Showing posts with label Suzanne Collins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suzanne Collins. Show all posts
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Hunger Games - Official Theatrical Trailer
It looks so good! I'm enamored with how much it resembles the book... so far.
Whenever I watch this trailer my heart fondly remembers scenes from the book.
So far, so good.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
THE HUNGER GAMES - March 23, 2012 - MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR.
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I'm so impressed with this moving poster I want to put it on my wall - if only there was a way.
******ADDENDUM
The Hunger Games mini-poster did make it onto my wall. I'm not disappointed because the image doesn't move - it still appeals to my sense of aesthetics & nostalgia.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Mockingjay
Book: Mockingjay by [Book Three of The Hunger Games Trilogy] by Susanne Collins.
Reading this book was a labor of love. Johanna said it best to Katniss, "... you're a little hard to swallow. With your tacky romance drama..." (Mockingjay, p220). The Peeta-Katniss-Gale triangle made my eyes roll. It must be how guys feel about the romance fodder in their action movies. I didn't mind it in the first two books but in Mockingjay Collins over did it on the amount of pages she dedicated to describing Katniss' feelings for Peeta, Gale, their relationships. And she didn't even convince me Katniss truly loved either. Sure there was fondness for the familiar Gale and lust for Peeta, but who did this girl really romantically love? I wasn't sold on either and having to read through all those pages was tedious.
Another turn off, and this one had me wanting to fling Mockingjay against a wall, were the copious pages (even more than was dedicated to the triangle) dedicated to Katniss' emotional breakdowns. OMG, epic length whining. From Katniss! The girl who wrote off her mother for falling into a depression when her father died. I liked the fact that in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire she was just a girl surviving on her wit and determination. She got knocked down, she used the two to keep it moving. In Mockingjay, Collins made her impotent; she barely did anything beyond snivel and mope. Now, I'm perfectly aware that each of her emotional breakdowns were warranted and I don't begrudge that. I just resent that fact that Collins hadme read page after page of Katniss wallow in her self pity and barely get past it. I didn't sign on to read about the real life effects of post traumatic stress on soldiers. I signed on to watch Katniss be her original gansta self and kick some Capital ass.
Collins wrote a war story in Mockingjay filled with intrigue, and what upsets me is she highlighted and protracted the love triangle and the PTS and barely fleshed out the intrigue! Especially the intrigue at the end! Where are my pages and pages relating Katniss' thoughts on her choice to use that final arrow on the person she did. What was written was just enough to keep the reader uproar to a minimum, but after reading all those useless pages on her love drama and emotional breakdowns, I'd like a little more.
And then Katniss' love triangle becomes a pair bond by default. A "he's there, so why not?" effort. I'm not really upset with this as it's the kind of calculated thing Katniss would do, at least it's in character. But it is annoying. If you read book 1 & 2, you come to realize Katniss is an infuriatingly hard girl. Pretty near coldblooded, but not quite. Couple that with the fact that I really don't believe she romantically loved either one of those boys, made me believe Katniss was going to pull a Haymitch and choose to spend her life alone. So Mockingjay's ending just doesn't ring true for me. It felt like Collins just threw it in there as an after thought because she realized people needed some kind of resolution.
The final one third of Mockingjay felt rushed. Collins should've told her publisher (if they were rushing her) to wait, just wait. It's a sure thing we'llbuy read the book. It's not a sure thing we'll like it. At least she would have done her best [Yes, I'm saying she couldve done better].
I almost wish I hadn't read Mockingjay, but after Catching Fire's cliffhanger I just Had To.
Reading this book was a labor of love. Johanna said it best to Katniss, "... you're a little hard to swallow. With your tacky romance drama..." (Mockingjay, p220). The Peeta-Katniss-Gale triangle made my eyes roll. It must be how guys feel about the romance fodder in their action movies. I didn't mind it in the first two books but in Mockingjay Collins over did it on the amount of pages she dedicated to describing Katniss' feelings for Peeta, Gale, their relationships. And she didn't even convince me Katniss truly loved either. Sure there was fondness for the familiar Gale and lust for Peeta, but who did this girl really romantically love? I wasn't sold on either and having to read through all those pages was tedious.
Another turn off, and this one had me wanting to fling Mockingjay against a wall, were the copious pages (even more than was dedicated to the triangle) dedicated to Katniss' emotional breakdowns. OMG, epic length whining. From Katniss! The girl who wrote off her mother for falling into a depression when her father died. I liked the fact that in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire she was just a girl surviving on her wit and determination. She got knocked down, she used the two to keep it moving. In Mockingjay, Collins made her impotent; she barely did anything beyond snivel and mope. Now, I'm perfectly aware that each of her emotional breakdowns were warranted and I don't begrudge that. I just resent that fact that Collins had
Collins wrote a war story in Mockingjay filled with intrigue, and what upsets me is she highlighted and protracted the love triangle and the PTS and barely fleshed out the intrigue! Especially the intrigue at the end! Where are my pages and pages relating Katniss' thoughts on her choice to use that final arrow on the person she did. What was written was just enough to keep the reader uproar to a minimum, but after reading all those useless pages on her love drama and emotional breakdowns, I'd like a little more.
