Oh God, it's finally over.

[gelbes_gilatier]

Or how I got around reading Twilight and was punished for it, after all. Yes, I finally finished Mocking Jay.

Okay, okay, before we go on: this is going to be riddled with spoilers for The Hunger Games and lot of bad language. If you want to stay away from either of them, this is not the post you're looking for *waves you along

For everyone else... let's jump right in.

First of all: there are a lot of awesome things about The Hunger Games. Like, the world building is astonishing and I loved a lot of the supporting cast like Haymitch, Gale, Finnick, Cinna, even Effie. It's also really exciting and full of suspense and non-compromising in regard to the violence (what? It's a violent premise, so yes, no compromises regarding the violence is a good thing in this case).

But.

Katniss and Peeta. They. Suck. Like, lemons. Lots of, actually. At the end, I wanted to throw the goddamn book at the wall at about every other sentence (as opposed to Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I only wanted to throw it at the wall every other page there). Katniss was annoying me with her angsting and her inability to make just about any decision by her own and Peeta was annoying me with his very presence. Like, every time the name appeared, almost from the first page on he made an appearance.

I was about to say that I don't know what it is about him that made me go all "BLERGH GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!" every time but I know it pretty well. He's supposed to be the... how could I say that... ah, the mellower part, the one who's mediating and trying to pacify rather than antagonising. The part that's traditionally a female part, and the idea isn't a bad one. Only... you can't make him the girl pacifyer and the White Knight. Also, you can't make him the one who takes every fucking decision off Katniss's hands, goddammit!

See, that's what put me off the most. All his riding in and saving her without even asking her. What's this, the 19th century? I thought we were over the whole "I'm being a manipulative asshole but it's okay because I'm doing it to save you!" thing. Want to know what I mean? The whole "We're starcrossed lovers!" thing.

The first time he did it in his first interview in the Capitol it weirded me out but I couldn't quite place why that was. The second time he did it, I was actually livid because by then I'd figured out what pissed me off so much. The fact that he made decisions that affected them both on his own without even asking her first or giving her any heads up whatsoever or gave her just some way to have a part in the decision. Would it have been so bad to give at just a little part in the decision making? Because honestly? All this felt almost like dub-con. She was pressed into the role of his lover that she didn't want and she didn't even get a say in it because he was doing it to protect her. I just... I honestly don't have words for how much the whole thing still grosses me out.

Also, can it be? The only decision Katniss made by herself, without being prompted by someone or something was volunteering for Prim during the reaping. All other important decisions seem to have needed some outside prodding, mostly by Peeta. Not even the decision to be the Mocking Jay did she take because she thought about the pros and cons but because Peeta made her do it or at least the footage of him did. I hated him more with every decision she only took because he or something had to do with him somehow pushed her to make it. What kind of message is it that Collins is sending with that? Okay, honestly, I don't even want to know.

Oh, and then the whole "he's better than all of us" thing. Every time Katnis or someone else said that, I wanted to hit something because it just doesn't make sense. He, like, killed at least one person with his own hands and probably had to kill a couple more to be excepted by the Careers in his first Games. How the fucking hell does that make someone better than everyone else? How? Showing and telling fail, anyone? She tells us he's better than anyone and then she shows us that he killed someone? What. I don't even. What?

Oh wait, he was doing it to protect her. Right, that justifies everything, even killing people with your own hands. Sure. Yeah. I get it. Course. That makes everything so much more logical.

Not.

I mean. What. I. GAH!

Now, Katniss. Katniss made me want to kick her in the head a couple of times. She felt extremely dumb at times, most of all in Catching Fire. Everyone who hadn't guessed that Haymitch had a very good reason to make Katniss and Peeta take on the allies they had after the first couple pages into the training for the quell, please raise your hand? No one? That's what I guessed. Katniss was the only one stupid enough and there are no words for how much I want to shake Collins for that. What do you mean, necessary to the plot? Really? Making the heroine that's supposed to save the world look dumb as fuck was part of the plot? Jesus. I don't even know what to say to the kind of message that's sending out.

And then Gale. Did she really have to get rid of him like that? I would have even preferred it if she'd just killed him but villifying him just because she wanted Katniss and Peeta to end up with each other and didn't know what to do with him? Blergh. Also, regarding didn't know what to do with him: it actually felt like she didn't know what to do with Gale the entire fucking trilogy. Why did she even introduce him? To construct some love triangle that was worth shit? Really? Did we really need that? Anyone? Did we?

