Weekly Round-Up and Open Thread, 16th April 2012

Laurel // Posted 17 April 2012 at 11:47

found her Hunger Games review interesting, but not her dismissal of the latter 2 films. unless having the character have real love interest is negative, or not being "strong" constitutes a huge problem.

*SPOILERS*
the character is flawed, and often so out to protect herself, her family, and Peeta, that she does do some things that she regrets. i don't read the moral of the story as "violence is bad" particularly, so i dont think anything later in the book really decries this. there are actually things in this book which arent all about trying to subvert gender roles. there's a plot at hand. about revolution. a central theme to this is that because of her strength of character and the impact she has on people, she gets used by different groups of people without her consent for different agendas, and not allowed to be herself. she also has extreme breakdowns. i dont think any of this makes her weak or ruins the book.

i do think it starts pushing towards the love triangle and im not entirely happy with the epilogue. nearly all the relationships she has with people are forced and she is left with no time to explore herself because she has spent most of her youth just trying to survive. i dont think this actually says much about her character, as from the beginning its been very clear that in district 12, or at least in katniss' head, love is between 2 people. you dont have relationships unless you intent to be married, and marriage comes with the expectation of children. i suppose its safe to say that the seam didnt have contraception pre-revolution, but from the epilogue that probably changed.

it does seem as if lifestyle choices, and (not to blur these things together in the slightest) expression of identities around gender or sexuality are largely left to those with the time to think about it in this world. i could understand that to a degree, and if the writer chose not to address it, as parents in the US may take issue, (though its already a book about killing kids right?) but it didnt feel as though it just wasnt mentioned. it felt as if there was very much an assumption that you are either a boy or a girl, and that you are heterosexual. despite the fact that a lot of gender roles are subverted. maybe that is the reality of their society, that you arent allowed to express queer identity. reading the novel there is little reason why Katniss herself couldnt have been a confused lesbian. she had barely even considered her sexuality until these men are in her face. i was interested to see where this dystopian future put its gender roles. whether it would be hyper femininity and masculinity at polar opposites, or whether it would no longer be an issue, but it seemed to be an exaggeration of now, with certain areas traditional, and the capitol with everybody being "extravagant" and fashion-hungry, and over-emotional at tiny things due to being used to wanting for nothing.

i dunno. there are just so many themes to the hunger games, and the movie really doesnt capture it all. the internal monologue is pretty important. you can read it online free easily enough. http://www.onread.com/writer/Suzanne-Collins-87813/