Linda Brach ENGLISH 5770
Adolescents are confronting the collapse of their childhood verities. Authority figures [begin to] appear despotic which Further alienates the teen protagonists who must now assert their independence. - Screen Education, 6/1/12 Why the dystopian appeal?
Comes from a military family Early 2000s “Reality” TV Live war footage (Iraq and Afghanistan) S. Collins Inspiration for the Hunger Games
Setting: sometime in the future. PANEM – an area of 12 “districts” after a revolution (presumably the United States) the CAPITOL – the governing city of PANEM Two “tributes” from each district – one female, one male, ages 12 – 18 are selected to “fight to the death” in an “arena” created by the “benevolent” (hegemonic totalitarian) state. This fight is designed for the entertainment of the capitol’s citizens. (Think Gladiators, bull fights, boxing.) Synopsis
Katniss – 16 year old heroine of District 12 – coal mining district (rural poverty, Appalachia) Effie – female advisor Cinna – male, tribute stylist Haymitch – male, alcoholic, previous Hunger Games winner, mentor to Katniss and Peeta tributes. Characters
“Heteronormative ideals of tough males and submissive beautiful females are often present in YA fiction [and film] girls are passive and peripheral…and often tied to traditional feminine norms and representations… needing rescue and confined to domestic roles.” - Journal of Youth Studies (16. 8) 2013 Katniss Everdeen, heroine in Hunger Games, defies these ideals. Young Adult Lit and Film
Literally, as she climbs beyond the barbed wire limits of District 12 to hunt in the forest Figuratively, as she goes beyond feminine gendered norms. She asserts herself, rather than passively deferring to the masculine by taking risks and taking the advice of loving paternal proxy figures. Katniss violates boundaries
Katniss commands attention by shooting the apple
Nagging judgmental maternal figures: “Proper manners, behavior, etiquette and appearance”…ILLUSIONS! Effie
Haymitch: warnings about the arena and cornucopia Cinna: belief in Katniss and she prepares to be reborn Paternal Proxies
(over)exposure/vulnerability Silence: Deafness and Drowning Rebirth and rites-of- passage
Katniss’s “rebirth” into the Arena: mean girls, bullying and Walmart