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46: Mockingjay Part One
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The revolution will be televised. Join BookWatch as we return to Panem in this epic two part conclusion of The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins with the final installment, Mockingjay and its two part film adaptation. This week’s episode covers the 2014 film Mockingjay: Part 1. Which picks up right after the end of Catching Fire and goes until about half way through the book. Special guest J Scotty St Clair returns to help us remind the Capitol that if we burn, you burn with us.
Join hosts Chris, Jordyn, and Sarah-Daye as they break down what worked, what didn’t, and whether this adaptation does the book justice.
Tell us your thoughts! Did you love or hate this adaptation? Let’s discuss in The Book Watch Lounge on Facebook
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Transcript
Introduction to Mockingjay Discussion
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, Book Watchers. On these next two episodes of Book Watch, we are discussing Mockingjay, the third installment in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, published in 2010, along with its 2014 and 2015 film adaptations directed by Frances Lawrence. The films were adapted for the screen by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, with Suzanne Collins serving as an executive producer. The audiobook is narrated by Tatiana Maslany.
00:00:28
Speaker
This week we're covering Mockingjay Part 1, both the cast and the plot points. And next week we'll be covering Mockingjay Part 2, both the cast and the plot points. I am Sarah Day. And I'm Chris.
00:00:40
Speaker
And I'm Jordan. And we'll get started after these messages.
00:00:52
Speaker
Welcome to Book Watch, the podcast where pages meet screens. Each week, we dive into the world of adaptations, comparing beloved books with their cinematic counterparts. From faithful retellings to bold reimaginings, we'll break down what worked, what didn't, and what made each adaptation unforgettable. Whether you're a bookworm, a movie buff, or both, grab your bookmark, grab your popcorn, and let's watch some books.
00:01:16
Speaker
Welcome
Guest Host and Audiobook Narrators
00:01:17
Speaker
back. Before we dive in, let's welcome our guest host, always returning for The Hunger Games, J. Scottie St. Clair. Woo-hoo. Welcome. Are you, are you coming to the tree?
00:01:31
Speaker
Thanks for having me. I think her version is my favorite. Tatiana does a version too, but I think I'm so used to the movie version that um when Tatiana does it, I'm like, no, that's not right. Hers has a little bit more vibrato throughout it. and I like it, but it's not the same. Yeah.
00:01:48
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I didn't know tatyana Tatiana Maslany did the audio book. I'm going to have to see if can find some excerpts to check that out. Yeah, she does all three. she really and She's a great narrator for the series, too.
00:02:01
Speaker
I really like her narration. Honestly, she disappears into it. I forget it's her, but I do enjoy her rendition of it. to She does good job just reading the story and you just get into it. so Very cool, very cool But yeah, Jennifer Lawrence's rendition of the the Hanging Tree, that she has a little bit of sultryness that I wasn't expecting from her. It's it's really cool.
Mockingjay's Plot and Film Split
00:02:22
Speaker
So yes, Mockingjay is the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, following Katniss Everdeen as she becomes the reluctant symbol of a full-scale rebellion against the Capitol, while grappling with the devastating personal cost of war.
00:02:36
Speaker
The novel was adapted into two films, Mockingjay Part 1 focuses on the aftermath of District 12's destruction and the propaganda campaign surrounding the rebellion, while Mockingjay Part 2 delivers the action-heavy conclusion as the rebels march on the Capitol and Katniss' story reaches its emotional finale.
00:02:57
Speaker
This is our third set of Hunger Games episodes, so I don't think we need to spend too much time on the impact of this trilogy. The movies are returning to theaters this September on the eve of Sunrise on the Reaping coming in November. So we all know that this is a huge, um you know, franchise in in today's world. um But I do want to talk briefly about our initial reactions to this book and the two film adaptations of this book.
Impact of Film Split on Pacing and Engagement
00:03:28
Speaker
All right, well, I told you all off air not to start on too negative a note or too critical a note here, but while I do, I enjoy this entire franchise. ah Through and through, um just to kind of recap, you know, listeners, my experience with this franchise is I watched the first movie when it came out in 2012 on home release, and I enjoyed it so much that I immediately went to my local library, got all three books and read through them with like in the span of three weeks. So I just I i consumed them so rapidly and really enjoyed them.
00:04:00
Speaker
when it came to the movie adaptations, I felt like it was a little bit of a series of diminishing returns. I liked each one a little bit less each time. And revisiting this, um this was reaffirmed for me. But I will say I think a lot of that is the decision to split the story into into two parts. And I know we're here to talk about part one, but I do think that was just kind of a mistake in hindsight and retrospect, especially being on the other side of like how this franchise has continued with things like but the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
00:04:31
Speaker
That is an epic story that comes in around like two hours and 45 minutes. and And it works. And I think it's really well done.
Uniqueness of Mockingjay's Themes
00:04:37
Speaker
And I think in hindsight, if they had done something like that, with the Mockingjay I think it would have worked more effectively because part one's good and does so much uh in terms of like the themes especially like the propaganda aspect of this story it really comes to a head here but there's just so little action in the in the first one that I think it hurts the pacing overall so that's just kind of where I'm landing um overall on on the book and the the adaptation as far as part one goes
00:05:06
Speaker
um Do you think that they should have condensed part one a lot and kept part two as as heavy as that was and just added that like maybe hour, 45 minutes to part two Yeah, i think I think that would have been the way to do it, which even as I'm suggesting that, you know it's it's it's tough because part of what is so great about this adaptation is I think we've been saying it about all the movies, but there are certain sequences where like line for line, it's like straight out of the book and such a faithful adaptation. And I think that is one thing I will i will leverage a lot of praise to the two-part adaptation here. It does, like I think, more so than any of the other
00:05:44
Speaker
books there are like extended conversations where it's like um are they going to change this line are they going to cut that line and no it's verbatim you get these rich sequences and exchanges that are straight out of the book but from a film perspective that ends up being a lot of people talking in rooms and i i think it does just hurt things a little bit so i think that would have been the way to do it yeah tighten things up in part one in district 13 and then we could have gotten to the action a little bit faster In a lot of ways, this one is a bit of a um departure from the Hunger Games theme because the first two are we're going into the arena, we're going into the arena. This one, they try to make the second half, the city, feel like ah we're going back into the arena. you know They say, welcome to the Hunger Games again, but it it never quite captures the same experience. It just gives you that all that action right at once in the second part. But yeah, you're right. The first half is a lot of um boardroom meetings, a lot of showing the trauma that she's experienced. and how how she's trying to dig her way back out of that and that's all important and but because the books spend so much time in Katniss's head experiencing those moments experiencing what she's thinking about and ah how that's affecting her we don't get that all translated as well the screen I feel like
00:07:00
Speaker
Absolutely,
War Themes and Real-World Parallels
00:07:01
Speaker
absolutely. And I think that's something that I definitely had the thought both times when I was experiencing it the first time circa 2012 and then revisiting it now is I think part of what makes The Hunger Games stand out and is so unique. And I think what stuff like the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and looking forward to, you know, Sunrise on the Reaping, what has me excited and I think other people so excited is it it does return to the arena and While The Hunger Games is allowed to grow and expand and this was the natural trajectory and escalation for the story, and there is just something you lose a little bit of something by not having the arena and so many of these just things that you expect expect like hallmarks like the reaping, the training sequences, the people voting on who you know who their their favorite tributes are going to be. so They do try to, like you said, they try to you know adapt that for the urban combat environment. And it is successful in some ways. But I had the thought, like it loses its identity a little bit and starts to feel a little less unique and feels a little bit more of just like the ilk of like the standard like sci-fi revolution a
Character Motivations and Propaganda Roles
00:08:10
Speaker
little bit. I think that's where...
