Why We Love The Hunger Games' Katniss (& Why She Kicks Bella's Butt)
Here at R29, our distaste for weak-willed heroines and female archetypes with zero agency is reasonably well broadcast. So, you can probably imagine our undeniable glee upon first encounter with the often fearless, always thoughtful, and innately iron-willed, but not infallible Katniss Everdeen, in book-to-movie phenomenon The Hunger Games (side note: Are YA authors no longer allowed to even consider optioning movies unless they produce at least a trilogy?).
At first glance, the "girl on fire" seems so unlike us. Living in a desolate world with a distaste for the show ponies of the Capitol (okay, we get that, but at the same time, Cinna’s gold liner seems kinda fun), she sees the frivolities of fashion as an extension of the excesses of the government that suppresses and starves her family. And she’s right, at least in the horrific context of her story.
(In case you've managed to avoid the books, the Cliff's Notes: A totalitarian government keeps its people in check by sacrificing two kids from each district, and forcing them to fight to the death in a psychologically manipulated arena — on live television. Katniss volunteers to participate in place of her 11-year-old sister, and mayhem ensues.)
Photos: Courtesy of Lionsgate
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