Finally, the whole kids thing. I understood that Katniss didn't want to have kids. She had a really good reason for it and it was one of the traits that made me hate her a little less. And then Collins goes and destroys that, too with her stupid epilogue. Basically, what the epilogue is saying is that it's okay not to want kids... as long as you don't have a guy who wants them. In the end, she only had kids because Peeta wanted them (did I mention yet that I hate Peeta? What, only a million times? Aw, come on) and she was unfomfortable during both pregnancies. Since when is a relationship in which one partner does something they absolutely don't want to do just because the other one wants it, healthy? Since when?

I'm pretty sure once I click "post" I'll remember a thousand more things I hated about the books but let's end this on a conciliatory note. Like I said, a couple things were really awesome about the boods. I adore the world building and I want to read more Johanna (and Gale/Johanna) because she rocks my world. She's like my anti-Katniss and she's... honest. She's a killer and she's broken and she doesn't mince words. She tells people exactly who she is and she still doesn't tell them half of that. Johanna is, as little screen times as she has in the books, a well thought out character and showing a lot more how terrible the Games are than Katniss and Peeta, at least in a way. I wish we'd gotten to see more of her, and Gale and possible both of them together.

Finnick also was a favorite of mine and I resent Collins for killing him. But at least I understand it. However, I missed him in the end and I may or may not have wanted to cry a little when Katniss mentioned his and Annie's son at the end. Yes, his story (his and Johanna's by extension) gripped me and I wish we would have seen more of him and Annie. I also hated it that she made Effie disappear for so long and then gave her a kind of meaningless part in the end. Effie would have been more important if she'd killed her, I think.

All in all, this had a lot of promise and ended badly (no double-meaning intended. Or maybe I had). Not different from SGU, actually... ahem. Anyway. I don't think I'm going to watch the movie because I couldn't stomach Peeta when I didn't have a clear picture of him so I guess I'd embarrass myself by throwing popcorn at the screen every time he appeared if I went to the movies. I'll just keep looking for fic, preferrably Johanna and Gale/Johanna, also Haymitch, maybe Effi/Haymitch and hey, how about Portia/Cinna? Finnick and Annie, of course. Just no Katniss/Peeta or even Katniss/Gale. I don't think I want to encounter Katniss and her indeciveness and angsting and whining ever again. So... again, any suggestions?


PS.: On the plus side, heitidei found a cinema in Berlin that shows The Avengers in 2D! Yay heitidei!

Comments

[ladyhalbourne]

(Oh, jealous, Leipzig doesn't show in 2D right now, but maybe when it's successful enough?)

I went back to what I have written about The Hunger Games and I have to agree - Peeta Mellark is something of the worst things ever happened. I was more interested in the world (and it is very interesting world) and the politics and media of Panem. (I just saw, I put President Snow, President Coin and Haymitch as my favourite characters, as well as Cinna).

And don't bother with the film, I watched it (on a special price day) and it was more shaking and not enough Capitol & Cinna for my liking. No seriously, who thought it to be a good idea to film fighting scenes not from above (so you see actual, nicely choreographed fighting) but from within (shaking shaking, Hey, was that a leg? Did they shake the character to death?)

[gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com]

but maybe when it's successful enough?

One can (and should) always hope!

Peeta Mellark is something of the worst things ever happened

THANK YOU SO MUCH! Also, could you point me to your entry about the Games? I'd love to read it.

Snow crept me out like whoa but in that he was a fabulous character, most of all because underneath all the creepiness and the grossness, he was at least... honest. I just can't help appreciating that in a character.

it was more shaking

BSG like hand camera? I imagine that to be over-irritating on the big screen...

[ladyhalbourne]

Luckily the screen wasn't that big in that cinema. But irritating? yes.

Here's the entry.

[failegaidin.livejournal.com]

I don't have quite the Peeta hate that you do, but I was infuriated by the end of Mockingjay as well. I was fully prepared for Gale to die (as much as I wanted him to live), but the way she just got rid of him and ended his friendship with Katniss felt cheap. By the end of the trilogy, I didn't even like Katniss anymore. I felt like she settled into a life because she didn't know what else to do. I don't actually believe that she truly loved Peeta, and even the way she talks about her children in the end left me wanting. I understand that she went through hell, but maybe she shouldn't have ended up with anyone. Maybe she should have just remained an individual.