00:08:12
Speaker
it loses a little bit of the the spark and the the glimmer for me a little bit. Even like visually, it's it's so much more gray and muted and the costuming is ah is is ah is a lot just like it's a little more bland to look at. I do think that might be on purpose, though, because the Capitol is supposed to be this very flamboyant, bright, energetic place, but they are being attacked by the rebels right now. And I think that's more of a visual you know representation of that like war, cost of war. It's like dimming everything.
00:08:41
Speaker
Absolutely. I was going to argue with you at first, Jay Scottie, but then I was thinking about it and was like, when I go and I rewatch or reread the Hunger Games, I'm never coming to Mockingjay. I'm always going to the original Hunger Games and the original Catching Fire. I probably have seen those two films, you know, over a dozen times each since they came out. And then was watching Mockingjay part one and part two and I'm like, This kind of feels like the first time I've ever seen it. Like I know what's gonna happen, because I have seen them before and I just read the books. Like I know what to expect. But there are some scenes that stick in your mind, like part two in the tunnels with the mutts and can't talk about it yet. I know. And what happens in there. And that sticks. And even on TikTok, the edits that get done feature a lot of scenes from that part of the Mockingjay storyline. And then most of the other scenes that get brought up in pop culture are from one and two. And there's not a lot, like you said, there's not lot of action. There's not a lot going on in Mockingjay that is...
00:09:50
Speaker
memorable that really sticks with you other than those like major points
Adaptation Choices in Storytelling
00:09:54
Speaker
of tragedy and so i like i have to agree like it it's a lot heavier and i think a lot of what happens in mockingjay is important like recognizing the propaganda war between the rebels and the capital and the game of you know How do we use this symbol, the rebellion, you know, to to make our side using PETA against her on the capital side? Like all of that is important, valuable stuff.
00:10:23
Speaker
But visually, like as a film, it's just like, I'm like, girl, um go I'm playing games on my phone. I'm sorry. i can't i can't lock in on this. The way that I'm locked in on... Catching Fire and The Hunger Games where you have this times in the capital everything is bright and like exciting and new and unique like you said Jay Scottie this does feel like divergent or like other yeah combat war movies where it's like it loot you're right it loses that kind of special sauce of The Hunger Games And I think the second part really feels like with all the action scenes, it feels very rushed in the book and the film to me. I felt like I was jumping from one thing to the next and that's good.
00:11:03
Speaker
But I felt like I lost some of the, know, there's so much contemplation in the beginning and so much talking and all that. And then you're just scene after scene after scene after scene. And like, it almost could have been told better in like a um out of time storytelling. You put some of these scenes in with the other parts and kind of bring us forward in the story wall, giving us some of those conversations throughout might have helped a little bit.
00:11:27
Speaker
Yeah, I could see that. I think especially if you were going to squish them into one movie, that would have been great because you can combine some of those boardroom meetings and like things that happen in Katniss's head. You can kind of squish them all into one bigger scene and then go back to some action and then come back to another boardroom Katniss inner monologue scene and then back to some action and it would balance it a lot better.
Emotional Engagement and Visuals
00:11:51
Speaker
Exactly. Well, there's even the therapist in the book that she could have had a few moments of talking with her therapist actually and sharing her thoughts. We could have gotten more of that inside her head that way in a moment or two, even if it's just voiceover as we're talking about something else or showing something else.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah. I don't know Just script doctoring now, but you know, it's, it's fun to do sometimes. Yeah, yeah, they're good notes. They're good notes. I think they definitely would improve because I'm thinking, we you know, we had a couple of scenes where it's Coyne and Plutarch having their exchanges and what the movies have kind of famously done, at least in my opinion, is you get so much more time with Snow just because you do have these sequences where it's it's him and you don't have Katniss's singular perspective. You actually get to see what he's doing and and dealing with um off screen and in the book, if you'll if you'll allow that. Follow me there. Yeah.
00:12:39
Speaker
But another thought I had as we were just talking about how, Chris, you brought up how ah things feel kind of rushed towards the end. I absolutely agree, especially in the book. And I think it's something, a trend that I kind of noticed across Catching Fire into The Mockingjay, like the book specifically here. And I know we talked about it in that episode. but The quarter quell felt like it was like relegated to the last third of the book, where with the first book, it felt like you had the last half of that book was dedicated entirely to the games in the arena. I think even more so in The Mockingjay, the pacing just gets a little like wonky for me, and it feels like so much fallout and so many ramifications all happen in those final pages. like You don't really get the time to like sit with it and feel with it, and it's over, and it just kind of feels like a little... like
00:13:25
Speaker
neck break and and um it's definitely bittersweet and it works and it's poignant but I always just feel like i I wish I had a little bit more time to sit with the impact of some of these losses.
00:13:38
Speaker
Agreed. Especially losing some of our big characters. I was already a blubbering mess, so I didn't need any more time to cry more. So I disagree. just like i like We can talk about it because a lot of those things happen in the next part. yeah i'm so But there are things that I noticed.
00:13:58
Speaker
um Because I would be crying when something happened and then there would be something else like, okay, just going to say it. When Finnick dies, you cry. And then they come out after they're running through and like the beams are coming down and they get back out to the streets and there's the wanted posters. The first one you see is Finnick. So you're right in your face again. We we just lost Finnick. And then with Prim's death, you you really don't get time to process what happened with her. you the It explodes. You're moving on to the next scene. But then Buttercup comes back at the end and she and Buttercup have that moment of like she's yelling at the cat and then they bond.
00:14:35
Speaker
Listeners, already told um my co-host here that I was probably going to cry a lot in these episodes. So this is your
Realism and Pacing of War Scenes
00:14:41
Speaker
warning. Every time I pause, it's probably because I'm collecting myself. um But yeah, um so I do think – I don't think that the emotions were too rushed. I didn't get emotional reading it in the book. But again, that's probably because I'm listening to it and I'm usually doing other things. So it didn't hit me as much as the movies did. Although i will say it's always the – um music that really helps with that emotion to me at least. um yeah The music makes me feel things.
00:15:13
Speaker
so well and While all of that is true, like you don't have time to process it. i think I think Suzanne Collins did that on purpose because like we're in a war zone. We can't sit and cry and mourn the loss of our dear friends and my our sisters and you know all the other people, Boggs, all the other people who are dying. you know You literally can't sit and process that because there's peacekeepers coming around the corner and there's a pod you know that's going off and mutts are coming. like you You can't. And that's the reality of that kind of situation. And so I think as far as like keeping you as a viewer in the moment with Katniss and with Gail and Peeta and like everybody else who's there, like
00:15:55
Speaker
as a storytelling method, like it makes sense. And it like, it worked for me a little bit because you really feel like you're on the squad and you're going through it with them because you also don't get that time to process. Um, but that's where like, you know, so some diversion from the book of like, you don't get those days, weeks of Katniss wandering around like a zombie after the fact that all she's doing is reliving that and processing that and grieving. that like that they take that part out which makes sense i'm on board with that change you know but that's that's like she does take time to process and grieve and go through these things again and we don't get to do that with her it's just you know bing bing boom and then movie's over get out of the we got to clean the seats for the next showing and like get out here um
00:16:44
Speaker
To piggyback off what you were saying about being in a war and somebody else had mentioned that like all the pods, everything was just happening so fast and it's very chaotic. um Like you just said, Jordan, yeah, it is a war. And my husband and I just rewatched Saving Private Ryan for the first time in ah years and talk about chaotic. Like, yeah, there's there's stuff happening all the time. And like people that you think are going to make it to the end of the movie do not. And yeah,
00:17:13
Speaker
Like that's what it's like. And like um people say that veterans are walking out of that theater because it was so real. Like, so that is how it feels like it is so chaotic. It's you don't have time to process what's going on before you're moving to the next scene. So that was not a problem for me so much. um And I do actually wonder how much of the book would be cut if we combine the two films.
