This month we decided to talk about "The Hunger Games" book and movie, and some of the controversies surrounding it when the movie came out. There are spoilers for the movie and book but we do not speak about the subsequent books. Hope you enjoy!
Download as an mp3
The 25 Most Racist Tweets About "The Hunger Games" Seriously, for your sanity, avoid the comments.
Amandla Stenberg (Rue) on the racist tweets
Just for funzies, there is a new brouhaha about future casting of a character named Finnick and honestly all the actors who are suggested as white alternatives don't fit the physical description nearly as well as Jesse Williams. (Ian Somerhalder is hot like burning but "golden" he is not.) Basically, what those people are saying is that they only are attracted to white guys, so this super handsome guy has to be white.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI finally opened a second window so that I could leave a comment. Otherwise, I'd have to wait until I'm done listening, and I'm only ten minutes in. LOL!
Yes, it's so obvious in the first book that Peeta is in love with Katniss. And I think she knows that; it's not that she's naturally skeptical of mushy feelings, but that she has a not-so-sublimated girly side that wants to play coy. And maybe kind of wants to stomp on his heart a bit to see if he'll still come back, because that would be quite the ego booster. =P
I think it's more that, even if he DOES like her, in order for her to win he has to die. If he wins, she has to die. Until the very end, there was the very real possibility that only one of them was going home. So opening up to that would be a bit pointless ANYWAY.
Delete+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteOn costume design . . .
I agree with Angie that there should have been something more rebellious about Cinna's own costumes. (Not those he designs for Katniss and Peeta, but those he himself wears.) Yes, as Bethany points out, he's the subtle one in the book--but he can't be that subtle in the movie, because then he won't stand out from the really flamboyant Capitol characters. There is just no visual cue to communicate that he is different. (Unless being played by Lenny Kravitz counts as a visual cue. LOL!)
Consider the citizens of the Capitol. People wear flowers all over them. Bright colors. In the book, many of them tint their skin wild colors. Bright colors, especially among stylists.
DeleteHow do you stand out in an environment like that? Truly? You have to go in the opposite direction. Cinna's dress is austere, but there's nobody in the Capitol who dresses like him.
+JMJ+
DeleteI think I would have dressed him in something that looked like a monk's robes. All black--to bring out the gold eyeliner (and any other gold highlights) better. LOL!
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning, I wasn't too crazy about Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. It makes the character instantly likeable, when the Haymitch of the first book is someone we're never sure of until the end. (Now, I can understand Katniss not being sure about Haymitch, although I call shenaningans when she plays coy about Peeta. LOL!)
There are good things about each approach to Haymitch's character, though, and I'm not sure which one I like better. The movie makes me wonder: if I were a character in the books, would I think that Harrelson would be perfect for Haymitch? If the answer is yes, though, that means that Katniss is quite the Unreliable Narrator!
Just because Katniss doesn't like him doesn't mean he is, all in all, unlikeable. She doesn't like him because of what is going on right then, and so being in her head you don't just get his drunk uselessness, but how Katniss feels about it (understandably pissed).
DeleteWithout being pushed through her narrative, he is automatically more likeable because she has good reason to dislike him and that's represented differently.
That doesn't make her an unreliable narrator, that's just about perspective changes.
I realized this morning that the fact that we don't meet Haymitch until they're on the train makes a bit of a difference. Cutting out the part where he falls over himself drunk on stage (and becomes the clown that everyone in the Capital loves to laugh at) goes a long way in making him look more capable and likeable. It also decreases the concern of whether or not he'll be able to get sponsors for them.
DeleteAlso, I don't think Woody Harrelson makes Haymitch instantly likeable. Perhaps if you only knew him from his days on Cheers. But given the reputation he has built for himself since, he seemed a perfect match for a crotchety drunk to me.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteOh, gosh. THE BREAD! I was really upset that the movie didn't have the District 11 bread.
I understand why they substituted the uprising scene, but the bread was priceless.
It was a great scene in the book! It was foreshadowed and everything, the callback was great and it was the only way Katniss would know during the games that District 11 supported her.
DeleteIt would not have translated well to film, though. Mostly because they would have had to interrupt the narrative flow at that point. Maybe they'll bring the bread in later movies. :)
+JMJ+
ReplyDelete"The girl who played Clove" was Isabelle Fuhrman. ;-) I thought she was so menacing in Orphan but didn't recognise her here. I was so impressed when I found out!
I got lazy and didn't look her name up, heh. She was great in the film! Like all the girls in school that I truly hated.
DeleteI'll look up Orphan at some point.
Where's the direct download link?
ReplyDeleteOh dang, sorry. Fixed it.
DeleteTotally my bad, Angie normally does these and I was struggling with simple tasks this morning.
Oh, I have MANY THINGS to talk about the Hunger Games. Many things.
ReplyDeleteI read the books as the series was coming out, and I've been following the movie news since they've announced it, so I was really invested in this. (And I didn't see the movie until a week after it got released.) I have actually said that this is one of the best adaptations I have seen in a long time. The casting was perfect, the script was perfect, I don't mind most of the cuts that were made, and while I don't like shaky-cam, I do like that it was used effectively.
