Upping Gale/Katniss? My (hopefully unfounded) fears for Catching Fire
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings and fears for Catching Fire regarding them upping the Gale/Katniss scenes. They do contain spoilers for the rest of the books, so be warned.
Ok, so I saw this quote posted on Tumblr:
”Jen and Liam have amazing chemistry,” says director Francis Lawrence of his young stars. ”They have a nice moment right before Katniss is reaped that is the very first thing we shot. And then when Gale has been brought in from the whipping, that’s another really nice moment they have alone.” ”This is the book where you have to understand the pull Katniss feels to both Peeta and Gale,” say producer Nina Jacobson.
-Entertainment Weekly
And it got me thinking and worrying!
Firstly, I do LOVE the first film, but there are a few things that I’m not as happy about. But now I just have a lot of fears that everything I really love about the books will be watered down too much in the rest of the films.
Yes, there is a bit of a love triangle, but I always thought Katniss' pull towards Gale was more out of confusion and denial about Peeta - overcompensating I think. It is interesting that she never even considered Gale until Peeta started to show an interest!
So whilst the love triangle is in the books, I really do hope they get the balance right! Especially after the whipping scene, which it looks like they will include. And I'm not sure what this scene is where Katniss sees Gale right before she's reaped...
I don’t want this to be another Twilight and too much Gale/Katniss would be completely out of place!
In fact, in the book, after nearly every Katniss/Gale moment, Peeta comes back up VERY quickly! Then, Gale seems to disappear into the ether for a long time! (We hardly see him at all after the very Gale/Katniss moment post whipping - Katniss even wakes up the next morning wanting Peeta!)
Ok, so maybe I am biased as a big Katniss/Peeta shipper, and I do love Peeta’s character, BUT the thing is, IT IS Peeta in the end for Katniss, and it always WAS Peeta. They certainly can’t change who she ends up with. And my gosh, if they make it seem like she’s “settling” for Peeta, my wrath will know no bounds. BUT, that is not my main fear at all. I fear, more than anything, the repercussions it will have for Mockingjay!
In Mockingjay - and indeed the end of Catching Fire - Katniss has a few minor breakdowns and almost loses the will to carry on. She certainly is a far cry from the Mockingjay the rebels want and so much of it IS because she's lost Peeta. She can't really function properly without her boy with the bread.
And then when Peeta does show up, when Katniss is so, so close to realising how much she loves him, his hijacking is revealed and it's just all so heartbreakingly sad! That shock wouldn't be as severe (and it should be!) if we didn't know how much Katniss loves Peeta.
And if they don't show enough of Katniss falling for Peeta in Catching Fire, the audience just won't be convinced with Katniss' actions in Mockingjay. If they water it down a lot (like they somewhat did (understandably to a certain extent) in the first film) and throw in a load of Gale/Katniss, we just won't understand why she is so destroyed and weakened in Mockingjay...
Of course, here's my MAIN fear, that they WON'T show Katniss as being like that. It worries me so much how easily I can see them making Katniss very willing to become the Mockingjay in the final films and that they’ll lose a lot of the emotional depth of her NOT wanting to become the Mockingjay and her near comatose state now Peeta is gone.
I mean, it was hard to read in Mockingjay, very painful on the emotions, BUT it just makes the books so much more symbolic and moving and REAL than its peers!
They've already made her a lot more of a rebel in the first film, compared with the book, and I wonder if they'll continue this in future films. Sure, I love how strong and independent and kick-ass she is, BUT she's human too! She never wanted to lead a rebellion; she didn't defy the Capitol to cause a revolution! She just wanted to survive and for Peeta to survive with her! They definitely watered this down a lot in the first film - even to the point where it seems like Katniss ONLY did what she did to spite the Capitol and win! But that’s another story…
But for me, the fact that Katniss never wanted to start a revolution, but did anyway (with Peeta's help I might add!), and suffered so much for it, adds so much more poignancy and horror and realism to the story.
And for me, the fact that it was her selfless actions in saving Peeta that inspired the nation to rebel, is just so much more profound and emotional than "they just wanted to rebel against the oppression." It gives it such a deeper emotional heart and it’s things like this which make The Hunger Games stand above so, so many other books out there.
