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S4:E17 Part 1 - Mockingjay (2014 Film)
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This week, we’re stepping into the rebellion with Mockingjay Part 1, discussing both the book and the film as the story moves away from the Games and into propaganda, resistance, trauma, and war. We break down the emotional tension, the role Katniss is forced to play, and how this first half of Mockingjay builds toward the final fight.
Hosted by Lindsey with co-hosts Crystal and Keri.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
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Thanks for listening to Based on a Book—see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(02:48) Quick Recap
(03:07) Book Ratings
(33:08) Book vs Movie Discussion
Recommended
Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
Attention, citizens. This is a message from Based on a Book. This broadcast comes with a slightly weakened signal. The audio quality isn't as polished as usual, but the episode is still here, and so is the conversation.
00:00:20
Speaker
The Capitol may have damaged the sound, but the message survived. Thank you for listening, and welcome to our Mockingjay Part 1 episode. Music
00:00:32
Speaker
be televised, but it will be podcasted. This is based on a book, the podcast dedicated to serving you all the Hunger Games coverage you can stomach. I'm your host, Lindsay, and I hope you're ready to listen to me for four episodes in a row.
00:00:47
Speaker
I'm Carrie, and I've watched at least 100 Hunger Games edits to prepare for this moment. I'm Crystal, and much like Katniss, I'm way better when I'm not scripted.
00:01:01
Speaker
Like I mentioned in my intro, we have four episodes lined up and they are stacked. First up, we are tackling Mockingjay. And just like Lionsgate did in 2014 and 2015, we're splitting it into two parts.
00:01:22
Speaker
Part one is this week. Part two is next week. We'll be comparing the book to both films, unpacking the split... and did with the story's pacing. We're asking whether Katniss's journey was served or stretched by the decision to divide it.
00:01:42
Speaker
After that, we're heading back to the beginning, or rather before the beginning, with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the book that reframed everything we thought we knew about President Snow, and finally, the episode that you all have asked for...
00:01:58
Speaker
Yep. We're closing it out with Sunrise on the Reaping. So we'll be diving into the book, talking about Hamich's story, what it adds to the world of Panem, and giving our honest, unfiltered predictions for the film hitting theaters on November 20th.
00:02:15
Speaker
I really cannot wait. I cannot wait. I am so excited. I don't know that I've experienced a Hunger Games movie in theaters and I'm i' determined to go see this one.
00:02:26
Speaker
I can't remember if I ever have. I watched them all in the theater. All i think all four. i read all of the books. I read all the books when they came out.
00:02:37
Speaker
Yeah, i don't i can't I don't remember if I have in theaters. i i feel like I have maybe, but Yeah, I don't remember. Interesting.
00:02:48
Speaker
That's to exciting. I'm excited. ah But this is the start of Hunger Games Month on Based on a Book. The Mockingjay is flying, the Rebellion is live, and we are just getting started, so stay with us.
00:03:02
Speaker
Today, though, we're not in District 12 anymore. We're in the heart of the rebellion. We're underground in District 13. The cameras are rolling. And Plutarch Heavensby is yelling action. Because whether you like it or not, the Mockingjay has a message to deliver.
00:03:19
Speaker
Back in season two, we covered The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the book that started it all, the film that launched a franchise, and Jennifer Lawrence's iconic side braid. Then in season three, we took it on Catching Fire. If you haven't listened to those episodes yet, go back, start there, and meet us back here. We will wait.
00:03:39
Speaker
But before we go to war, let's start with our book ratings. And I previously started with Crystal each time, so I am going to continue that.
00:03:50
Speaker
Crystal, what did you think of Mockingjay? The whole book, because I'm not going rate the first half of the second i half. yeah No, ill but the whole book.
00:04:01
Speaker
I don't think it was quite as an emotional gut punch as the first two. um or maybe I just wasn't in the place to deal with it or feel it quite as deeply as I did the first two.
00:04:16
Speaker
But there is no denying that it still hit me, that I still cried in moments, that I've fallen in love with these characters or in hate in in some cases with some of these characters And I am so in love with this series that even though this one I don't think was quite the the quite the level of the first two, it's still a five-star read for me.
00:04:47
Speaker
Like, maybe the first two were like a five and a half and a six, and this was just at five, if that makes sense. It's still so good. it's And I know I just said a five-star read, but I did rate this five...
00:05:01
Speaker
medicine vials because Katniss goes back to District 12 a thousand times to get more random things from her house. In the movie they have the cute little like bottles and I was like dang little apothecary in there. yeah But I really did I really did love this and I'm excited I'm just so glad that we picked this series up. It was, I know it was one of those that we were like, do we want to do this one? Do we want to do that one? we We thought really hard about all three of our series. And I'm so, so glad that this was like one of our final choices.
00:05:40
Speaker
I totally agree with that. For me, I'm sticking to my same rating that I used throughout the entire series so far and giving it five Mocking J's. Okay, this is a God tier series.
00:05:55
Speaker
All right. yes And no one can convince me otherwise. All right. I could not, for the life of me, remember most of this book. Like it was actually very difficult for me because this is a reread for me. And I just remember like blowing through this story when I was younger because of how the second one ends. Like it's such a cliffhanger. And I was like, I don't remember so much of this plot.
00:06:24
Speaker
Like I just remember very big moments, but not a lot of the important things that I caught on to this time. i was like, I don't remember a lot of like coin. i don't remember a lot of that stuff going into it. So this felt like a brand new read to me.
00:06:43
Speaker
And you think going into the book that it would be very focused like on the action and the overall big moments of the plot, but there is so much emotional depth in this book.