00:17:37
Speaker
like how much we would lose. That's what also got me thinking about ah some of the current world history of things. you know where this you know We've never lived in a country that's been actively at war in our own nation, but you know Ukraine and Russia have kind of the same dynamic as the this world right here, where a small group fighting a bigger group. ah Taiwan and China haven't gotten to war yet, but it's a similar situation. stalemate disagreement. so I kind of just started thinking about what is it like to live in that either minority one or, you know, be in the capital side of this and started kind of comparing current world history with ah this book a little bit.
00:18:14
Speaker
I think that's why it's hit me so much this time too, because, you know, we've talked about growing up with Harry Potter and we've talked about growing up with the Hunger Games. But when I was looking at the dates of these books,
00:18:24
Speaker
books and films. So Harry Potter was like, I was 11 with Harry Potter. So I did grow up with him, but the hunger games was like high school to college to adult. And like, we're still getting hunger games books and we are like, I'm much more aware of what's going out on in the world.
00:18:40
Speaker
And all the words that we have going on, and we have social media now. So we're seeing all these things on social media. um And so when you're reading about that in the book, and you're seeing it on screen, like you're thinking about like, this is happening to people in the world. And like, I think that's what's, um again, we'll talk about it in the next one. um But when the bombs – In two Yeah. Because the part two is when all of that emotional stuff happens. Like this is all the propaganda stuff. um But yeah, when the bombs go off and kill the babies, and like all I'm thinking about is like all the things I've seen on social media about the parents holding their babies. And it's just like I can't. I just can't do it. It's it's so heartbreaking.
Propaganda Portrayal in Book vs Film
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah, that that does bring to mind, and I know not to get too far ahead of ourselves here, but there's a repeated motif throughout this book, real or not real. And I actually felt myself like I had kind of that same realization. I was like, real or not real? Are we talking like, I know this is all fictional, but this feels so real. Like, I feel like Suzanne Collin is like asking the reader, real or not real. So yeah, I definitely felt that I'm getting goosebumps right now just kind of saying that out loud again. But Sarah, Sarah Day, you brought up propaganda and it and again, to bring it back to to part one, I know I've been really critical here, but what I will say is in addition to what we're kind of discussing here about like the reality of war and the impact of war and how you don't always get that time to kind of sit with your feelings and it's like boom, boom, boom. I think that's, that's
00:20:04
Speaker
one thing that is really effective across the book and um the adaptations. I think Suzanne Collins, her themes um are they they come across so so poignantly and yet the the impact of war and how it it basically makes people, you know, shells of themselves, but um also the propaganda. Like, I think that's that's where part one is really successful for me is the propaganda angle. And it's one thing to read about these propos and how they're opportunistic and um there's some level of artifice, but seeing it on screen and and the setup and it really just
Introduction and Performance of New Characters
00:20:40
Speaker
dawned on me. And I think what is so effective about the adaptation here, i seeing it all brought to life is the
00:20:47
Speaker
how district 13 and the capital are not that different. Like they're the tools that they employ and the manipulation tactics and how there is just this like, such a level of artifice to what they're doing like when katniss is on that green screen trying to make it work like in the book they do a good job of just saying like haymitch comes out and says that's how a revolution dies but even before he does that like you just feel it like jennifer lawrence i know she's a great performer but it's like going that extra mile to be a great performer playing someone that's not giving a great performance like that's like next level stuff there and it's it's just so well done
00:21:23
Speaker
All right. Well, that was our initial thoughts. So let's get into into the conversation. We're going to start with our... and we get how I mean, it's a 22 minute episode already. Okay. I'm going to run through the cast. I'm not going to do the cast that we've seen the past two movies. So I'm going to start with new characters. um But you know, if there's anybody, any acting that you want to talk about, you know, Katniss, Peeta, Hamish that we've seen.
00:21:57
Speaker
Feel free. But we are introduced to President Coyne, played by Julianne Moore. Boggs, played by Mahershala Ali. Cressida, played by Natalie Dormer.
00:22:08
Speaker
Masala, played by Evan Ross. Pollux, played by Eldon Henson. Egeria, played by Sarita Shudhuri, who is original character created for the films.
00:22:19
Speaker
And then Commander Paylor, who is played by Patina Miller.
00:22:26
Speaker
Somehow my husband has never seen these films. And so he saw Pollux. He's like, oh my God, it's foggy. just so excited to see foggy on screen, as was I. But um yeah, love... Playing in beautiful things.
00:22:39
Speaker
Yeah, right. um I love Mahershala Ali as Boggs. he So good. From the get-go, we get to... In the book especially, you get to see Katniss go from... I don't know about this guy. And then there's a line at some point where she's like, I decide to like Boggs. I decide that, you know, this guy's cool. i'm glad I'm glad you brought that up because I was wanting that line from the book so much. It's because they just had the exchange with Finnick and they come back up and everybody's giving her a hard time about her appearance. And he says, we just saw Finnick O'Dare in his underwear. You know, nothing's going to shock us. Nothing surprises us. Yeah. She's like, yeah at that point in time, I decided I like Boggs. Yes. And he just...
00:23:18
Speaker
we only see him in this movie here he's new to these films but he just immediately is so captivating to me where it's like ah finally another adult that you know beyond haymitch like this guy is looking out for her so finally an adult in the room is looking out for katniss and her physical and emotional well-being for once because from the hunger games to president coin plutarch like all of these people always seem to forget this is a child. She's 17. She's seen unspeakable horrors and been traumatized to hell and back. And nobody seems to care until, you know, Hamish cares throughout, right?
Character Dynamics: Katniss, Peeta, and Gale
00:24:02
Speaker
He's,
00:24:03
Speaker
gotta to process his own trauma he's drinking and all that but like Boggs cares Boggs sees her you know he makes the comment like take the makeup off of her she's a kid and you made her look 35 like he sees her for who she is and then they have the conversation I think in the beginning of part two um of the film where he says she she's like why are you looking out for me like you don't owe me anything he says because deserve it yeah and that was a part that I wasn't expecting to get emotional but I was like she does deserve it. Like she has been through so much. She has done so much already at 17 years old. She absolutely deserves it. And I'm, I was so excited to see another adult, you know, credit her that way. And Mahershala Ali's performance was just like incredible from start to finish. um
00:24:50
Speaker
So I just want to really give him his flowers. And like we know Bro can act like he's he's him. But like this was probably the first performance of his that I ever saw. And I didn't even like appreciate it. But now like older, like having seen other stuff that he's been in and like knowing the quality that he can do, he brought that quality here. When like he could have written it off, he could have like been like, this is a small role. Like, i don't really care. But like he didn't, he gave his all. And like, now that I've rewatched this performance, like it's going to stick with me for a while. So definitely want to shout him out.
00:25:24
Speaker
Yeah, Boggs was the standout for me too, but you did such a great job covering him. I won't belabor the the point any longer there. But I didn't have anything prepared to say about it, but just like looking at the list of names we have here, I will give ah ah a call out to Patina Miller because I think that's an instance where in the book she she definitely had a few notable like standout sequences. But I was a little surprised and again, I don't want to get too far ahead, but the character of Commander Paler, like she ends up in a very prominent role. And I remember in the book, I was like, oh, you know, of all the choices they could have made, I guess she makes sense, but she comes as a little surprise.
00:25:57
Speaker
Not so in the movies like that performer, Patina Miller, she has a commanding presence in the way she just delivers like these speeches that just stir something within my soul as as well as, you know, the characters on screen. ah She just she's just really ah a standout performer and and perfect casting there for the way they kind of repurpose that role ever so slightly.
00:26:20
Speaker
Natalie Dormer has some Marvel cred with Captain America. And I think we' she's got some other stuff. Marjorie Torell. Yeah. Recently. But yeah, she's the one that gets to kiss Captain America in the office when and gets Peggy all jealous the in the first movie. So that's always where I remember her from. But I know she's definitely got some other credits that ah people really like. So good performance.