There is a reason the "star crossed lovers from District 12" lit the spark of the rebellion. Because they made the nation remember love and humanity and sacrifice and selflessness. It made them remember there was more to life than just staying alive, that by being so divided and selfish and “every man for themselves” they were playing right into the hands of the Capitol! So, in my humble opinion, it was Katniss and Peeta’s selflessness - their “love” for each other - that inspired the nation to rebel, not just Katniss showing the Capitol up! Something which irks me a bit about the first film (though I do really love it anyway!).
Of course, the nation was chomping at the bit to rebel anyway, but it WAS Katniss and Peeta and their relationship which lit the spark and fuelled the fire!
But I can see them carrying this “rebel Katniss” on in future films. Indeed, I wonder if all the “Team Katniss” stuff for the first film was to help this idea take root.
Yes, Katniss is a bit of a rebel, but it’s mainly subconscious. A lot of her “rebellious” actions were simply to help and remember those she loved! The only thing I can think of that Katniss did that was consciously rebellious was in District 8, where she says “Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!” In fact, I mention again that scene in Mockingjay, where the rebels say all the things Katniss has done to make her their Mockingjay - and the scene actually makes the point that they were significant and remembered and meaningful BECAUSE Katniss didn’t do them to intentionally defy the Capitol!
In fact, Peeta is by far the more rebellious one than Katniss! I mean, he was the one who said he didn’t want to just be another part in the Capitol’s game, to not let them change him. HE was the one who started the “star crossed lovers” and rebelled by acting to SAVE Katniss, not himself. And he was the one who talked about the awfulness of the Capitol, in the Capitol itself AND came up with the “baby” story! Not to mention risking his life again by warning District 13 and by talking about the true horrors of the Games to the Nations.
And there is just so much more to Katniss than “being a rebel” - and by making her a “rebel who fights the Capitol to start a rebellion,” they’re really doing her character, and the other characters and the book trilogy itself, a massive disservice.
Katniss is NOT like Gale - she doesn’t complain and rage against the Capitol all the time, quite literally, she “can’t afford to think like that.” She actually doesn’t approve of a lot of what District 13 does, unlike Gale. And I worry that in the future films they’ll make her a BIG rebel and effectively a female version of Gale. Which misses the point that Gale was wrong (though understandably so) to so blindly follow District 13 and to stoop to the Capitol’s level. In fact, they better not undermine one of the biggest themes in Mockingjay IMO - that the rebellion regime can be almost as bad as that it rebels against!
And I fear making a more “rebel” Katniss, one who is a lot less emotionally fragile, will undermine this and the true horrors of war which the books depict. And if we want an understandably emotional fragile Katniss, if we want to see the true horror of Peeta’s hijacking and how he is used by both Snow and Coin, we NEED to see how much Katniss now cares for Peeta. Extra Gale and Katniss will only weaken this, unless they play it just right, like the books do.
And I do wonder if focusing more on Gale/Katniss, they will show her as approving much more of what Gale thinks and does. And it won’t show how they drift apart so much as well. But I suppose they could change all that too, and again undermine the Gale is NOT like Katniss and the District 13 is BAD themes.
And that would make the story so, so much less meaningful and emotional and heart wrenching and, well, basically all the reasons why I LOVE the books! Katniss has a heart, she loves her family and friends and it governs so much of who she is and how she acts. By making her a “rebel,” they’re in danger of weakening her character and potentially ruining so much of what makes her so amazing as a character!
And add to that, upping the Katniss/Gale and watering down the Peeta/Katniss, means you lose so much of Peeta’s character! If his hijacking isn’t as powerful and heart breaking because we don’t think Katniss really loves him, it’s going to do his recovery and all his suffering such a disservice. And Peeta’s character is also so complex and multi-layered and I really hope they give him enough screen time to show that. I really hope they just don’t make him into a soppy, love sick puppy! There’s so, so much more to him than that. BUT if they water down his interactions with Katniss, I’ve no doubt it’ll water down his own screen time!
And it irks me soooooo much how undermined his own role in the rebellion is - both in the fandom and the first film. Peeta was the one to kick start it all! HE lit the spark by revealing his feelings, by trying to protect Katniss in the games! Katniss just followed on! And whilst it was her idea to eat the berries to test the Capitol, Peeta was the one to say to hold them out so everyone could really see AND understand why they did it.
And gosh, it bothers me so much how people belittle that scene! Katniss WAS GAMBLING WITH HER LIFE! She had no certainty that the Capitol would relent, but she took the risk anyway! She was determined to eat those berries if she had to, which to me shows so much more than a stubborn, headstrong girl wanting to spite the Capitol.
