these boys think of her and basically wants to survive and save her family, the boys do not come first.  (So this movie should pass the feminist movie test)

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