And then Katniss' love triangle becomes a pair bond by default. A "he's there, so why not?" effort. I'm not really upset with this as it's the kind of calculated thing Katniss would do, at least it's in character. But it is annoying. If you read book 1 & 2, you come to realize Katniss is a
The final one third of Mockingjay felt rushed. Collins should've told her publisher (if they were rushing her) to wait, just wait. It's a sure thing we'll
I almost wish I hadn't read Mockingjay, but after Catching Fire's cliffhanger I just Had To.
Rue & Thresh's skin color
Book: The Hunger Games [Book One of The Hunger Games Trilogy] by Susanne Collins.
I read The Hunger Games trilogy not even a complete month ago after I heard they were planning a movie about a fierce heroine. I loved it! [Ahem, I loved The Hunger Games, Book I. I have issues with Mockingjay.] So I started to take an interest in the movie casting and came to find out some people didn't think Rue & Thresh were black. My eyebrows twitched. Here's an excerpt of an email I sent off to a friend about the subject. [Yes, I'm a lazy blogger.]
And don't even mention the "they could be Mexican" cop out to me. Again I say google dark brown & use your context clues.
~
Below are some of those context clues. Quotes from The Hunger Games that highlight why I believe Rue & Thresh are black...or of African American decent if you will.
''One by one, we see the other reapings.... ...most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she's very like Prim in size and demeanor." The Hunger Games, pg 45, Susanne Collins.
"For the opening ceremonies, you're supposed to wear something that suggests your districts principal industry. District 11, agriculture." The Hunger Games, pg 66, Susanne Collins.
"...See the little girl from District 11 standing back a bit, watching us. She's the twelve-year-old, the one who reminds me so much of Prim in stature. Up close she looks about ten. She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with her arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird. .... 'I think her name's Rue,' he says softly." The Hunger Games, pg 98 - 99, Susanne Collins.
"The boy tribute of District 11, Thresh, has the same dark skin as Rue, but the resemblance stops there. He's one of the giants, probably six and a half feet tall and built like an ox, but I noticed he rejected the invitation from the Career Tributes to join their crowd." The Hunger Games, pg 126, Susanne Collins.
Rue describes life in District 11; growing food but being punished for taking any. pg 282 of The Hunger Games, Susanne Collins.
This is all moot now that Collins came out & said Rue & Thresh are from a district representative of the deep south and are indeed African American. I thought I'd post this anyway since I still see comments like "but the book didn't specifically say..." and at the time I was really annoyed.
~
I read The Hunger Games trilogy not even a complete month ago after I heard they were planning a movie about a fierce heroine. I loved it! [Ahem, I loved The Hunger Games, Book I. I have issues with Mockingjay.] So I started to take an interest in the movie casting and came to find out some people didn't think Rue & Thresh were black. My eyebrows twitched. Here's an excerpt of an email I sent off to a friend about the subject. [Yes, I'm a lazy blogger.]
In the book some would say the author makes race vague. Well, I don't think so. Everybody's basically race-less until she specifically points out telling physical characteristics (i.e. blond hair, olive skin) and context clues. There are two characters, Rue & Thresh, who people are having issues w/ & which makes me really wonder about some people. Rue & Thresh are from the same district (let's say state or village). The girl, Rue, is described as having satiny dark brown skin and the boy, Thresh, is described to have the same dark brown skin as the girl. (Some say - they're white but tanned. If you want to be ignorant, go w/ that. If you want to invoke privilege, go with it). So the author goes on to describe the district they're from as being agricultural. This is basically the ruins of America. The district is close to Appalachia but in the south (so like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi) not more than a day's train ride away, & hot. & basically describe slave-like conditions. Antebellum south correlation. C'mon! Anyway, it turns out the slave-like conditions are basically at the whim of the peacekeeper in charge of the districts. Therefore, if that district had a sympathetic peacekeeper it wouldn't have been that horrible. But still, the author wrote it for a reason. Anyway c'mon, google dark brown. It's not light skinned with a tan, you gotta be black or South Asian to be dark brown... or Egyptian or Samoan or Aborigine. But a whole district of South Asians et al in post-apocalypse America growing crops in the southeast, for real?!
And don't even mention the "they could be Mexican" cop out to me. Again I say google dark brown & use your context clues.
~
Below are some of those context clues. Quotes from The Hunger Games that highlight why I believe Rue & Thresh are black...or of African American decent if you will.
''One by one, we see the other reapings.... ...most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that, she's very like Prim in size and demeanor." The Hunger Games, pg 45, Susanne Collins.
"For the opening ceremonies, you're supposed to wear something that suggests your districts principal industry. District 11, agriculture." The Hunger Games, pg 66, Susanne Collins.
"...See the little girl from District 11 standing back a bit, watching us. She's the twelve-year-old, the one who reminds me so much of Prim in stature. Up close she looks about ten. She has bright, dark eyes and satiny brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with her arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird. .... 'I think her name's Rue,' he says softly." The Hunger Games, pg 98 - 99, Susanne Collins.
"The boy tribute of District 11, Thresh, has the same dark skin as Rue, but the resemblance stops there. He's one of the giants, probably six and a half feet tall and built like an ox, but I noticed he rejected the invitation from the Career Tributes to join their crowd." The Hunger Games, pg 126, Susanne Collins.
Rue describes life in District 11; growing food but being punished for taking any. pg 282 of The Hunger Games, Susanne Collins.
This is all moot now that Collins came out & said Rue & Thresh are from a district representative of the deep south and are indeed African American. I thought I'd post this anyway since I still see comments like "but the book didn't specifically say..." and at the time I was really annoyed.
~
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