00:07:01
Speaker
Suzanne Collins is an incredible writer that will go down and already has gone down freaking history. I'm not even playing right now.
00:07:14
Speaker
The way she writes about individual characters, emotional journey through the Hunger Games, whether it's related to the rebellion, torture, politics, loss, recovery,
00:07:31
Speaker
It is disgustingly well done. is it It makes me sick how good it is. It is so subtle that you almost have to look out to catch it.
00:07:47
Speaker
when something is like an emotional punch. The writing makes you so invested in the story. And like I said, it's not even always the action. Sometimes it's just...
00:08:03
Speaker
a relationship between us two sisters, a relationship between companions or someone they just met or they came across who knows the same struggle between two people.
00:08:21
Speaker
This author is knows how to write that so well it's like baffling to me it is so good like it and i i need to how am i gonna find this again i don't even know like i need this again we got two more books yeah two more books yeah like but it's like you said it's not even that it's so action-packed i mean there is action But she develops these characters in large part by showing us the small actions rather than just telling us about the character. Like, oh, this person is conniving and manipulative. She doesn't tell us that.
00:08:59
Speaker
She shows us in small ways and builds and builds and builds. And it's it's layers upon layers of these relationships. And it's it's just awe-inspiring.
00:09:12
Speaker
Absolutely. It really is. Lindsay, what did you think? Yeah. I was the same as Carrie. I kept with my original rating and I gave this five Mockingjays.
00:09:24
Speaker
And I won't lie, this book actually did destroy me. I literally did put the book down and walk away from it at one point just because it it hit. And then, again, like Carrie, I read this book when it came out, and I did not remember 99% of the plot. I literally remembered one scene.
00:09:43
Speaker
And i won't say I won't say it yet, but it does involve a ducktail. Yeah. Yep. That's just one scene. like I feel like the first two gut-punched me throughout.
00:09:56
Speaker
And I feel like this one built and so a little bit slower and it got me a couple of times a little bit in the middle, but then towards the end, just done.
00:10:08
Speaker
Wrecked. You know what i mean? So it was a different kind of different kind of gutting. And I just want to add Suzanne Collins and her writing, like she knows how to end a chapter.
00:10:21
Speaker
yeah The way she writes it, I just, I wanted to keep reading. It's so good. It is impossible to put down. hu And it's like, I feel like you could read it over and over and over again. Like you could read the book so many times and still love it so much.
00:10:42
Speaker
You would still have a really good time reading it and almost catch different things that you didn't see before. Like I said, it's not super action packed. It's not where you, you know, all these crazy things are happening.
00:11:00
Speaker
But the pacing of it there's like a science behind the pacing in this series. And these aren't long books. No.
00:11:12
Speaker
no These are not long books. And especially after just having come off of Fifty Shades and whoever thought oh my gosh these in the same conversation. but Fifty Shades was so long and didn't give us half the story that this does in half the time.
00:11:28
Speaker
you it It's insane. like They divided this single book into two movies. Yeah. Two two-hour movies. Yeah. so there is a lot happening in this story, but it is just paced so well. And I think, I've said this before on the podcast, that I think that I see fantasy books, dystopian books in general, getting bigger and bigger and bigger and almost difficult to cut things down, cut things out.
00:12:05
Speaker
who Where it's like we don't dive so deep into every little detail of what's happening in these characters' lives.
00:12:17
Speaker
It's like we do just enough. Yep. to hit and it's oh my gosh it's like a i' like i said it's like a science behind it like we she needs to teach a class on this like this is crazy it's so good yep it's amazing ah But we definitely have a lot to discuss today. So I think we're just going to get right into our spoiler territory. But before we get too far into the heart of the Capitol, we have a few important warnings for you. And we mean it when we say please take these seriously.
00:12:55
Speaker
First, the obvious. This episode contains full spoilers for The Hunger Games' Mockingjay, the book, and both films. If you haven't read or watched yet and you want to go in fresh, now is the time to pause, go do that, and come back.
00:13:08
Speaker
We will be here. We're not going anywhere. As for content and trigger warnings, Mockingjay is the darkest installment in this series, and we're not going to shy away from that.
00:13:21
Speaker
This episode will include discussion of war and political violence, including propaganda, weaponized media, and civilian casualties. psychological trauma and ptsd particularly as experienced by katniss pita and other survivors of the games uh torture and uh hijacking i guess is the term we're going to use for pita yeah have to loss and grief including the deaths of characters we love uh depression and mental health struggles
00:13:56
Speaker
So we're not going to get too much into part two, but obviously we can't bypass some of that when discussing the book. So just a warning. Mockingjay has always been the book that asks the hardest questions about war, about who gets to be a hero, and about what survival actually costs.
00:14:17
Speaker
That's part of what makes it so powerful, and we want to honor it by discussing it honestly, but we also want you to be able to take care of yourself. So if any of those topics are something you need to step back from today, that is completely okay.
00:14:30
Speaker
You can always come back to this one when you're ready, or skip ahead to the parts that feel right for you. But before we get into full breakdown, i want to talk about the book as its own entity.
00:14:45
Speaker
Before we get into the book, though, let's take a quick second to get everyone on the same page, because if you're jumping into Mockingjay without having covered the first two, there are a lot of plots to catch up on. When Catching Fire ends, everything has changed. The arena is destroyed.
00:15:01
Speaker
Katniss has been pulled out by the Rebel hovercraft. PETA has been taken by the Capitol and District 12 is gone. That is where Mockingjay begins. Now, Mockingjay was published in 2010, and the anticipation around it was enormous.