00:26:48
Speaker
All right, we can move into our key plot points. um For again, for listeners, this is Marking Jay part one. So it's all about her introduction to District 13 and making her the Mockingjay. So we open up with Katniss returning to the ruins of District 12 after its destruction by the Capitol. She learns about District 13 and how they survived underground and has become the headquarters of the rebellion. um And, you know, we're just kind of getting to know
00:27:23
Speaker
um She's getting um introduced to what District 13 is and kind of coping with everything that happened and not being not rescuing PETA and all of that. So what were your thoughts on how the movie kind of adapted this this introduction to District 13?
00:27:42
Speaker
or trauma Not to take anything away from it, but I just had a question because I was a little confused and maybe you all can help clear something up for me because the way the movie opens with her like clinging to something saying, you know, five more minutes, just five more minutes and they kind of cart her away and then we see her in the hospital bed. At first blush, I was like, oh, is that her in District 12? Because that's how the book opens. I was like, oh, that's, you know, that's, we're just seeing her, you know, being collected from District
Strategic Moves by Katniss and Prim
00:28:06
Speaker
12. But no, she goes to visit District 12 later on because it's almost like Coyne's idea in that instance. So what was she clinging on to? Was that ever explained? Or was that, are we just supposed to be led to believe that she just wanted to be alone?
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah, and in the book it talks about like part of her like her personal idea of recovery is just going in hiding places. She doesn't want to talk to anybody. She doesn't want to be seen by anybody. She just wants to be left alone to kind of process, you know, everything that's happened to her. And so she says like she'll try and find hiding places like she's found like a supply closet that she'll hide in or kind know tunnels that are not used and she'll go and hide there. And so she just like She, you know, she's a creature who's been harmed. And so she's trying to find a safe place to just exist and not have anybody be asking anything of her. and so she's like, I just need five more minutes to like, just be here and like.
00:29:06
Speaker
breathe and think through and like, be ready to face people and face the light, you know, kind of. So that's that's all she was doing. But I kind of liked the change a little bit because you take, you know, some of these things, like you said earlier about like different points of views, like, you know, we don't know who makes the call to get her out to 12 so she can see what happens. And we don't know, we don't get to see that conversation, but that happens in the movie between Plutarch and Coyne. about like, you know, we should have rescued Peeta or like, you know, she's useless because she's so traumatized, blah, blah, blah. Like you kind of, it's implied that those things are happening. And like Katniss in her inner monologue thinks that those conversations are happening, but to actually see it happen is, you know, that's the beauty. Like we've said numerous times, that's the beauty of the visual media is you can actually have that conversation happen and get an idea of who Coyne is right off the bat.
Peeta's Role in Capitol Propaganda
00:29:58
Speaker
of her immediately saying, you know, she's useless like this, or, you know, we should have gone for PETA or, you know, all of these things that Katniss kind of draws those conclusions that coin thinks that later, but just for us as the audience to know it right away, it's like, okay, we don't trust this girl.
00:30:16
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:30:22
Speaker
Speaking of coin, um you know, we we don't spend too much without – before she asks Katniss to be the Mockingjay and be the symbolic face of the revolution, and she really doesn't want to do that. She talks to Prim, and Prim basically says, listen, you can – ask for whatever you want to ask for and they have to give it to you. Like they need you to be the mocking J. So this is when she asks for the other tributes to be immune, especially PETA. She, the, the cat has found the way, or no, she saved the cat from 12. So she wants Prim to keep the cat. um And she asked for a few more things in the book that we don't see in the movie. The movie uses the cat as kind of a comedic relief moment. um
00:31:07
Speaker
But what, what did you guys think up to at this point?
00:31:13
Speaker
I thought that the, um the can you know, showing that she's the pinnacle of this rebellion, that they really do need her, that Prim giving her that notice was from the book, but also really worked well as, yeah, you're important. You can ask for whatever you want at this point. um I really liked that. um I think it was the hunting was one of the other things that she asked for in the book. that they They introduce it later by saying, hey, they they're allowing us to go hunting.
00:31:41
Speaker
um was you know fine uh it didn't need to be any different it was not an important part of the uh stuff but being able to ask for the immunity and them giving it to her and saying okay well if you'll do this for us you are that important to us it really showed just how pinnacle she is to this whole rebellion that without her they've got nothing Well, and she does this after we see PETA for the first time with Caesar Flickerman, like calling for the ceasefire. And we get that scene of all the people in 13, like calling him a traitor, saying he's one of them and like, you know, calling out for his blood, you know? And again, everybody seems to forget that he is a kid and he's being abused and tortured and manipulated by Capitol say these things. Like,
00:32:30
Speaker
And, you know, tensions are high. We're in the middle of a war. Okay. But like, I can't, I just, I'm going to keep coming back to this fact. So forgive me. But like, these are children.
00:32:41
Speaker
These are kids. And he is doing what he has to do to survive. He knows that if he doesn't do whatever they want him to do, he will be tortured and killed. yes And the book, is he's trying to survive. And I think you're going to say this, Chris, sorry to cut you off. But like Katniss knows that Katniss thinks that like, oh, he's, you know, she knows who he is. And she also figures out that this could have been filmed right after he got rescued from the arena.
00:33:10
Speaker
You know, once we see the second one of him looking terrible and, you know, emaciated, she's like, that first one could have been filmed at any time. You know, who knows what's happened to him since then. You know, he's calling for a ceasefire. And that's what, you know, that and the conversation with Prim is what makes her say, okay, you know, we need to rescue PETA. He needs immunity. And then I'll do whatever you want. And It always, always, always comes back to protecting PETA. And that through line is just who she is, is we're going to protect the
Finnick's Trauma and Relationship with Annie
00:33:41
Speaker
innocent. We're going to protect Prim. We're going to protect PETA. We're going to protect, you know, even the civilians later on where, you know, she gets so enraged. It's a hospital. the district you know the capital bombs a hospital and that's what sets her off and you get that iconic line if we burn you burn with us that's a hospital that's a war crime like you can't do that and that's always what gets her fired up and willing to keep going is these you know terrible crimes against innocence that's that's who what makes Katniss who she is
00:34:13
Speaker
Right. me if I'm wrong, but one of the other things that happens in this early sequence that's kind of repurposed, like the scene is in the book, but they um kind of combine scenes um from the book in in the sequence in the movie. But before she makes these demands to agree to be the Mockingjay, she has that exchange with Finnick where he's on the hospital gurney tying his knots and he he gets to have that line where he's like i would rather hed i i actually wish they were dead because that way we would like at least know and not be tortured i don't think they expand on it in that sequence the way they do in the book but uh in the book i remember she has like she kind of lies to him in the moment says don't worry i i negotiated for annie as well and then she has to kind of like run over and be like make this happen for annie as well um
00:34:58
Speaker
But yeah, that's one of those like instances where it was a a change that made sense and and worked and kind of did everything that you needed to convey between those two characters very economically, for lack of a better term.
Katniss' Authenticity in Propos
00:35:11
Speaker
Yeah. And it kind of shows where Finnick is at too. was in the book. I think we get more time with him and showing his mental state. Finnick is not doing well. And of course he's not doing well. Like he also has survived the hunger games twice and the trauma of being a mentor and sending kids to their deaths the way that Hamish has had to do. Like, Finnick's got a lot going on as well and he has somebody that he loves being tortured by the Capitol too and so to see i love that you know bonding that him and Katniss get to have of them tying their knots and talking and you know, she says repeatedly throughout all of the books, like you don't understand the Hunger Games unless you've been in the Hunger Games truly. And so for them to have each other to kind of try and, you know, I don't know that that either of them really succeed before he dies, but for each of them to have each other and try to go on a healing journey as they're still, you know, re-traumatizing themselves over and over again with just existing.
