Since everyone is talking about it...

To be honest, one of the things that inspired me to resume writing this blog was the frequency with which I was getting asked my opinion about the new Hunger Games movie. So, that is where I am starting. And this way I can say it once and for all and then not have to repeat it! :-)

I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy over the course of four days last spring. I admit to loving young adult literature and had been meaning to look into this trilogy for awhile, having heard what a stir it is causing. So, when I saw it listed on the required reading for my English Teaching Methodology class that quarter, I was extremely pleased. And I was not disappointed.

If you have not read the series yet, just go ahead and do it. It is going to be one of those icons of our time, like Twilight and like Harry Potter before that. And it is a little closer in general appeal to the latter than the former in that there is a lot more action and a lot less romance. So there is definitely appeal to a wider audience.

I often get asked if adults would like it even though it is YA lit. My response: it should only barely be YA. In fact, I hesitate to recommend it to kids, although I was not surprised that almost every seventh grader in my classroom this year had read it. This series is intense and often violent. I won't lie, it took a four hour walk and some rum to recover after I finished the third book. Intense.

But this isn't a review of the books. The people asking my opinion have all read the books and if you like to read enough that you are here, you probably have too. This is about my feelings on the movie.

So, what I have failed to mention is that in my year long absence I have also returned to another passion of mine: acting. I resumed training last spring and have been doing some filming on various Indie projects through the fall and winter. I even did a stint as Associate Producer for a webseries briefly to help develop my understanding of the production side of things. This, combined with my background in literary studies, means that I watch films with a different eye than a lot of people. And that eye left me with mixed feelings about this movie.

First, I have to acknowledge that any time a director or a production team takes on filming an icon like this series, they face a lot of pressure from fans to get it right. And a lot of money rides on this. So, I get that the decision about what should carry over are difficult.

I think that there is a lot to praise about this project. First of all, the books are incredibly internal and a lot of the plot revolves around Katniss, solo in the arena, thinking things through. How do you film that? In this regard, the film makers took an approach that I think worked well. I loved the expansion of the roles of Cesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith as narrators, allowing them to explain some of the things that Katniss would have been thinking. Further, I really enjoyed seeing the games from the gamemakers and Capitol citizen's perspectives. This added some depth in areas where it was needed. Similarly, I enjoyed the expansion of the roles of Seneca Crane and President Snow as well. I think it was a good idea to establish Snow's character early on and his juxtaposition with Crane's relative "innocence" was beautifully written. Particularly because the role of the stylists will be more limited, I liked using Crane as a vehicle to show how Capitol citizens understood the games in a shallow entertaining manner and failed to really examine their brutal impact. And I admit that I really enjoyed the plot twist in which (movie/book difference spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the movie and care about this stuff, skip ahead...) Haymitch is responsible for convincing Seneca Crane to allow two winners! I think that adds a cool new dimension.

Although I was initially skeptical about the decision to use the Shakycam style of filming, I think it worked here and it wasn't overdone. When I first heard about the decision, I was having flashbacks to being motion sick while watching Blair Witch Project and got a little nervous. But no worries, they keep it in control and it game the film a more documentary feel. Now, I still have a few thoughts about this ahead, but at least it didn't DETRACT from the film.

Finally, I loved, loved, loved Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss. Nailed it. No one else can ever be Katniss. The girl owned it. I also adored Lenny Kravitz as Cinna. He embodied that role so beautifully and I get angry at all the haters out there. I get especially angry at the ignorant racial comments about Lenny as Cinna or about the casting of Rue and Thresh. Read the books, folks. And even if it wasn't already in the books, GET OVER IT PEOPLE. I, for one, am always thrilled when solid, choice roles can go to people of color. Hollywood could still use some work in the diversity department.

Ok, now for what was missing. And for me, this was huge.

This saga is going to suffer from the opposite problem that Twilight had. In that case, there was not a whole lot of action in the plot and thus the films could revolve entirely around the character developments. In fact, there was so little real plot action that the film had to add stuff to make it viewable. In this case, however, there is way too much action. So the filmmakers are faced with a huge dilemma. What do you cut without upsetting fans? So, they made the decision to cut almost nothing, as far as action goes. And, in my opinion, this sacrificed so much more.

What I loved most about the books was the emotional richness of the characters struggling to comprehend and deal with their realities. This is a classical dystopian series and is meant to leave the reader really examining social issues. Further, Collins has written it well enough that, at least for me, I could really feel the knitty gritty realities as if I were there. There were so many stunning points of emotional tension that it was a truly powerful read. So, I was really excited to see what could be done when put into the more versatile media of film. However, in trying to keep all of the action points while still fitting into a feature length film time frame, there was little room left to really allow these points of tension to settle in. Everything moved way too quickly for any one issue or moment to resonate.