00:15:18
Speaker
Readers were ready for the revolution, ready for the victory. And what they got was something much darker and much more complicated than that. It remains the most, I don't want to say controversial books of the trilogy, but it's debatable.
00:15:36
Speaker
oh What did you guys think? of the tone of the book versus moy uum catching fire and and the Hunger Games. It definitely takes a different tone.
00:15:51
Speaker
i think getting more into Katniss's...
00:15:58
Speaker
Almost trauma in regards to what she has dealt with with the games, you know, and now getting into the fact that she has to be a symbol of this entire rebellion and what that entails, you know, because starting off in Mockingjay,
00:16:18
Speaker
She kind of doesn't want anything to do with this, right? And they're waiting for her to have some type of action to have a voice in this rebellion. And she's just done. Like, she's just mentally done. And because PETA's gone and also people have been lying to her.
00:16:41
Speaker
And it just, the tone of this is reflected in that where it feels dark, it feels bleak, and also the fact of everything that's going on, people are gathering their forces together to go against the capital.
00:17:01
Speaker
And also the fact that we're discussing war, we're discussing how you do that. We're talking about sacrifices, sacrificing people. And there's like a moral compass. There's a moral dilemma with between like Katniss and, and,
00:17:21
Speaker
How you go about those things with Coyne, with Gail. And I like that this book talks about those topics where Katniss questions...
00:17:37
Speaker
how they go about this rebellion and who is supposed to be quote sacrificed where she still thinks there are innocent lives in the capital you know that shouldn't be sacrificed and then you have people like gail or coin it's like it doesn't matter they're all part of the capital they're all the same being kind of thing and i think those are really important conversations to have And this book has them. Like, this is a YA dystopian story, but it is actually, you know, wrapped up in this very important conversation. And I think that's why it just takes a completely different shift in tone.
00:18:25
Speaker
And I think that's interesting. Yeah, I agree. Crystal? I think that... you know Like you said, people were really waiting for this revolution. People had read Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and now like the you know at the very end we we find out that she is the of Catching Fire, we find out she is the Mockingjay and this is the revolution. And so people were amped up and ready to go fight win.
00:18:52
Speaker
Right? Mm-hmm. And instead, what we got was a more realistic look at what winning means, what it takes to to actually mount up some sort of revolution. Somehow, I think people also thought that Katniss was going to get to District 13, where everything was going to be great and they were going to be ready to go.
00:19:15
Speaker
And we get to District 13 and we see what fair looks like. And we see what... has to be given up and sacrificed for the sake of, you know, maintaining a society, what everybody has to contribute to this society and this community in order to make it work. The, you know, the fact that they all wear the same outfit, the fact that Everybody gets to eat at prescribed times and they all get the same kind of food at the same amount of food. And if you don't eat it, it's gone. There is no saving or hoarding, you know, and we see all this happening. And it's not this paradise. It's not an obvious win. And it's also not an obvious good versus evil situation you know we have to determine who is good what is good what would a win look like for the people of pen m and it's like carrie said i think these conversations are important it might not have been what people wanted
00:20:23
Speaker
but It is exactly, I think, what a dystopian future would probably look like. it's not It's not going to be the uglies versus the pretties or whatever that book was. Exactly. It's not black and white. Right. We don't have a utopia.
00:20:43
Speaker
And then the bad guys. That's not how it works. You know, that's that's so far from realistic that we are so far. Like, I get that this is technically a fantasy, a dystopian fantasy, but this is not a fantasy.
00:20:56
Speaker
We don't have dragons. There's no fairies. There's no, you know, like crazy magical creatures showing up. to save the day. You know, nobody gets to make a spell or a potion to change anything.
00:21:10
Speaker
This really truly is a dystopian, so you know, future basically of what we have in our lives right now. And, and so I think this this was a more realistic look at what this pen M would have turned out to be what fighting the Capitol would look like.
00:21:29
Speaker
And I think it was done really, really well with that in mind. o Yeah, and also, like, something that it makes me think about, and that has stuck with me a lot, is, you know, like you said, they were in District 13. We're immediately thinking, it's time for the rebellion and stuff.
00:21:51
Speaker
And Katniss you would think Katniss would be ready to go. Like, it's time to fight, you know. But Katniss is fighting, or questioning Katniss.
00:22:03
Speaker
Their moves at every single point in time. you know You know, she doesn't trust anything that's happening in District 13. Would you give
00:22:15
Speaker
It's a realistic look of what would happen to somebody who has been literally lied to, manipulated, and used by the adults in her life for the last however many years and for by government. Now you're throwing me into a new government and I gotta learn new rules and figure this all out and i'm supposed to just trust? Like, of course she's gonna question that. I think...
00:22:35
Speaker
you know, that's, that's a really important point to make Carrie, because I'm sure there were a lot of people that just expected Katniss to be like, okay, you're the Mockingjay, let's go. and and readers who wanted to see that.
00:22:47
Speaker
yeah And instead we see a more, again, a more realistic reaction to that. Yeah. That's a really good point. I love that. I love that we got that and it made it unexpected. It made it to where it didn't feel like a formula.
00:23:04
Speaker
Where you she's just she's on their side and she's just ready to fight, where she's actually questioning everyone's motives to the point where she is actually being very smart about it.
00:23:16
Speaker
And, you know, internally being like, how is this any different than what the Capitol was doing with me? How is this, you know, with that kind of thinking, she says to Gail one time, with that kind of thinking, you could excuse sending kids to the Hunger Games, you know, to people in District 13, you know what I mean?