00:36:10
Speaker
i love their relationship so, so much. And Sam Claflin and Jennifer Lawrence really play into that really, really well. and their chemistry is fabulous. And I was going to say somebody mentioned that, you know, his lines are kind of cut and his trauma is kind of cut from the film. But his acting is phenomenal. Like he looks like a hollowed shell of a man. He's doing such a good job showing us that trauma. Like, you know, that he read the books and knew what he was going through. Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:37
Speaker
I think it might be the beginning of part two because they cut it. It's hard to say, but the hurt relationship with Joanna growing and the training montage. Oh yeah. That's part two. Cause I have a note about that. That part was cut and I was really sad about that. Cause I'm like, that really shows that bond that they form as other people who have heal or healing from the Hunger Games or have experienced that. So we'll get into that next week.
00:37:04
Speaker
Speaking of all the propos, we start the propos with her not really doing well. They're just throwing her in like a green screen room and she can't act. So they finally decide she needs to go on the field.
00:37:16
Speaker
and she finally gets out there. And that is when the hospital is bombed. She meets Paylor
Effie's Expanded Role in Films
00:37:22
Speaker
for the first time. She goes to the hospital. They're very inspired by her being there and You know, they ask about the baby and she's like, oh, yeah, that was a story PETA had made up. um And then the fighter pilots come in and and destroy the hospital. But we get to see her in action and then we get to see her emotional response after the hospital is destroyed.
00:37:40
Speaker
And then they they capture that a on film and create a promo. great sequence because it's one of the few action sequences we get in this part one. Not that everything needs to be action, but you know, when you when you have a concept like this, the spectacle is certainly part of it. But yeah, another great instance of world building, I think across the first two movies, you know, we had the victory tour and the initial tour when the reapings were happening and we got to see a little bit more of the of the districts and again that's one of the successes of of the films like the the books do a pretty good job of describing like from second-hand accounts what's happening in the other districts but uh and again not to get too ahead of myself but i think it's in part one that we get that kind of i think it's in district seven you get like a whole i think again this was another instance where they were like hey we need another action sequence here um You get to see the loggers in District 7 and their battle with the peacemakers there, which is all inspired by the fallout of of of this mission that we're talking about here.
00:38:40
Speaker
There's also um her song, The the Hanging Tree, inspires them as well. And I can't remember if this is the same scene or not, but the the group that goes to the wall and like blows up the wall. That's in this one. The power plant. Yeah.
00:38:58
Speaker
The power plant. Yes. And it the... Hamish makes the point like, you know, he has this whole conversation, which again, like I love Hamish and Katniss's relationship to um where he's like, you know, let's talk about the
Gale's Complex Morality and Relationship with Katniss
00:39:13
Speaker
good things about Katniss. When did she make you feel something? And they have that whole scene about like all these unscripted moments. where she just does something off the cuff and, you know, just reacts live to a moment. And that's what leads her to be able to go to district eight. And then, you know, she just off the cuff with foggy or Pollux, um, sings the hanging tree song. And that gets turned into this, these propos. And it's like those, you can't, you can't teach that kind of talent and that kind of like,
00:39:49
Speaker
Again, like who she is, like she, the hospital scene, I always cry at the hospital scene and her speech, you know, it, is who Katniss is. That is why she is the hero of the story. And that's why she's such an inspiration. That's why the Hunger Games live on so much just like as a franchise, because we she She'll fight Gail, she'll fight Snow, she'll fight Coyne, she'll fight anybody, everybody. This is wrong. I'm not gonna stand by and let this thing happen. I'm not gonna watch this hospital be burned down and bombed and not fight back and go hide in the corner the way you guys want me to. I'm not gonna have President Coyne in part two, so sorry to get ahead, but like I'm not gonna have you talk about doing another Hunger Games when all of this has been fighting to end the Hunger Games. I'm not going to stand by that. I'm going to end that. And all of these scenes and her doing these things off the cuff, like, i just love these glimpses of who she is and why she's the Mockingjay and how she's inspiring to other people. And then, yeah, I think it's fun.
00:40:55
Speaker
i like the scenes of in the trees and then the... the the nuclear, the power plant, the, you know, the
Mockingjay Part 1: Pacing and Structure
00:41:03
Speaker
waterfalls and stuff, like showing how on the ground she is inspiring people and and getting them to keep rallying and keep fighting these oppressors. I think that's a, that's a good use of the film showing these other things.
00:41:17
Speaker
So Jordan, you mentioning Haymitch talking about the makeup and like that whole scene reminded me of a real big change from the books to the movie and that is Effie Trinkett. In the book, we don't have her. She, I guess, is locked up in the Capitol and we get Katniss's prep team instead. um changed that for the films and made it so that we have effie and i personally like this change a lot jay scotty in one of our earlier episodes i told you something like this was coming and i'm like just wait until mocking jay because i think your feelings on effie will change do you have any thoughts do you remember that conversation at all or do you have thoughts on effie's character in these films
00:41:58
Speaker
um I vaguely remember that conversation and I don't remember the specifics of it. I'm trying to retrace my memory. I think maybe I said something to the effect that was she like underutilized I felt.
00:42:10
Speaker
That sounds right. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Well, yeah, this is definitely, I mean, it it makes sense. I totally get why they would do it. You have an actor like Elizabeth Banks, who I absolutely love. She she kills it as Effie. um Yeah, but she was kind of just like relegated. And I think it works in the books. You know, you feel her absence. And that's that's something we haven't really touched on either. But I think it makes sense for the story. But I think one of the reasons it just kind of like...
00:42:34
Speaker
doesn't feel as um intrinsic to the the grand scheme of The Hunger Games is Katniss is really isolated from a lot of her relationships. I mean, obviously, PETA is the big one. They spend so much time less time together in the story, especially in part one. But even like Hamish, like they've had a sordid history of like kind of being at each other's throats, but always kind of landing that they're they're on the same team. And you don't really have those conversations. And I was missing those a little bit. But um yeah, to bring it back to Effie, it makes a lot of sense to have her be kind of this like conduit for the capital experience in ah District 13. Now, that being said, I do think, you know, the level of depravity
00:43:16
Speaker
and description that they go to with the state that the prep team was in in the books, you lose a little bit of that. and i And I get you have to make this palatable to you know a wider age group age group and make it a little bit more four quadrant pleasing. But again, as we were kind of discussing, like Katniss having these opportunities opportunities to demonstrate who she is unscripted, raw, willing to fight back for
Humanity and Common Ground Themes
00:43:38
Speaker
people. You know, she gets a lot of flack for that from the people in District 13. Like, why would you even Gales like these people like basically dressed you up to die? They put you on a silver platter and now you're coming to their defense. You lose a little bit of that. But because Effie is such a core part of the team um making that change, I can forgive um all of that, but it is noted.
00:44:00
Speaker
And the line that ah they're like children kind of goes back to us saying that they are literally children for the people in the Hunger Games. You know, she says that about the prep team. Like they don't know. They're they're like children at their mindset. They have one. They've been taught one thing. They know one thing. And so they're just doing what they've been told and they can learn.
00:44:20
Speaker
This scene that's in the book also plants an early seed of what Coyne and District 13 can do. And sure I think that fuels Katniss later on believing Snow. Like, well, she did treat these people this way.
00:44:35
Speaker
and then it's the like wanting to do the Hunger Games with the capital children. And then she, you know, Coyne's not a good person. So this kind of plants that early seed that um makes us believe ah later on in the book that it's really not a good, you know, there's, there's two evils here.