And it is Peeta who makes such a big sensation before the Quarter Quell! He was the one who mentions the baby which makes even the Capitol actively rebel! Sheeze, they don’t even have a party that night because there was too much risk of fighting! THAT was Peeta! And in Mockingjay, the Capitol USES Peeta to try and turn around the rebellion - first by his interviews and secondly by hijacking him They wouldn’t have even bothered with all that if they didn’t think he was important. And Peeta’s hijacking was not just about breaking Katniss, it was by breaking one of the rebellions greatest weapons - Peeta himself AND the “star crossed lovers of District 12.”
Because sure, Katniss herself, through her actions with Prim and Rue, worked her way into the people’s heart, but it was as one half of the star crossed lovers that she truly became the face of the rebellion! THAT was why Snow forced them together, because he knew it would only drive them apart. And that was why Snow knew one of them had to die - publicly in the arena - to split them up for good to really try and break the rebels. At least in my humble opinion anyway.
And it’s all these things, these extra themes and symbolisms and complexities which make the books so much more emotional and heartbreaking and poignant and just down right addictive! I mean, it’s not often I’m still writing super long posts about a book nearly a year after I read it!
Anyway, sorry about all the ranting. I’m just getting VERY worried they’re realllllly going to water down the Katniss/Peeta stuff, the actual part Peeta DOES play in the rebellion and his complex character AND push more Gale/Katniss on us.
And that this in turn will either lead to a broken Katniss in MJ which makes less sense, or that it will lead to a fiercer, less emotionally fragile and more “rebellious” Katniss in Mockingjay - which may undermine so much of what the trilogies are about!
I’m not sure how I managed to write so much though, guess I just have a lot of thoughts and feels!
Tl;dr - I just want to add in that I DO love the first film and I hope the second is just as good and stays just as true to the books.
I just have LOTS of feels and fears about them screwing up Katniss’ character and making her too rebellious and really watering down Katniss/Peeta and Peeta’s character.
Fingers crossed my fears are for nothing! I really, really hope so! I love the books and I loved the first film, but so, so much rests on Catching Fire!
At least though, we have a very competent cast who do seem to love the books, and the same director for the rest of the franchise, so the continuity will hopefully still be there!
Ok, so I saw this quote posted on Tumblr:
”Jen and Liam have amazing chemistry,” says director Francis Lawrence of his young stars. ”They have a nice moment right before Katniss is reaped that is the very first thing we shot. And then when Gale has been brought in from the whipping, that’s another really nice moment they have alone.” ”This is the book where you have to understand the pull Katniss feels to both Peeta and Gale,” say producer Nina Jacobson.
-Entertainment Weekly
And it got me thinking and worrying!
Firstly, I do LOVE the first film, but there are a few things that I’m not as happy about. But now I just have a lot of fears that everything I really love about the books will be watered down too much in the rest of the films.
Yes, there is a bit of a love triangle, but I always thought Katniss' pull towards Gale was more out of confusion and denial about Peeta - overcompensating I think. It is interesting that she never even considered Gale until Peeta started to show an interest!
So whilst the love triangle is in the books, I really do hope they get the balance right! Especially after the whipping scene, which it looks like they will include. And I'm not sure what this scene is where Katniss sees Gale right before she's reaped...
I don’t want this to be another Twilight and too much Gale/Katniss would be completely out of place!
In fact, in the book, after nearly every Katniss/Gale moment, Peeta comes back up VERY quickly! Then, Gale seems to disappear into the ether for a long time! (We hardly see him at all after the very Gale/Katniss moment post whipping - Katniss even wakes up the next morning wanting Peeta!)
Ok, so maybe I am biased as a big Katniss/Peeta shipper, and I do love Peeta’s character, BUT the thing is, IT IS Peeta in the end for Katniss, and it always WAS Peeta. They certainly can’t change who she ends up with. And my gosh, if they make it seem like she’s “settling” for Peeta, my wrath will know no bounds. BUT, that is not my main fear at all. I fear, more than anything, the repercussions it will have for Mockingjay!
In Mockingjay - and indeed the end of Catching Fire - Katniss has a few minor breakdowns and almost loses the will to carry on. She certainly is a far cry from the Mockingjay the rebels want and so much of it IS because she's lost Peeta. She can't really function properly without her boy with the bread.