00:23:36
Speaker
so I think that those were all very valid conversations and just such an unexpected turn of events in the story. And we see that go throughout.
00:23:50
Speaker
I don't want to get too far because then we'll get too much into part two. But I just think that that is just so well done and just so good. And I do want to say that Kat, the way... Because, once again, character you know, character-driven.
00:24:09
Speaker
i love character-driven stories, you know. But I... Katniss's journey emotionally in this book really got me.
00:24:22
Speaker
It got me in my heart. Because I just, like, felt her... going through her like roller coaster of emotions you know when she would feel guilty she just like feels so much pressure and so much guilt over everything that's happening in this entire world basically And of everyone around her, whenever they're dying or, you know, what's happening with PETA and things like that, it just, there's a lot of really, like, depressing things that are happening in this book and that are brought up.
00:25:10
Speaker
And I don't think they're so in your face. You have to really sit and think about it to really catch it and really sit with it and understand what Katniss is going through.
00:25:25
Speaker
and i think it's just so well done. And I think that's what makes this kind of dark. This, like, darker of the three, be honest. Yeah, I mean, this is clearly not the Katniss that we got in the original Hunger Games, the very first Hunger Games. She spends the majority of this book being pulled in directions that she didn't choose by people who see her as a tool rather than a person. I mean, District 13 needs the Mockingjay.
00:25:53
Speaker
The Rebellion needs the Mockingjay. Plutarch needs the Mockingjay. And what Katniss needs, nobody particularly cares about. So... Mm-hmm. Nope.
00:26:06
Speaker
Yeah. And it's like, like, I hate, i don't want to say, like, I understand the push of, like, you know, even Hamish has been using her to, like, push her along to get this rebellion going. You know, we talk about Senna has even been using her. Everyone's been using her since the beginning.
00:26:30
Speaker
And I get that. It's like they all saw an opportunity. i I saw someone talk about this where everyone saw in Catching Fire, Hamish get sober.
00:26:42
Speaker
And that's when they all knew at it was going down. you know Things were going down and we all had to get it together that the rebellion was happening because he was getting sober because he had to he had to lock in.
00:26:56
Speaker
okay i think i was like oh my gosh that's so true like he had to lock in for this whole situation because he's like this is all gonna be happening uh for this moment and but they used her and like destroyed this poor girl's life and or just meant to i mean this whole world already put her in this position as in like She was already in District 12, like, in the shit, you know what i mean? And yet shes she carries this guilt for all of this. Like, when she finds out that Cinna has died... She says he died and it's my fault But no girl it's not Sinna knew what he was doing He used you yeah and he died and and they called him on it And like it still sucks but that's not your fault And she really does She keeps this ticking list In her head of whose death She's responsible for and it breaks my heart Because it's zero girl It's zero You are not responsible for any of that
00:28:02
Speaker
Yeah. And people get mad at her when she's so like, wants to put herself on the front lines, you know, type of mentality. People get mad. They're like, no, no, no, you can't do that. Because like, you're the symbol, you know, we have to protect you. And I can imagine having that, like idea in your head, like, I need to do this, because if I don't do this, like, people are going to continue to die around me.
00:28:28
Speaker
hmm. Yeah, Collins, Suzanne Collins spent years writing for television before she wrote these books. And I feel like it really shows. I mean, like, the the propos, the broadcasts, but the way both sides are constantly, like, crafting a narrative and weaponizing the image.
00:28:48
Speaker
yeah it's ah it's pretty powerful stuff. Yeah, and the fact that she does write has or has experience doing that, I feel like that shows in her pacing. Yes. In her story.
00:29:00
Speaker
For sure. And I want to touch a little bit on PETA in this episode. PETA in the capital using the Tracker Jacker venom to rewrite his memories of Katniss and basically turn his love into fear.
00:29:16
Speaker
um Obviously, we're going to get a lot more of that in part two, but what did you guys think about PETA's journey? I mean, the whole time I was so friggin' stressed.
00:29:30
Speaker
The whole time. i Something i really love in the book that we actually don't get in the movie at all is when... um So, Hamish, he is getting sober while they're in District 13 because District 13 doesn't have alcohol. yeahp And so he's getting sober and Katniss and Hamish finally see each other again.
00:29:57
Speaker
And they have a conversation because Katniss is so mad at him because he, one, lied about, you know, having this rebellion in general and not telling her about it and using her as a pawn while she was in the games. And also not really making, well, her feeling like PETA wasn't a priority to save him. out of the games. and they have this conversation ah when they finally see each other again.
00:30:28
Speaker
and he's like, go ahead, just say it. Just say what you want to say about how you're like angry at me. And she's like, you were supposed to save him. Like, how could you do that? And then she looks at him and she's like, okay, now say it to me.
00:30:42
Speaker
and he was like, you were not supposed to leave his side. You were supposed to save him. That part hurt me. That one really got me. And I wish that was in the movie so bad. And I was like, PETA!
00:30:56
Speaker
i love Hamish and Katniss' relationship so much. Yes! And that was one of those moments that really solidified it.
00:31:07
Speaker
Just how alike they are, how almost brutally honest they are with each other, and and the the respect they show each other in being able to be vulnerable with each other like that.
00:31:22
Speaker
it's It's amazing. Yeah, I love that. yeah no I think PETA's hijacking is, and and the way the Capitol used him, was expected, and it didn't shock me.
