As any person in college will naturally feel inclined to do sometimes, I went back this past week and rewatched all of the original Hunger Games movies. They hold a special place in my heart, as in middle school I read them all, and then read them again, and then watched all the movies, and then again. In honor of this most recent rewatch, I want to just talk through some of the things that stood out to me this time around.
During this watch-through, I wanted to start really trying to understand the “game” analogy used throughout the movies. It is one of the earliest things mentioned by Peeta before the first games when talking to Katniss about how he didn’t want to become a pawn in their games.
Katniss very quickly becomes one of the Capitol’s pawns, as she was often easily persuaded in action by those around her. I think this is proved in the lack of surprise by her actions from all of the characters in the film—Gale noting that she only kisses him when he’s hurt, Haymitch knowing she would respond well out in the field, and Plutarch saying “She doesn’t surprise” at the end of Mockingjay – Part 2. The only time she was able to force someone into an unpredictable position was when she pulled out the berries in the end of the 74th games, where Seneca seemed genuinely surprised and was forced to make an unsanctioned countermove.
With this in mind, maybe the reason Seneca had to die at the end of the first movie was that he wasn’t able to deliver on a predicted outcome for the games; he, therefore, wasn’t a good game maker and was a pawn himself. A good game maker should be able to predict the outcome of the games, and practically promise that outcome, as shown by Plutarch. Plutarch was part of the rebellion and was able to get Katniss back into the games, get her out alive, use her as the Mockingjay, predict every move she was going to make, and use that understanding to orchestrate the revolution he planned.
Coin, too, was an outstanding gamemaker, as she was able to pit Snow and Katniss against one another — as acknowledged by Snow in his final conversation with Katniss when he said they had both been played. Snow was a good game maker in his own right, managing to keep the districts in line by pitting the districts against one another in the Hunger Games, and manipulating people into thinking the rebellion was the enemy.
Everybody is just pawns and players; everyone is made to love and hate each other, made to do things they wouldn’t do otherwise, doing what they can to “get ahead” of the next person. But it was all decided by someone before them. What Peeta never wanted—“to become a pawn in their games,” as said before the 74th games—was the first acknowledgment of this large cycle of games, and I think he was also the only person who really saw everything as clearly as it was. He was always the one to warn Katniss about the people she was around and who to trust, because he understood the larger game and he was playing one of his own: trying to protect her from becoming a pawn, too. Of course, he became part of it himself, and so did she. The resolution of the films is that they didn’t have to play this game anymore, and I think that is beautiful.
Anyways, those were my thoughts! Somewhat scattered, but maybe with the next watch I’ll get there. Thanks for reading, as always!
