The Real Injustice Against the Hunger Games Tributes (Review Part 2)

The second part of my review of The Hunger Games is long overdue, so I might as well finish it now. I have said in my previous entry that while I am willing to give The Hunger Games a chance by reading the book and really getting to know the protagonist beyond what I see on the screen. However, I am very much put off by the excessive focus we have on Katniss Everdeen. I think it would have been much better if there was no specific protagonist at all; that way, we can see what each of the twenty-four Tributes are going through in this barbarous competition.

I came to the theater knowing nothing beyond the basic fact that there is a gladiator-like competition involving teenagers and older children while one of them serves as the audience’s eye. I wasn’t expecting to be expected to root for this one character, who is “talented”archer and huntress Katniss Everdeen, who lives in District 12 of the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. The concept is clever, and this highly imaginative vision of the future is surprisingly believable. I even told my sister that Lady Gaga might be a cultural icon to this world like Marilyn Monroe, Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn, or Elizabeth Taylor is to us. And it’s believable that way, and I like how it went that way.

Then, we are introduced to the mechanics of the Hunger Games. I love how intentionally laughable it was. The concept alone is an insult to anyone forced to participate. By the time this is revealed, we have already been introduced to our “heroine” Katniss Everdeen, her pseudo-boyfriendGale Hawthorne, and her sister Primrose, who has been dreading the day she is old enough to be selected as a participant in the Hunger Games.

Then, when it was revealed that there are twenty-four other characters participating in the Hunger Games, I was thrilled. Meeting new characters is like meeting new friends for me. I was looking forward to learning about where they come from, what they are leaving, and what they feel about being there.

After already witnessing how the Harvest works (a cruel draw where their names are simply picked out from a fishbowl), I felt concern over the twenty-two Tributes from the eleven other Districts. What did they feel when they got chosen? Are they as sure as Katniss about winning? Oh, there’s a gorgeous blond boy; this one’s bound to get a lot of screen time.

Alas, we were treated to an hour or so of Katniss trekking, Katniss running, Katniss sleeping, and Katniss evading her “murderous” opponents. This is the point where I get ticked off. For the next several minutes, about five or seven of the remaining Tributes (practically ten of them died in the first few minutes of the tournament) stalk Katniss and attempt to kill her because she is apparently the strongest and most dangerous of them all. I am prompted to ask why considering she hasn’t done anything vaguely threatening except piss off the leaders behind the Hunger Games. Or was it that they’re unrealistically impressed by her feisty attitude?

But what I’m even more irritated with is that it’s obvious that the story is turning these characters out to be villains. Why? Weren’t they also forcefully torn from their homes to compete in this ridiculous competition? Aren’t they only doing the only thing they can do to survive? Yes, I can see the malicious smiles on their faces, but I figure that’s their way of dealing with their fears. Isn’t the Hunger Games an insult to all of them equally? Why is this story trying to make me root for Katniss? What's making me so angry considering these facts, is that, as my best friend has said: "Yeah, nobody gives a fuck about how THEY FEEL."

I am more interested in these other characters. I want to meet them. I want to get to know them. I want to know of their hopes and fears. I want to know how they saw their future before getting drawn into the Hunger Games. If they have any hope of winning, what do they want to do with their victory? I am never given the answers to any of those because this story is giving unnecessary focus on Katniss, and I am not even sure why!

For the next few months, I was convinced this was a flaw with film adaptations of novels. You really can’t expect to everything to be neatly translated between the two mediums. Maybe it was deliberate to help non-readers understand what was going on. Once again, I was sorely mistaken.

It was only days ago when I came upon a comment—in YouTube, I think. I don’t quite remember what I was looking at—perhaps a Hunger Games-related news clip or an interview with the cast. Maybe it was a feature article from an entirely different website. Either way, there was some sort of argument going on in the comments section. I didn’t bother with taking a good look at what they were arguing about, but the highest rated comment is apparently part of them. It said: “… Those kids who enjoy killing in the Hunger Games, they are the villains!”

The V-word is an ugly word. I prefer not to use that word except with a cast of characters in certain genres, and the genre of The Hunger Games isn’t one of them. As far as I can tell, those kids who “enjoy” killing in the Hunger Games aren’t enjoying it any more than Katniss does. But they live in a cruel world, and they understand it is the only way they can survive. They know they are helpless now that they’re in the Hunger Games. They might as well do it with a smile because they know moaning about it isn’t going to do anything lest they already have a knife to their throat.

I dunno, maybe that’s just me. Maybe it’s the adaptation. Maybe it’s both. Either way, I refuse to believe that these kids are villains. They’re desperate. They’re constantly on the verge of death. What else would you do if you were in their shoes? I know Katniss must be scared having to put up with them, but it’s not like they entered themselves in the Hunger Games just to kill her. Why is this narrative trying to give me that impression? It’s just so wrong.