00:31:35
Speaker
What made me mad was how Coyne in District 13 was just instantly going to vilify any victor that wasn't already in District 13. Like, if you're not here with us, then you're obviously against us, and and you're going to be tried for crimes against Penn Like,
00:31:52
Speaker
Okay, so Katniss was used, and Finnick, who's already there, was used, but these others that you couldn't rescue are now suddenly traitors? Mm-hmm. How is that? and then Like, no, they're being used too, you dork. I was so mad at President Kroen through all of this. I was like, girl, mm-mm, mm-mm, you're evil.
00:32:15
Speaker
and know it from page one. When PETA is saying those things, and obviously we all know he's probably being forced to say these things. Like, he's not actually wanting to say those things. Or he's saying that in some type of way to probably to try to help Katniss, right? Mm-hmm.
00:32:35
Speaker
And here comes freaking Gale. Oh my god. Here comes freaking Gail. Like being so snippy. He's like I would never say that. If but I was in the capital.
00:32:50
Speaker
Good for you Gail. You don't even know. i remember yelling that at the book. i was yell I was like like you would know. You're not in that predicament. You don't know how you would react. you' never even been there. You've never been there. Oh you're so big and bad. Why didn't you volunteer?
00:33:07
Speaker
oh I hate that guy i i literally... i used to think... i was like, okay, he's like he's annoying, but he's not terrible. This one solidified my anger towards that man.
00:33:24
Speaker
I don't like him. you Do not like him. And I was like, don't talk about PETA that way. not talk about him like that.
00:33:35
Speaker
The man is being tortured.
00:33:39
Speaker
Leave me Let's get into the movie a little bit more. I have things to say. I want to start with the cast. Obviously, though, like a lot of this cast, we've already seen. But this book introduced a lot of new characters and even expanded on some other characters. So how did we feel about the casting in this movie? Particularly characters like Alma Coyne, Boggs, Caster and Pollux, Cressida, and...
00:34:07
Speaker
I loved it Yeah, casting is on point. And honestly, I think throughout the entire series so far, I think the casting has been perfect. Yep. To be honest. And I want to say that I think sometimes I think i that in series, sometimes like...
00:34:29
Speaker
there can be questionable chemistry or sometimes the acting for me personally in these like YA adaptations and stuff, it'll start to go downhill a little bit on that third one. I'll see it sometimes. But this one, I want to say something about Jennifer Lawrence.
00:34:50
Speaker
The acting from this woman is actually incredible. And I think particularly... Being Katniss.
00:35:01
Speaker
Like, yeah particularly being Katniss as she is in Mockingjay. Where she is, like, she does Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay. Where I actually, when I was reading this, remember, like, in the first two books, i was like, I don't see Jennifer Lawrence as this character. yeah This book, I was actually seeing Jennifer Lawrence. Yes. Because I felt like she almost, like, matured in the story.
00:35:26
Speaker
Because she had just been gone through the shit in the first two books. Mm-hmm. And I feel like she matured. And from that opening scene where she's hiding and they find her. because she yeah And she's like, five more minutes. And you can tell that she's trying to keep it together. But she is right on the... like That was... Just that scene alone was so well done. i was like, that's that's the Katniss in the book. In Mockingjay. Yep.
00:35:50
Speaker
Yeah. And she has these moments where... She is just to herself. I don't want to say soft-spoken because that's not the right word, but almost like calculating where she's not really outspoken.
00:36:06
Speaker
And she's kind of just listening and kind of just like observing. And then she does drop these... but what she drops her opinions randomly whenever they're significant and important and where she doesn't want something to happen.
00:36:23
Speaker
Jennifer Lawrence is really good at doing that. And she's really good at showing where she's not speaking, but we can see the emotions in her face of how she's feeling if when something is deeply hurting her. And there's a lot of like big speeches in the movie right like there's these moments where she has to do the unscripted speeches and stuff and I think she does them really well like she does what Katniss would do where she's like freaking out I don't want to do the scripted speech I'm not very good at it I'm really awkward and then she has the moment where she has to pull it together because she feels passionate about it because due to whatever is happening in that moment and I think Jennifer Lawrence is really good at that yeah
00:37:12
Speaker
this This might be a hot take. I'm not sure. I love the character Effie Trinket. I don't like what they did to her in this movie. I don't either. Yeah, she wasn't even supposed to be in this last movie. art I mean, she's not in the book at all.
00:37:30
Speaker
Not until like the very end. Yeah. and Right. Yeah. In the very last moment. And I've heard in some interviews that Elizabeth Banks fought to have Effie Trinket in this movie.
00:37:43
Speaker
And and i understand why they did. Because they removed some other characters in order to kind of streamline it. And I get why they do that in movies. So I'm not mad about it. But I feel like they made her...
00:37:59
Speaker
almost more superficial than she was before yep and and that's saying like i feel like she got less in like from from the original hunger games to catching fire effie is getting smarter effie is catching on to more things effie is being more real and realistic with the people around her You know, she's acknowledging that there are major problems in the Capitol. She's not outright saying it, but she's, she's there.
00:38:30
Speaker
And so for them to make her so like a caricature in this one kind of hurt my heart. Yeah.
00:38:41
Speaker
It's like they made the Capitol her entire personality. Yeah. hmm. Yeah, i I heard that as well, Crystal, that she fought to be in it and so did the director because they just like couldn't imagine the third movie because she's such a popular character, in the third movie without her. And I think that keeping her there took some darkness away from the movie as well because
00:39:12
Speaker
her Katniss's old prep team from the Capitol is in the story. And District 13 is doing some dark stuff to that prep team in the book.