And then when Peeta does show up, when Katniss is so, so close to realising how much she loves him, his hijacking is revealed and it's just all so heartbreakingly sad! That shock wouldn't be as severe (and it should be!) if we didn't know how much Katniss loves Peeta.
And if they don't show enough of Katniss falling for Peeta in Catching Fire, the audience just won't be convinced with Katniss' actions in Mockingjay. If they water it down a lot (like they somewhat did (understandably to a certain extent) in the first film) and throw in a load of Gale/Katniss, we just won't understand why she is so destroyed and weakened in Mockingjay...
Of course, here's my MAIN fear, that they WON'T show Katniss as being like that. It worries me so much how easily I can see them making Katniss very willing to become the Mockingjay in the final films and that they’ll lose a lot of the emotional depth of her NOT wanting to become the Mockingjay and her near comatose state now Peeta is gone.
I mean, it was hard to read in Mockingjay, very painful on the emotions, BUT it just makes the books so much more symbolic and moving and REAL than its peers!
They've already made her a lot more of a rebel in the first film, compared with the book, and I wonder if they'll continue this in future films. Sure, I love how strong and independent and kick-ass she is, BUT she's human too! She never wanted to lead a rebellion; she didn't defy the Capitol to cause a revolution! She just wanted to survive and for Peeta to survive with her! They definitely watered this down a lot in the first film - even to the point where it seems like Katniss ONLY did what she did to spite the Capitol and win! But that’s another story…
But for me, the fact that Katniss never wanted to start a revolution, but did anyway (with Peeta's help I might add!), and suffered so much for it, adds so much more poignancy and horror and realism to the story.
And for me, the fact that it was her selfless actions in saving Peeta that inspired the nation to rebel, is just so much more profound and emotional than "they just wanted to rebel against the oppression." It gives it such a deeper emotional heart and it’s things like this which make The Hunger Games stand above so, so many other books out there.
There is a reason the "star crossed lovers from District 12" lit the spark of the rebellion. Because they made the nation remember love and humanity and sacrifice and selflessness. It made them remember there was more to life than just staying alive, that by being so divided and selfish and “every man for themselves” they were playing right into the hands of the Capitol! So, in my humble opinion, it was Katniss and Peeta’s selflessness - their “love” for each other - that inspired the nation to rebel, not just Katniss showing the Capitol up! Something which irks me a bit about the first film (though I do really love it anyway!).
Of course, the nation was chomping at the bit to rebel anyway, but it WAS Katniss and Peeta and their relationship which lit the spark and fuelled the fire!
But I can see them carrying this “rebel Katniss” on in future films. Indeed, I wonder if all the “Team Katniss” stuff for the first film was to help this idea take root.
Yes, Katniss is a bit of a rebel, but it’s mainly subconscious. A lot of her “rebellious” actions were simply to help and remember those she loved! The only thing I can think of that Katniss did that was consciously rebellious was in District 8, where she says “Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!” In fact, I mention again that scene in Mockingjay, where the rebels say all the things Katniss has done to make her their Mockingjay - and the scene actually makes the point that they were significant and remembered and meaningful BECAUSE Katniss didn’t do them to intentionally defy the Capitol!
In fact, Peeta is by far the more rebellious one than Katniss! I mean, he was the one who said he didn’t want to just be another part in the Capitol’s game, to not let them change him. HE was the one who started the “star crossed lovers” and rebelled by acting to SAVE Katniss, not himself. And he was the one who talked about the awfulness of the Capitol, in the Capitol itself AND came up with the “baby” story! Not to mention risking his life again by warning District 13 and by talking about the true horrors of the Games to the Nations.
And there is just so much more to Katniss than “being a rebel” - and by making her a “rebel who fights the Capitol to start a rebellion,” they’re really doing her character, and the other characters and the book trilogy itself, a massive disservice.
Katniss is NOT like Gale - she doesn’t complain and rage against the Capitol all the time, quite literally, she “can’t afford to think like that.” She actually doesn’t approve of a lot of what District 13 does, unlike Gale. And I worry that in the future films they’ll make her a BIG rebel and effectively a female version of Gale. Which misses the point that Gale was wrong (though understandably so) to so blindly follow District 13 and to stoop to the Capitol’s level. In fact, they better not undermine one of the biggest themes in Mockingjay IMO - that the rebellion regime can be almost as bad as that it rebels against!
