Comments | jaune_chat: Jaune Chat Takes on The Hunger Games

jaune_chat

Jaune Chat Takes on The Hunger Games

May 12, 2012 00:05

It's my turn to talk about the Hunger Games. When I saw the movies were coming out, I had precisely zero knowledge of what they were about or that there were books about them. But, hearing some good things, bought the books, read all three, and watched the movie, and found it entirely satisfying and an excellent translation of the book ( Read more... )

commentary, hunger games

Comments 5

etoiledunord May 12 2012, 06:00:49 UTC

This is very interesting and very well articulated. I agree that the first person narrative is something that must be taken into account when considering the attitudes towards the ways of Panem. Sometimes people can conflate a first person narrative with an author's direct mouthpiece or with a reflection of the target audience's assumed attitudes towards the issues in the book, but I find that first person works best for me when neither of those are the case--when it's distinctly the character's voice on the page ( ... )

jaune_chat May 12 2012, 15:30:19 UTC

Like Katniss says about her prep team, she really can't hate them, even though they're essentially preparing her as a fatted calf (pre-Games) or a prize horse (post-Games). They're not depraved, because that implies some wicked pleasure or conscious acknowledgement of the inherant wrongness of what they're doing. They don't see it as wrong - it's just part of their life, like changing fashions or the sun rising.

game_byrd May 12 2012, 14:24:58 UTC

I agree. Some of the objections about the movie sound as though people are digging hard to find things to object to. Like Rue's race? Really ( ... )

jaune_chat May 12 2012, 15:26:27 UTC

What grinds my gears on this whole entirely ridiculous "objection" to Rue's portrayal is that in the book she's explicitly described as being black. "Dark brown skin," is what is said. Apparently some people need that to be "dark tanned skin on a white person." Did those complaining even read the book? Oi ( ... )

game_byrd May 12 2012, 15:38:39 UTC

The race thing is irksome. I know the Harry Potter fandom/response had a jolt when they cast one of the characters as black. I think Blaise Zabini? Like it was a big deal. Geez. It's England. Black people live there! Get over it! What I found particularly weird is how people got their backs up over Blaise and trotted out these weird arguments about racial breakdown of England and such, yet didn't blink about Cho Chang or the Parvati sisters. Double standard much ( ... )