00:39:28
Speaker
So I think that that... I understand why they took it out, possibly. But, you know, like I said, the book is a little darker than what the movie is showing.
00:39:40
Speaker
can we Can we talk about how District 13... I feel like, and maybe I missed it, because the movies are almost kind of faster paced in order to get the storyline in.
00:39:51
Speaker
Yeah. But in the movie, I feel like they didn't really set up how it is that District 13 managed to survive this long or how it managed to be.
00:40:02
Speaker
In the book, we find out... That District 13 is still around because there's basically been a stalemate and a ceasefire called between them and the Capitol because District 13 has nuclear weapons.
00:40:19
Speaker
But it was a secret ceasefire. It was a secret ceasefire. The whole idea was that they were going to pretend to not exist and they were going to completely like be left out of anything that the Capitol did. They had to exist on their own and leave everybody else alone. That was like the deal. But there was a deal.
00:40:41
Speaker
This was not luck. this was not we and like In the movie, they make it sound like we learned to survive down here. No, you already had underground facilities because you were developing nuclear weapons. Mm-hmm. Like, and and the Capitol knew that if we fight them and they fight us, there will be no one left.
00:41:06
Speaker
And so there was this secret ceasefire. but Now, the Capitol did have access to other nuclear weapons. Right. From another district. It wasn't District 2. Yeah.
00:41:19
Speaker
I think so. Yeah, that had the the other one. Yeah. Military heavy. yeah But, you know, so I just i feel like in the movie they made it sound like District 13 fought and scratched and like we just managed to survive and keep the secret. Like, no, the Capitol knew you were there this whole time. And I think that that is another reason why we see so much doubt from Katniss. Yeah.
00:41:44
Speaker
is she's going, you've been here this whole time. You could have helped this whole time. Yep. You know? And and and that's that is the first inkling of, why didn't you help us?
00:41:59
Speaker
Yep. Yeah. yeah Yeah, i Like, the reasoning that they give for that is the fact that they were not...
00:42:11
Speaker
prepared for war basically like they didn't have like they could have attacked but they didn't have preparations for after attacking so like they couldn't extend that to actually make something of it Also, I'm pretty sure, didn't they say that they had like a big outbreak too?
00:42:31
Speaker
Yes. pox epidemic. In the movie, yeah in the movie, Prim does casually mention at one point, because Katniss says they're in like the thing where they're listening to Coyne give a speech. And Katniss says, I don't see many children around. And Prim says they were hit hard by the pox or something like that. It was just that one line.
00:42:51
Speaker
But yeah they weren't just hit hard by the pox. Their entire population, like, half gone. And so they were, when they saved District 12, it was in large part because they needed the numbers. yeah They needed more people to come work.
00:43:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:16
Speaker
you know and they were treated kindly but district thirteen needed them yeah desperately Yeah. And also Katniss literally brings this up in the book how they she's like, oh, that you just want District 12, I think, to like expand your population as an also to like have kids with each other down. Breeding style. Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Yeah. That's mentioned in the book as well. as She has like a lot of anger.
00:43:47
Speaker
towards District 13. And sometimes she tries to like check herself where she's like, you know, I don't know what they've been through down here. you know what they've had to do to survive. And, you know, i should respect them for what they've done to survive and what they're doing now.
00:44:06
Speaker
But she does. She has a lot of animosity. And I just, I feel like in the movie, yeah, I feel like in the movie we didn't get quite as much and like we we weren't put, the audience wasn't put in a position to doubt District 13.
00:44:23
Speaker
yeah Whereas in the book, the reader was definitely doubting District 13, kind of from the beginning. We were given reasons to doubt District 13. The doubt was only coming, it was relying on the fact that President Quinn was like kind of sketchy.
00:44:38
Speaker
Yeah. That's the only, in the movie. That was the only way we werelying where we were relying on as a viewer that District 13 could possibly betray us. Mm-hmm.
00:44:52
Speaker
so Do we think the the movie is as cynical about the media war as the book is? Or do you think it kind of ends up glorifying the Propos?
00:45:04
Speaker
You know what's actually really interesting? i looked into this about the Propos. Did you know that when... the movie was first being advertised, they actually had, quote, like, proffos, like, what looked like proffos of the Capitol, like, Snow speaking to the audience as, like, a movie. It was, like, to promote the movie Mockingjay, but it looked like a proffo, like, from the Capitol. don't remember that. With Peeta standing next to him. Mm-hmm. Um...
00:45:44
Speaker
And the peacekeepers, like, onto the side, and he was saying, like, don't trust, like, the rebels or something like that, and, like, peace and Penem and all this stuff. And then a second one also came out closer to the movie. I actually watched these, and found them, and it was super interesting. Second one came out.
00:46:03
Speaker
And it's with Snow and Peeta is there and I think Joanna is on the other side and they're like standing like statues basically to still promote it. And then it kind of gets a little fuzzy and I think Beattie is coming in to say like to not listen to them or something. There's also another one I think promoting the Rebellion as like the Mockingjay like Katniss.
00:46:30
Speaker
It's like Propos used as trailers to promote the movie. that's ron That was really smart. Yeah, that's really cool. awesome It was pretty neat.
00:46:42
Speaker
no But as for like in the movie, I i think they and think it was pretty well done. I don't know. What about what were you going to say, Crystal? well I think that they kind of changed Plutarch a little bit.
00:46:57
Speaker
um In the movie, I feel like he was a little more Almost... He was mean. Kind of mean. But he was a little cruel in the book. So that didn't really take... it But Plutarch was...