And I fear making a more “rebel” Katniss, one who is a lot less emotionally fragile, will undermine this and the true horrors of war which the books depict. And if we want an understandably emotional fragile Katniss, if we want to see the true horror of Peeta’s hijacking and how he is used by both Snow and Coin, we NEED to see how much Katniss now cares for Peeta. Extra Gale and Katniss will only weaken this, unless they play it just right, like the books do.
And I do wonder if focusing more on Gale/Katniss, they will show her as approving much more of what Gale thinks and does. And it won’t show how they drift apart so much as well. But I suppose they could change all that too, and again undermine the Gale is NOT like Katniss and the District 13 is BAD themes.
And that would make the story so, so much less meaningful and emotional and heart wrenching and, well, basically all the reasons why I LOVE the books! Katniss has a heart, she loves her family and friends and it governs so much of who she is and how she acts. By making her a “rebel,” they’re in danger of weakening her character and potentially ruining so much of what makes her so amazing as a character!
And add to that, upping the Katniss/Gale and watering down the Peeta/Katniss, means you lose so much of Peeta’s character! If his hijacking isn’t as powerful and heart breaking because we don’t think Katniss really loves him, it’s going to do his recovery and all his suffering such a disservice. And Peeta’s character is also so complex and multi-layered and I really hope they give him enough screen time to show that. I really hope they just don’t make him into a soppy, love sick puppy! There’s so, so much more to him than that. BUT if they water down his interactions with Katniss, I’ve no doubt it’ll water down his own screen time!
And it irks me soooooo much how undermined his own role in the rebellion is - both in the fandom and the first film. Peeta was the one to kick start it all! HE lit the spark by revealing his feelings, by trying to protect Katniss in the games! Katniss just followed on! And whilst it was her idea to eat the berries to test the Capitol, Peeta was the one to say to hold them out so everyone could really see AND understand why they did it.
And gosh, it bothers me so much how people belittle that scene! Katniss WAS GAMBLING WITH HER LIFE! She had no certainty that the Capitol would relent, but she took the risk anyway! She was determined to eat those berries if she had to, which to me shows so much more than a stubborn, headstrong girl wanting to spite the Capitol.
And it is Peeta who makes such a big sensation before the Quarter Quell! He was the one who mentions the baby which makes even the Capitol actively rebel! Sheeze, they don’t even have a party that night because there was too much risk of fighting! THAT was Peeta! And in Mockingjay, the Capitol USES Peeta to try and turn around the rebellion - first by his interviews and secondly by hijacking him They wouldn’t have even bothered with all that if they didn’t think he was important. And Peeta’s hijacking was not just about breaking Katniss, it was by breaking one of the rebellions greatest weapons - Peeta himself AND the “star crossed lovers of District 12.”
Because sure, Katniss herself, through her actions with Prim and Rue, worked her way into the people’s heart, but it was as one half of the star crossed lovers that she truly became the face of the rebellion! THAT was why Snow forced them together, because he knew it would only drive them apart. And that was why Snow knew one of them had to die - publicly in the arena - to split them up for good to really try and break the rebels. At least in my humble opinion anyway.
And it’s all these things, these extra themes and symbolisms and complexities which make the books so much more emotional and heartbreaking and poignant and just down right addictive! I mean, it’s not often I’m still writing super long posts about a book nearly a year after I read it!
Anyway, sorry about all the ranting. I’m just getting VERY worried they’re realllllly going to water down the Katniss/Peeta stuff, the actual part Peeta DOES play in the rebellion and his complex character AND push more Gale/Katniss on us.
And that this in turn will either lead to a broken Katniss in MJ which makes less sense, or that it will lead to a fiercer, less emotionally fragile and more “rebellious” Katniss in Mockingjay - which may undermine so much of what the trilogies are about!
I’m not sure how I managed to write so much though, guess I just have a lot of thoughts and feels!
Tl;dr - I just want to add in that I DO love the first film and I hope the second is just as good and stays just as true to the books.
I just have LOTS of feels and fears about them screwing up Katniss’ character and making her too rebellious and really watering down Katniss/Peeta and Peeta’s character.
Fingers crossed my fears are for nothing! I really, really hope so! I love the books and I loved the first film, but so, so much rests on Catching Fire!
At least though, we have a very competent cast who do seem to love the books, and the same director for the rest of the franchise, so the continuity will hopefully still be there!