Let's start with the obvious. I am not overly emotional. But I have never been able to make it through a reading of Rue's death scene without sobbing. Like really, full on crying. It is that well written. And each time I would sit there contemplating all the great ways that film could represent this scene using all of the resources available. Music, editing, perspective...so many possibilities!

When I watched this scene in the movie I didn't even feel a tug. The only emotion I felt was disappointment. And this is in NO way a reflection on the acting talents of Jennifer or Amandla. Both of them are tremendously talented and powerful actresses and I look forward to seeing more from both of them. No, this was an issue created on the other side of the camera.

Similarly, in the novel, the scene in which Thresh spares Katniss' life in exchange for her treatment of Rue is incredibly powerful. There are so many layers of feeling there. He knows it is life or death. She knows this. Neither likes to owe someone. There are duty, compassion, confusion, anger, and so many other emotions going on in this scene. And again, both actors have the range and talent to represent this scene. But we weren't given the time for them to do this! The moment was lost because we needed to see every action high point.

I could go on and on like this. But the bottom line for me is that something that can be and has already been such a vehicle to provoke thought about social issues and the human experience has been sacrificed on the alter of entertaining action scenes. And that breaks my heart. But I don't blame the filmmakers either. When you are dealing with a series like this, you know you will be making difficult decisions and that it will be impossible to appease all of the fans. I think, in general, they made the decision that will appease the most fans because, sadly, I think most young fans are not going to interact with these texts as deeply as they could. Most won't even have the frame of reference with which to do so. They will be looking at the film in the only way they know how and that means they want to hit a checklist of scenes to feel satisfied.

Finally, one last note, bringing us back to the shakycam technique decision. I see where there were going with this approach and in considering the choices they needed to make and the direction they had to take, I think it is a cool choice. The use of this technique lends the film an almost documentary feel, almost as if you are there with the characters. And for this product, I like it. HOWEVER, a side effect of this technique is that is reinforces a distance between viewer and characters because if you are there with them then you can't BE them. And I am afraid that this might have lent to the final effect of being lacking in the emotional richness of the books. More traditional methods could have allowed the filmmakers to use different techniques to "emotionally manipulate" the viewers into feeling tensions and emotions through perspectives, lighting, music and so on. But it is what it is and I think the choice fits well with the product they created.

Ok, so I think I put it all out there. Hope that makes sense to all of you. And I have to reiterate that my overall opinion of the series is still very positive and I can't wait to see how they continue it! And I would still KILL for a role in this franchise! ;-)

So, that said, looks like it is back to final writing. Yaaaaayy...{silent sob} I think I can, I think I can...

Sairs

I'm back!

I know it has been a long time...ok, more than a year. But I finally decided it was time to come back and talk books again! A TON has happened in the last year and some of that will influence how this blog looks going forward. Remember the PhD program I was in when I started my book project? Yeah, I got fed up with it. Long story, but basically, although I had been blessed during my undergraduate and first masters program with AMAZING professors and an academically rich and supportive environment, that was NOT the case this time around. I realized that I did not want to spend my life working with people as....well, let's just say I didn't want to be around an environment if it wasn't as enriching as the one to which I had grown accustomed at the University of Arkansas. Further, if I was going to be teaching people, I wanted to return to working with young people. So, I switched to the Masters in Teaching program last April and have been hard at work on that program ever since. As of this coming Friday, I am done and ready to put school behind me! That also means that I will finally have the opportunity again to really put some time into reading good books, which brings us back to you...

I have missed reading books and thinking about them! And I have missed sharing that with you! (Yep, all seven of you... ;-) ) But I realized that there is a lot more out there to discuss than just literary works. Now that I am no longer confined by a 100 book project, I can take the time to examine other media as well. So you might see some movie or television reviews. You might even see some music reviews. And if you want to see something else, just ask!

One other change you might see: new voices. As tedious as this last (and, I swear, FINAL) academic program has been this past year, one bonus has been the acquisition of some amazing friends. Several of them have expressed interest in contribution thoughts on books and other media as well. So I have invited them to submit their reviews and thoughts. In the case that a post is coming from someone else, you will see their names in front of the title. Ideally, I will also give you a little blurb about them so you know who they are. I think this is a great way to bring some other perspectives into the blog.

Ok, so, full disclosure, I am writing this as a break from my finals, so excuse the frantic, random nature of this post, but, hey, it is what it is!
Thanks to the seven of you still with me!
Sarah