00:47:12
Speaker
Plutarch didn't care about Katniss at all in the book. At all. He literally was all about, going to make a good movie. I'm going to make good, you know, I'm going to make good propos. I'm going to make good cinema. I'm going to make good television. Because he's a game maker.
00:47:28
Speaker
yeah Right? he would He just wanted people to watch. He was more invested in how many people are going to watch this than who was going to win. Right? You know?
00:47:38
Speaker
And and you he didn't shy away from that at all in the book. He didn't shy away from the fact that, like, I'm in this to make television. And to entertain people. And in the movie, we get him a little bit caring about Katniss.
00:47:59
Speaker
A little bit kind of, you know, kind of... invested in the rebellion winning he didn't even care who won he just wanted to make good tv you know yeah and i thought that was really interesting kind of the approach on that character because it does change the way the propos are received by the viewer in the movie hu yeah i agree with that for sure Yeah, I think the movie does handle it really well.
00:48:32
Speaker
I just think that the book is more cynical about the propos. The movie almost makes it look like too good. Like it almost risks accidentally endorsing the very thing that the book is critiquing.
00:48:50
Speaker
right yeah yeah i do love in the movie and in the book where they're going to rescue the um the victors and they're the tributes and they and finnick they they create they like break into the the television stream or whatever And Finnick is telling all the secrets that he's ever learned as a distraction. Like, that's that's more, like, the strategy, you know what i mean, that I love seeing with these propos. That whole, like, we're gonna break in, we're using them as a distraction, these are a tool. You know, very much these were a tool in the movie. And I think in the book, they were a tool, but they were also Plutarch's little baby. His little, like... oh yeah
00:49:42
Speaker
This is my, this is what I do. I'm going to be really good at getting people to watch. Like how many views, how many clicks can I get? You know, yeah like RIP Plutarch, you would have loved social media.
00:49:54
Speaker
Yeah. know Yeah. I, I think that and in the movie specifically, I keep thinking of the one where it was ah the scripted one, the first one that she does, like right after she agrees to be the Mockingjay. In the movie particularly, it was so stupid. It was so bad. And you know what, it was supposed to be bad. It was supposed to be really bad and terrible. And like, Hamish comes in, he's like, and that's how a rebellion dies. It's such a good way to reintroduce that character to the scene. It was so good. Yeah. I was like, oh my god, he's back.
00:50:34
Speaker
Yeah. it was like, thank goodness, because honestly, where were you? I love Hamish. I'm yeah so scared to read Sunrise on the Reaping. Yeah. know. I'm terrified. But also I'm really excited mostly because of all the connections.
00:50:50
Speaker
Yeah. The fact that this will be so fresh in our heads. Yeah. As we get into it, I'm excited to see all the connections and stuff. Yep. That would be I know we talked about this in previous episodes, but the book is locked in Katniss's POV, which means we only ever hear about the rebellion secondhand.
00:51:14
Speaker
And obviously in the movies, we get to see a little behind the scenes. We get to see what's going on in the districts and everything. Do you guys still like that extra bit of POV we get in the movies?
00:51:26
Speaker
I love it. I think it's well done. I love it. And I can't wait because we like we see a little bit more like in even hunger the original Hunger Games because like we see like President Snow coughing into his his handkerchief and there's a little bit of blood. And we have no idea why. it doesn't it it doesn't hold anything until we read about it in this book.
00:51:52
Speaker
Right. So two books later. And so I'm wondering some of these little things that we're seeing in this movie, are they going to come up in Ballad, Songwords? Like, I can't, I can't wait.
00:52:05
Speaker
I can't wait. Because I want to know these little things that we just saw that weren't in the book, are they going to show up in these other books? Yeah. Mm hmm. So i particularly something that I really like in the movie, because we only hear about it in the book when she's singing the Hanging Tree song, and then it pans to all these moments happening in districts.
00:52:34
Speaker
Yep. How the rebellion is affecting those districts. And we only hear, like, she hears about it later where they're like, this happened and this happened. But we actually get to see it actually happening in the movie. And I like that they do that. They still actually stick to the book.
00:52:52
Speaker
Right. they show us it in action. And I think that's really well done. And I actually like... like Speaking of like the Hanging Tree song, I like that they actually went and stuck with the lyrics, the poem that Suzanne Collins wrote and put a song to it. I think that is so good. like When I was like reading it in the book, i was like, oh, wow, this is like actually word for word yep the song.
00:53:23
Speaker
And then i thought that was actually really good. Even though I think there's the last poem later on uses the same lyrics as well. Yeah. In the soundtrack. Yeah. too And I think that's so good. And that song, The Hang Tree, I remember that song. It was like top charted song on iTunes at the time. Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:43
Speaker
<unk> It was insane. And I remember I had that song. I was listening to it. I'm like, this is my jam. And it's like, actually, that's kind of messed up. Jennifer Lawrence was so afraid to sing that song, too. Yeah.
00:53:57
Speaker
Yeah. she like She was, like, freaking out about it the entire time. One of my favorite scenes from the movie, like we were talking about getting the different POVs, when she's singing The Hanging Tree and we get to see the shots of the dam,
00:54:12
Speaker
And the the rebellion. Yes. I actually cried at that part. I actually had my eyes. yeah yeah yeah Because it's like the desperation were No one even is shielding themselves or anything. it doesn't matter. And they know. They know. and you have to know that when they blew that dam, it didn't matter that they never got gunned down. With all that water coming, they're not. They know they knew when they stepped. And these are these are citizens of that district. They knew what would happen.