Romantic Dynamics: Katniss, Peeta, and Gale
00:44:52
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:44:53
Speaker
Yeah. and They're all politicians. Yeah. I'm kind of torn on this decision to change it to Effie. Like definitely, you know, for movie viewers only, you don't have any really, any real connection to Katniss's prep team. Like you don't get a lot of scenes that most of the scenes that are supposed to be between her and various members of her prep team just go to Effie. In Catching Fire, especially. um so for movie viewers, it definitely made more sense for that switch to happen. But like you said, Saradae, like you lose seeing the dark side of the coin and the dark side of 13 and like they're just as... In a lot of ways, they're just as bad as the Capitol and just as bad as snow. And so like this is one of those changes that like I totally understand. And when you see Elizabeth Banks as Effie, you're excited. You're like oh, my gosh, Effie's here. And we don't have to wait until the very end of the book, like after you know everything is basically already said and done. It's just the execution. left and that's where she gets to come back and you're left kind of wondering what happened to her. So I like knowing what happened to her earlier. But, you know, now that you've said all that other stuff, Saradae, I do, I do kind of wish that even if they had just shown Effie in that cell and her being emaciated and starved and punished and like if they had given her that background and shown that level with her instead of the prep team, I think that would have been a better balance. Yeah. And it's almost like they hinted at it or like not even like a little Easter egg because i think it was Plutarch said to her like, you're not a prisoner here because she's in her little cell in quotation marks and she's being miserable. And um and but that is like they should have had her as a prisoner as like the capital.
Finnick's Victimization and Capitol's Cruelty
00:46:45
Speaker
person in 13 and like the stealing of the bread. That's why they were in there and being tortured because they stole again, quotes bread. um
00:46:55
Speaker
But um yeah, I love seeing like, I love Effie. I love Elizabeth Banks as Effie. um She's a much bigger character in the movies than she is in the book. And I think that's why Suzanne Collins wrote her into um Sunrise on the Reaping. um But it's kind of like a give or take. Like I i could go both ways if they had. we didn't We don't know the prep team. They don't have those characters in the first two films. So we wouldn't have had any emotional connection to them. But I think if they had seen a little bit more of Effie in ah in an actual cell as opposed to just a room, it would have hit harder later on.
00:47:33
Speaker
Yeah, and I think there were some opportunities, whether it's the prep team or whether it's Effie. I agree. I didn't think about it in the moment. But yeah, having her actually experience some like real discomfort and the in the cell and be treated a certain way because she is so representative of the Capitol would have been welcomed. But one of the sequences in the book that I really enjoyed is Octavia is kind of like at her ultimate low.
00:47:55
Speaker
And there's like a young child from 13 that's like, why are you green? Are you sick? And it's like it's meant to be pretty. And she like breaks down in tears and she's like i think you'd be pretty in any color. And like that's so heartwarming. And you could have done that with Effie in some regard, like with the fact that she didn't have her wig and was doing the little like doo-wop whatever you call that. um that yeah situation situation yeah yeah just have like some kid you know like reaffirm the fact that um she places so much you know emphasis on outwardly appearances that could have been a really nice moment in exchange
00:48:26
Speaker
Well, and that would have served the purpose to like that scene in the book of showing and Katniss says this in part two with the the people coming out of the mountain of the nut. She's like, you know, we're all people. We're we're each other's neighbors. We're but like, we're all supposed to be on the same side against the Capitol. And so to show that like, yeah, you can have somebody from the Capitol who, you know, is just had the fortune or misfortune of being born there. who grew up covered and you know drowning and that in the capital propaganda, who didn't know any better, and then somebody who grew up in 13 and has only heard their propaganda their whole lives, and they can still find some common ground and some humanity
Gale's Motivations and Katniss' Growth
00:49:12
Speaker
with each other. Like that scene, like it's such a short one-off scene of like, you'd be pretty in any color, but like that's that humanity that we're fighting to save in this this rebellion. And so I, like, I wish that that scene, like it was so fast. It could have been in there for 10 seconds, but I wish it had been included.
00:49:33
Speaker
I get a little worried throughout this whole film about how easily Gale's willing to commit war crimes. And we see some of that with the nut and the things like that and the argument they have between they're willing to kill us. Why shouldn't we? He's just got so much anger about them destroying his home in 12 that he's so ready to just kill as many capital or anybody who simps with the capital at all. And that part gets... rather intense for a bit between them and that's kind of why they i think ultimately can't end up together in this story because she and him have oh yeah well and that's well he created the bombs yeah exactly it was his plan yeah well and that's something that throughout the books you get a little bit more of he's been talking like this before 12 got bombed oh yeah he's been talking like this since book one since their first to hunting trip where we first meet him and Katniss, he's been like this. He's been for the rebellion. He's been anti-capital. He's been saying anybody who's with the capital deserves death. Like he's he's always been this way.
00:50:33
Speaker
and you just like, he's just never had the opportunity to act on those feelings. but And now he does. Now he's given a gun and is trained and it is, you know, soldier Hawthorne. And so now you get, and he gets to talk to BD, somebody who can actually take his traps and snares and his plots and traps and, you know, actualize them in a war zone. Like he just hasn't had the resources to fulfill his, you know, bloody dreams of revenge up against the Capitol until now, but he's always been like this and it's always turned Katniss off.
PETA's Strategic Role in Rescue Mission
00:51:05
Speaker
It's always been something that she's like, well, you know,
00:51:08
Speaker
They're probably are innocent civilians. Like there's there's they have kids, too. Like they're not everybody is President Snow. Like not everybody is evil. Yeah. the You know, President Snow, the game makers, like, you know, politicians, whatever. Like, yeah, those people. But like.
00:51:24
Speaker
her um her crew, her style team, she's like, they're like children. They just don't know any better. They've never known any different. And so like you can't punish them just because they were never able to know. She's like, we don't know what the other district districts are like. And so there's always from the beginning that tension between her and Gail where you're right, Chris, like – They tried to make it like a Twilight-y kind of like love triangle thing. That was never an option. Like if you read these books and you see what Gale is like and how frequently him and Katniss butt heads and how she fundamentally cannot support the harming of innocents and he is willing to harm innoc innocents.
00:52:07
Speaker
You're right. They can never end up together. And so that's why like the teamgae team Gail, team PETA, shut up. Get out of my face with that Don't even, don't even. PETA was always the only option for her. Yeah. And I will die on that hill.
00:52:22
Speaker
I will too. I'm right there with you. Yeah. think Gale also has a tendency of like seeing Katniss's worst qualities and kind of calling her out for it. Like, you know, that it's probably in part two, but the whole exchange between that she's eavesdropping on between he and Peeta where he he says, you know, she's going to choose the one that she can't survive without. And you get a little bit more of that from Peeta. I realize I'm getting ahead of myself with that. part two and and some of the things Peta gets to say to Katniss. But I also think just thematically, Gale kind of represents Katniss's past and what she's comfortable with. And like, there's a lot of, you know, allusions to the fact that like she's being seen this light. there's a character that's not even in the in the movies, Dele.
00:53:06
Speaker
Dele, I remember in the in the book, she says something like, oh, everyone always looked at Katniss's like remarkable and extraordinary. She's like, no, I was not friendly. And I was like, so um I think that that that is kind of representative Gale, that tendency to be a survivor and protect only herself and what's close to her, and she has to grow beyond that. And Peeta kind of sees her for what for all the qualities that she could be, um which, we again, we get to see in moments of action. It's not something that she necessarily reflects on all that much, but her actions show who she is, and Peeta has always seen that all the way along.
00:53:43
Speaker
So it could only end up one way. So speaking of PETA, he gives one last propo where he or he he you know, he's being interviewed by Caesar, but our District 13 and our rebels have finally broken into their system.
00:54:02
Speaker
and are playing a Katniss propo. And he kind of breaks through his hypnosis, if you will, and warns that they are going to be bombed, that bombs are on their way. So I think he gives them like 13 minutes or or seven minutes. 10 minutes, something like that. 10 minutes um extra time to evacuate all of the buildings.