The thing that I have with Katniss is she's a very closed-off character, and she doesn't quite trust people, so her whole obliviousness over Peeta's being in love with her makes sense in a way. I do want to slap her sometimes for being an idiot, but given what she's been through, I can see why she's not good at reading people. I think it's a little more stated in the movie as well, but that's because we have more perspectives in the movie. And omg Jennifer Lawerence was just so perfect. I really need to see Winter's Bone, because apparently she's fantastic in that.
Also, for casting, the only two I was initially worried about were Woody Harrellson and Lenny Kravtiz. Not that I couldn't see them as Haymitch and Cinna, it's just could they pull it off, and Woody Harrellson said something to the effect of playing his role as comedic. And they were fantastic. I would like to say more, but they involve spoilers for the rest of the series. (Please tell me you've read the other books or are going to start them, because there is so much to talk about.)
It's also interesting that you kept going back to the District 11 uprising and whether or not there would be repercussions. And I just realized this while listening, the first person killed by the mutts at the end is Thresh. So, now I'm wondering if that's the offscreen repercussion to District 11. (There's more, but again, spoilers.)
AND OH GOD RUE. Every time she popped up on screen, my heart crumbled into pieces. It's worse when you know what's coming, it's so much worse. Her actress was just so perfect in that role. The whole scene where she and Katniss are eating and talking, I loved that part. The last time I cried at a movie was Deathly Hallows, and this was so much worse. (Oh, fuck those racist assholes. I'm sorry, but if a character's race is more important to you than the character themselves, then FUCK YOU.)
Note on Battle Royale- the bookstore I work for decided to promote that book as a "good follow-up to the Hunger Games." I'm the only person in the store who's read the book and seen the movie, and I immediately had to tell my boss "DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK." Not because I think it's a bad book, but we had so many parents asking us if it was appropriate for their kids to read. We did have alternate titles, though, so we were partially saved. (Not that I don't think people should read it, it's just the parents seeing "Oh, this must be for teens! It's something popular!" Much like with 50 Shades of Grey now. *shudder*)
HEY ANGIE HAVE YOU SEEN LEGEND OF KORRA YET? BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING AWESOME.
I could go on, but you did mention that you both haven't read the next two books, so at the risk of spoiling you guys, I won't say more, but when you do, I will be ready for the discussion.- princess_starr
I have Catching Fire sitting on my Kindle waiting for me, but sadly haven't had a chance to read it yet. But I will, and Mockingjay after that, I promise! :)
DeleteI am probably the only AvatarTLA fan who hasn't watched Korra yet, and I'm so woefully behind I kind of wonder if I might as well wait for the full season to be done. But I am going to have a bit of free time this coming weekend, so maybe that will give me a chance to finally watch it. I have heard nothing but wonderful things, so I'm excited to check it out.
We haven't had the money to go out and get the other two books yet, but Greg (my husband) just finished Hunger Games and was like WE NEED THE OTHER TWO so maybe that will happen soon.
DeleteAfter we recorded this I watched the Cinema Snob's review of the Hunger Games and he brought up Battle Royale and shrugged off the similarities (and he really loved it ) so I felt we were justified in our response. Most of the knee jerk reactions struck me as very Hipster-like in snarky quality so whatever. I plan on getting around to Battle Royale at some point but I have only so much time.
Also I too plan on watching Legend of Korra at some point, as I finally watched AtLa and mentally kicked myself for having not watched it previously. Ah well.
See, I liked Battle Royale, but I'm not sitting here trying to compare the two. They're extremely different reactions to the same ideas, and I do think calling one a ripoff of the other is lazy and not really understanding the concepts the respective authors were trying to get at.
DeleteAnd, yes, Korra is fantastic. I consider myself to be a casual AtLA fan, but I've really gotten into Korra and just can't wait for each episode.
Oh, and things that I was thinking over today after having listened to the show.
ReplyDelete- I'm not surprised that Cinna would have a very laid-back personal style as opposed to the outfits he creates, if only from what I've seen of actual fashion designers, they tend to dress simplistic while they make crazy outfits.
- Actually, Suzanne Collins did write the script and I think she's contracted to do the next two movies. Which I think definitely worked for the best for the movie, as she has screenwriting experience and really understood what her limits were. And I think she got to explore the reality show angle more and it comes across a bit more obviously than it does in the book. (She wrote for Clarissa Explains It All, amongst other shows.)
- Can I bring up the music? I did like the score itself, but more of the District 12 folksier aspects. Most of the Games music felt very action movie sounding at times. And I'm just really glad that the first credits song they went with was the on-point thematic Arcade Fire song, and not the Taylor Swift love anthem (although that was second). The soundtrack is pretty good, there's some really fantastic songs on it.
The more I think about it the more it makes sense for Cinna to be more normal looking. It's mostly a matter of what I was picturing in my head as I was reading was very different than what I saw on screen.
DeleteOh man, I used to love Clarissa! That's great that they let her write the screenplay. I wish more movie adaptations would do that.
I have a bad habit of not really paying attention to scores in movies unless they're so bad I can't help but notice them. Which pretty much means this one has to be good since I don't really remember it. :)