And I agree that the author just had no idea what to do with Gale. I think he was put there to add to the drama, but she never really fleshed him out. You could tell from the beginning that she favored Peeta and that Gale was almost a throwaway character for her. Which wasn't fair, considering the important position she gave to him.

I really loved the first book. I really liked the second book. By the end of the third, I was angry and hurt and kind of felt betrayed. I went to see the movie and actually really enjoyed it but I'm nervous about the other two. We shall see.

(Also, I never considered the dub-con, and though I'm not sure I would go that far in calling it as such, it does weird me out now.)

[gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com]

he way she just got rid of him and ended his friendship with Katniss felt cheap

That's exactly it. She didn't even give them a chance to talk about it. Yes, it was awful and terrible what happened but since Katniss never again felt the need to talk to him (and he seemed not to have that urge, either) the friendship can't have been as deep as she tried to make us believe it was. Show and tell again...

I felt like she settled into a life because she didn't know what else to do.

*nods Like "I can't kill myself because of whatever reason so I guess I just stay alive." Like she had no purpose anymore, no... drive. In the end... it almost felt as if staying alive and killing herself didn't make much difference for her...

I understand that she went through hell, but maybe she shouldn't have ended up with anyone.

I agree. Even before I finished Mocking Jay I kept thinking the best solutions were eithe killing her or letting her stay single and not let her end up with either of them. It would also have made the books something special since not a lot YA books end that way. It also would have been less depressing than her ending up with Peeta in a relationship that seemed neither healthy nor especially affectionate. I mean... obviously, Collins thought it wasn't even important for Katniss to tell us her kids' names. They could have been anyone's kids in the end.

I think he was put there to add to the drama, but she never really fleshed him out.

Yes, I think so, too. Also, there was no drama. It was always with whom she'd end up and that made me feel sorry for Gale. We all knew he didn't stand a chance against flawless "better than all of us" Peeta (let's face it, even when he was hijacked, Collins made him seem like an angel) and I wish Collins at least would have made it a competition between equals, if there had to be a competition.

All in all, I still think it could have been awesome (on a whole, that is)... if there hadn't been so many issues one could have with it...

[mackenziesmomma.livejournal.com]

See its things like this that make me glad that I just stayed the hell away from The Hunger Games AND Twihell. I once tried to read an excerpt of THG online (a page) and I couldn't even make it through the PAGE without throwing something at the screen.

[hanseatic-keks.livejournal.com]

Is there more to the books than the games and Peeta/Katniss? 'cause I haven't read them and I don't want to watch the movie until I know there's something ELSE in there than just kids having to kill other kids for nothing in fucking games. I mean, what a fucked up premise is that?

Making Katniss the heroine sounds good, but the way you described it, it's only a disguise for the guy being the real hero. It reminds me of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Where that new Minister is taking over the Ministry after the old one gets killed, but in reality Voldy is behind the new guy. Pulling the strings. If you know what I mean!?

Also, I read Twilight. I enjoyed it, but then the hype started and I hated it. And the movies are so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. :( the fangirls ruined my fun. (okay, that's a bit childish, but the hype really pushed me away)

[apinkpanthress.livejournal.com]

So Edward, erh... I mean Peeta is a controlling SOB? -Who knew?

These days I feel as if women writers try to raise our young girls witht he wrong mindset.
You are just a Vagina.
You shouldn't think for yourself.
No, you aren't a human being, just be there for the strong man, that your father marries you off to in a as young as possible age.
Wha..? Education? -You silly girl! You don't need that! just stay pretty for your grandfather-husband!

I am so glad, that I haven't read these Books, just as I stayed away from the Twisuck Books! :D

P.S.: Musstest du SGU erwähnen? Ich hatte gerade angefangen damit, diese Blamage zu vergessen! *whine*

[rodlox.livejournal.com]

glad to hear you found a 2D theater.

as to Hunger Games...
I watched the movie for its world-building. (and because it was filmed in my district)

as one reviewer wrote, the advantage of shaking the camera when there's a killing, is that -
a) the viewer doesn't have to see every last part of the killing.
b) the actual violence isn't lessened, but because of (a), the rating can be brought down.