00:54:26
Speaker
And then after that happens, um they've agreed to do the rescue mission. And Hamish says like, they've already gone. Who do you think's going on the mission? um And we have one final kind of propo that they're trying to distract the Capitol with. So our rescue team can go into the Capitol. I believe this is when the roses happen and Finick needs to go on instead. um So until we get to the actual rescue
00:54:59
Speaker
um How are you feeling? like ah Like the cat disappearing and waiting for Prim and um everything that happens with the light and her coming to the realization and then that that final propo. That scene was a lot less intense in the book. Like everybody safely made it inside. Like, yeah, it was kind of a last minute until the doors dropped, but it was not like raining and dark and like the bombs had not dropped yet. Like, it was But like you said, J. Scottie, like there's not a lot of opportunity for action scenes in this first half of the book and film. And so they kind of had to up the stakes a little bit at some point. And so this was probably the best way to do it. um But yeah, so the PETA is able to give them a warning and kind of
00:55:47
Speaker
solidify that he, you know, kind proved to the non-believers that he is being tortured and held against his will and forced to say these things against his
Emotional Reunions and Part 1 Conclusion
00:55:59
Speaker
will. And he, like you said, Sarada, he does kind of break free for a moment and decide to To me, the way I read it was like he was of sound mind that whole time. he was just doing what he felt like he had to do to survive. Maybe he had made a deal with Snow. Like, I'll say whatever you want as long as you don't kill Katniss if you guys win. Something like that. And to me, like, knowing that the bombs were coming was him making a choice that I know I'm going to be killed and tortured for, you know, giving up this plan. But I'm going to do it anyways because I can now see Katniss and I love her. And I want to protect her. And, you know, that that's what we do for each other. We protect each other.
00:56:39
Speaker
You know, so there's a line also that is he's still playing the game. He's still in the book. Yeah. Yes. Right. Just like what they all are. Katniss I'm still playing the game with snow. I'm, you know, Finnick is still playing the game. So you're right. Saturday, the bombs drop.
00:56:56
Speaker
Snow dumps the roses and the rescue team has gone out to rescue PETA and the other victors. And this is where we get another heartbreaking. There's pretty much not a single scene that Finnick is in where it's not heartbreaking, but this one, especially where he talks about how he was victimized and sold as a sex slave in the Capitol by Snow. And hey, just to remind everybody, Finnick was the youngest ever winner of his Hunger Games. He was forever. years old when he won the Hunger Games and started being sold as a sex slave.
00:57:31
Speaker
Yikes. i can't i yeah I can't. I can't even. and no it's great So it's disgusting and it, you know, horrendous, horrendous. And so for him to, and Katniss kind of has that realization as he's talking and talking about his experience and all the secrets he got. She's like, you know, we in the district's watching him we always thought that he was you know the capitol's darling and that he just took a lot of lovers and he was you know the capitol's whore and he liked that he liked it that he was part of it and he you know loved he was voluntarily reveling in it things yeah yes and she's like oh my god he was a victim he was a
00:58:11
Speaker
child victim of sex slavery like she's realizing this in that moment the same time that everybody else is and she's realizing it could have happened to her too absolutely yeah that could have been me that could have been pita like we could have like and it just kind of revitalizes her willingness to fight like this is what we're fighting against this is why what we're fighting for is to protect these children from having to go into hunger games and be victimized like this beyond having to kill each other
Reflections and Setup for Part 2
00:58:41
Speaker
now you want to sell my body too it's just I can't even express how like horrifying it is to read that and then to see a again Sam Claflin an incredible performance where he is so like to me it reads he's dissociating from it and he's just talking about it and he's He's got a straight face. He's stone cold. He's just this is what happened to me. This is what they did to me. This is what President Snow has done, has said he's poison. He's a snake like he to give this distraction because the only thing that can distract Snow at this point from harming the rescue team is
00:59:18
Speaker
talking badly about Snow and exposing him for who he is. Yeah. Well, and in the books, we hear so much about everything that's going on, like all of the behind the scenes, which rails and he's calling everybody out. And that's what he is like. The distraction in the Capitol is that, They're getting all of this information and it's going to be dramatic and they're all going to be gossiping and they're getting all of this from him. Cause he's like, I don't want money. I want secrets.
00:59:43
Speaker
Um, so he's spilling all these secrets finally. And that's supposed to be the big distraction. So like, it's not just about how bad snow is. It's about how bad everybody in the Capitol is. All the politicians, all the rich people. think they said something about, uh, there was incest. There was, you know all these different things the book they talked about that were just absolutely horrendous that the Capitol is, uh,
01:00:04
Speaker
committing and and in secret here and just ah yeah that's part of their lives at this point. Yeah. And another revelation we get in the book, I don't know if it says clearly painted out in the in the film, but correct me if I'm wrong here. um Finnick talks about Snow's ascent to power and how that was basically all done through poisoning. But if I'm not mistaken, we're led to believe that the unhealing sores in his mouth and the source of like this constant blood is because he takes the poison himself to kind of like the antidotes don't always work. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That was okay. I wanted to make sure I understood that correctly. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy.
01:00:40
Speaker
and And if I can just talk shit on Gail for a little bit longer, if you guys want to watch me. I hate this guy so much. he again, I don't think this was explicitly said. It might have been like Katniss might have been thinking it or maybe I'm just projecting, but...
Final Thoughts and Listener Engagement
01:00:57
Speaker
I think Gail volunteering to rescue PETA is so selfish because like, A, he's putting his life on the line, which he knows is going to make Katniss freak out.
01:01:06
Speaker
And, you know, shes she has that freak out. Like, did I lose both of them tonight? You know, she she has her panic attack with Hamish. Did I lose both of them? But then also like he knows and i I can't remember if he says it in the book or in one of the movies, but he knows that he does not have a chance with Katniss if she's always thinking about pi and worrying about PETA. Is he dead? Is he alive? Are they torturing him? Well, no, he actually says that to her. Right. Okay. Thank you. Because she was like, what did you think? um And he was like, i it's selfish. um i like And she was like, you thought you don't have to worry. You don't have to be jealous anymore. And he's like, no, I can't until he's safe. Yes.
01:01:45
Speaker
Yes. But I think this goes a little deeper to his need to protect her family. I think he sees Peta as part of her family. He needs to protect the people around her. he has attacked himself since the first Hunger Games protecting his her mom and her sister. And I think Peta is an extension of that at this point. I think he, yes, has his selfish motives, but I think he also knows he he's protecting her. he is yeah that big brother character to her that needs to take care of her.
01:02:14
Speaker
That's part of his pathology. Yeah, I think that could definitely be part of it. But like, for Peta specifically, like, it's because he wants to be with Katniss and he he knows he can never be with her if Peta is in danger. And even if Peta dies, she's always going to be wondering about him and missing him and thinking about him. And so, you know, Yes, I think I think that's probably a good part of it to Chris is that, you know, he wants to protect Katniss and keep her happy. But ultimately, that is still selfish because he wants to protect her and the people she loves and keep her happy so that he has a chance with her, not just because he's a good dude. We've already proven that he's not a good dude. He's willing to commit war crimes. So like, I just hate Gail.
01:02:59
Speaker
Well, somewhat that makes him a little bit more of a multi-layered character. Maybe that you know gives him a little more depth than before. But yeah, I'm with you. I don't i' not to don't want to defend Gail because I definitely don't i love people who are willing to ah kill children. so yeah Right.
01:03:16
Speaker
It also brings to mind, I know this is a line that comes later on in in part two and in the book later on, but um he says something to Peta to the effect of like, I should have volunteered to take your place all the way back, you know, on that first charing day to protect her. So it's not really because he feels like he's got to protect him. Again, it's to protect Katniss, not because I owe you anything. But again, it it is um Yeah, again, he's not ah he's not a good dude, but there is at least some level of like nuance there. He's not a one-note character.
01:03:46
Speaker
And it is the way he grew up. He grew up looking out for himself and all of his siblings, i think it was, that he had a bunch of in the in the book. So I think he just has deep, deep trauma of his own that he we don't get aired out as much in this, but he was the one that brought everybody that did survive out of 12 out. he's He was already doing that back in 12, taking care of everybody. Yeah. I think he literally just has this savior complex and he's watching Katniss do it on screen. He's trying to live up to her in some ways too. He's trying to be this hero that he knows he can never quite hold up to in the, in reality.
01:04:22
Speaker
So he's a man with a fragile ego. Aren't we all?
01:04:28
Speaker
I'm something of a man with a fragile ego myself. i No, I, you're right. He's a, he is a nuanced character and he's, he is fascinating to analyze and to read. I just like, I remember when these movies were coming out and everybody would, everybody, the girlies were, you know, team Gail, team Peter, team Gail. And then just again, like rereading and rewatching now as an adult, I'm like,
01:04:55
Speaker
we cannot be falling for the gale propaganda. Like we, you have, have to stay focused. Team Finnick and Annie. Team Finnick and Annie, ah team PETA, like, and ultimately, and the other thing too, just on a broader level for the hunger games, this is not a romance story.
01:05:12
Speaker
This was never meant to be a romance story. Katniss's goal always is to protect prim. Everything is for her sister. Everything is about her family, protecting the people she loves. that circle of people she loves expands. It adds Peta, it adds Finnick, it adds Hamish. But she never, ever is thinking the whole Hunger Games. She never is, do I want to be married to Peta? Do i want to be married to Gail? That is never a conversation she has with herself. She even tells Gail, like she can't think about this right now. yeah She doesn't want to pick. Like this is not her goal.
01:05:47
Speaker
Well, it's also like, we hey, we've got a war to fight, brother. I'm going back into the Hunger Games arena. Like we've got, I've got some real life shit to deal with I cannot be yeah playing these stupid teenage romance games with you dude like get a grip and i i appreciate that part of Suzanne Collins you know making it very clear at least from Katniss's point of view I could not give less of a crap about who do I want to date or who's the better kisser like I don't care I want to save Prim I want to prevent the Hunger Games from happening again Like this is real. This is a war and I'm here to fight this war. I ah do not have time for you boys and your nonsense right now. um
01:06:32
Speaker
And that this is all happening the same time as, you know, Twilight and Edward and Jacob and these other, you know, franchises that are more romance focused. And so to have, you know, this heroine who could not be bothered was incredible at the time. And i i that's I think that's why Katniss and The Hunger Games, like part of why they've stuck around so much is because we've got bigger fish to fry than what boy we're going date.
01:06:58
Speaker
Great perspective. Okay, so um the mission, well, we don't know how the mission goes. this Snow admits that he knows they're there, um and she freaks out, like you said earlier, Jordan. Did I lose them both? um But they come back. They're saved. We see the reunion between Finnick and Annie. We see Joanna had shaven, and then we're introduced to Peta. They're like, go in, go see him.
01:07:28
Speaker
And she he attacks her. And we're left with like, oh, WTF is going on. um And now i can't remember if the conversation happens at the end of this movie or in the next one about the the hijacking and the tracker.
01:07:44
Speaker
um trackers i don't remember either. think it's the very end of this one. Because she goes back. She's attacked by Pitta and then she goes back and watches him in the And he's like thrashing around. Yeah. we do get a little explanation in this one. I think, yeah, Plutarch and like Beattie get to tell her at the end of this movie. But then in part two is when Peeta gets the chance to tell her about like some of the hallucinations and and and asks her like, you were you were stung once as well. So they have a little bit more of an in-depth conversation. Yeah.
01:08:16
Speaker
Yeah, and that's I think this whole scene is why they and did did the two parts was just because they wanted the emotional impact to sit with you for a whole year of PETA attacks or PETA tries to choke her out and kill her. This could have ended right here because of what the capital wanted out of this turned him into a weapon. And that was what the impact was supposed to be at the end of the part one.
01:08:37
Speaker
Yeah, because Gail's like they let us they let us go right out. And so, yeah, because PETA is the weapon. Yeah, and it brings to mind in the book, I know they're they really kind they have like an extended explanation of like the terminology of of hijacking. and That just kind of brought to mind um something I really appreciated about this book and it was present all in the first two books as well, but it just really kind of came to a head for me in this book. And I think because there's so many instances of it, but like hijacked and again, the allusions to like the democracy from the people before and then, you know, the people that ran civilization into the ground and Plutarch gets to have the explanation about like Panem and the bread and the circuses and stuff like that. But I really kind of honed in on PETA's name
01:09:23
Speaker
And it's like, obviously it it feels like a bastardization of like Peter, but it's also like he, the theme of bread and how he's the baker and how this bread is like the source of like their memory their relationship. I was also like pita bread. How did I never think about that before? It's like, even like Katniss is like something that was found in nature that they turned into a name. And it's like, it it makes sense that like, language as it is changes and evolves and civilizations come and go. It's like there was this notion of like pita bread. So we'll name our kid Pita, even though it's spelled differently. It's P-I-T-A when it's pita bread.
01:09:54
Speaker
But anyway, total aside. But I just like that about this world building and and this franchise. You do see the the footprints of the past a little bit. You see what she's showing as our society having caused this to end up being where we end up. Yeah. Oh, yeah, because morphling is like the other instance. That's obviously like morphine, but it turned into morphling along the way.
01:10:17
Speaker
I want to scoot back a little bit to the rescue mission. And we, this is a movie only scene, but like Katniss and president snow speaking directly to each other, i thought was a really valuable thing. Cause their dynamic when they are together in person and speaking to each other is has always been so fascinating. And, you know, he promises like, we're not going to lie to each other like that. We can play our games and we can manipulate the people around us, but you and I are not going to lie to each other. And so to actually get that opportunity for her to talk to him and him to talk to her and say like, I know you have troops in here rescuing. and You think you can get by me and I wouldn't know? Please. Like that is just just like that adding those layers to their dynamic, bleeding into part two and that final conversation in the garden. Like I think that was a good addition to put in this film to give them that direct conversation.
01:11:18
Speaker
Agreed. Any other final thoughts on part one?
01:11:24
Speaker
Josh Hutcherson's acting with the thrashing and the tracker jacket venom is just so terrible. so trying To change a whole personality that way. Yeah. yes yeah and Especially how mean he is in the next one. Yeah. one like I was going to say how it continues into part two of him, you know, battling. And like you we said earlier, like real or not real, like that constantly having to question everything about your whole history, your memories, what's happening around you. Is it real or not real? Like, oh, he does such a good job with it. so Heartbreaking. Yeah.
01:12:01
Speaker
Yeah, I had to look up whether or not Josh Hutcherson like lost like a crazy amount of weight like on a crash diet, like a la Christian Bale or something like that for The Machinist. And no, it was actually all achieved through like ah um special effects, visual effects. Like so probably something similar to what we saw with like Chris Evans and the first Captain America movie. But it's really, really well done. I had to to look it up. I was so convinced.
01:12:25
Speaker
Yeah. And ah I can't think of the actor's name, but Plutarch passed after this. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yes. So an excellent final performance from him. He's so good at as Plutarch.
01:12:43
Speaker
All right. Well, we're all going to wrap up part one um and we'll see you next week for part two.
01:12:53
Speaker
i e No copyright infringement? Probably didn't come through. my I think my mic cancels. You got it. No, it did well. It did well. Oh, okay.
01:13:01
Speaker
That's a wrap for this week's episode of Book Watch. We hope you enjoy diving into the world of page-to-screen adaptations with us. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a rating and review wherever you listen, and share it with a fellow book and movie lover.
01:13:16
Speaker
If you prefer to watch along, you can check out the show on YouTube, youtube.com slash at book, watch podcast. You can follow the show on Instagram at book, watch podcast, and you can follow me Sarah day on Instagram at captain. McD that's M C D E E. And you can follow me Jordan on Instagram at JJ Corrito. That's C A R R I D O. And you can follow me Chris at cyborg night four Oh four. That's night with a K.
01:13:47
Speaker
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01:14:05
Speaker
Have a favorite adaptation you'd like us to cover? Or a book you think deserves a screen adaptation? Or just want to let us know of any feedback? Send us an email at bookwatchpodcast at gmail.com.
01:14:17
Speaker
Until next time, keep reading, keep watching, and we'll see you next week.