00:54:49
Speaker
They knew what would happen. And it didn't and it didn't matter because it was just, it was the purpose of. For a bigger purpose. Yeah. And it like made me cry. it was It really hit me big time.
00:55:02
Speaker
go Going back to the end and talking about PETA just a little bit more. i feel like Josh Hutcherson does so excellent in this movie. I know he's not in it a ton.
00:55:17
Speaker
He does that first interview with Flickerman and he's wearing that that suit and it's got the the pointy end that's pointing like right at his neck. you You already know he's in danger.
00:55:30
Speaker
But i just I kind of feel like the film underplayed the hijacking reveal at the end. I feel like it could have been more intense. What did you guys think?
00:55:42
Speaker
Like whenever he gets rescued. That and when when they actually revealed to Katniss that he's his memories have been altered using the Tracker Jacker venom. Like, her learning of his condition. Yeah. I felt like in the book, her reaction was more... I don't want to say intense, but, like, emotionally invested a little bit.
00:56:09
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Than how it showed in the movie. Yeah. Yeah. yeah In my opinion. And honestly, like, that... I really love this entire part whenever the whole rescue mission goes down.
00:56:27
Speaker
um Whenever, you know, she's freaking out when she realizes that PETA, because at one point PETA also, like, reveals that District 13 is about to get attacked.
00:56:39
Speaker
Right. And everyone goes into, like, their bunkers and things like that. So he is good. She knows he's going to get punished for revealing that information. And so we eventually see him getting worse and worse and to the point of being really, really bad. And I think she actually sees him on camera get beat up. And that's what triggers her of having an absolute panic attack Yeah. the book specifically because it's not that big of a deal like it is a big deal in the movie but not as intense as it is in the book
00:57:18
Speaker
and the book she has a panic attack they have to drug her to you know make her stop and like chill out basically and she wakes up and hamish is there and he's like yeah they already left They already left and they're on their rescue mission to go get them.
00:57:38
Speaker
And guess who was the first person to volunteer? And it was Gail. Of course it was Gail. And they gone. And because she's like, I'm going to help them. And I got to go. I got to go. and He's like, yeah, they're gone already. They've been gone.
00:57:51
Speaker
And in the movie, that whole mission is, like, done kind of differently, in my opinion. we also get the perspective, like, talking about the perspective, we get the perspective of Gale, Boggs, all those people that are in the mission, which I think is interesting, too, because we don't know how that went down at all in the book.
00:58:14
Speaker
Right. Until they eventually come back with PETA. Right. We hear that the mission was too easy. It was too easy to save Peeta. There was obviously a trap. There was something wrong.
00:58:24
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think that in the movie when he eventually comes back and when Katniss hears about it and she's running to them, you know, we see Annie running out. We see Joanna and she is, her head's completely shaved. And she's just like looking at her and just looks like distraught.
00:58:49
Speaker
or angry really more anger yeah and she's freaking out trying to find pita and then instantly pita attacks her and pita looks rough yeah pita is looking rough you guys actually looked this up because i was like did he like lose weight for this role or something yeah and it was see it was all cgi yeah yeah I was like, okay, well thank goodness because i was scared for him. I was too, honestly, I was too. i did read that this was originally where they were going to end the movie. was i Yes!
00:59:22
Speaker
Peeta attacking Katniss. I think I would have been upset. They knock him out. They knock Josh Hutcherson out. and he Josh Hutcherson, not PETA. They knock him out on the ground.
00:59:36
Speaker
And then, yeah, I did see that they were going to cut it there. I'm like, can you imagine? Like, they were already, like, I've heard the director at this point kind of discuss possibly regretting cutting this into two parts because, you know,
00:59:53
Speaker
it had a lot of a backlash of cutting into two parts, ah which kind of feels like it was on par with, you know, Breaking Dawn, part one and two, The Last Harry Potter, parts one and two. yeahp Like, I think it was during that time. Mm-hmm.
01:00:11
Speaker
So... I'm not surprised that that had happened, but I remember it being like there was backlash about it. Yeah. I don't know if it was like a financial decision or what, but yeah, it was very on par.
01:00:26
Speaker
Yeah. and And everyone was still upset. Yeah, for sure. But then we got more. We didn't get a bunch of things cut out though. Right. You got to have one or the other. Exactly. Exactly.
01:00:37
Speaker
I like where it ended, though, where she gets, there is the reveal of why Peeta is like that. And then she goes to see him and she's got, like, the neck brace on and all that stuff. And she's, looking and we have, like, coin speech in the background and she's looking at Peeta and he's, like, freaking out. And we see her reflection.
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah. oh Insane! Crazy. Yeah. Well. That's the end of the movie. That's the end of part one. i was just going. I was going. I mean, that's it. That's it.
01:01:15
Speaker
That's basically a wrap on part one. Or as Plutarch Heavensby would say, that's a cut on the first reel of the Mockingjay's broadcast. So obviously we have covered a lot of ground today.
01:01:30
Speaker
And honestly, we're just getting warmed up. Part two is coming for you next week. And that's where things get really heavy, really emotional, and really complicated.
01:01:40
Speaker
We'll be diving into the second film, finishing out the book, and talking about that ending. You know the one. So come prepared. Make sure you are subscribed wherever you listen so part two lands straight in your feed the moment it drops because this is not the kind of cliffhanger you want to sit on longer than necessary.
01:02:01
Speaker
While you're waiting, come find us on social media. You can follow along. Send us your thoughts, your hot takes, your PETA versus Gale opinions. Mm-hmm. We read everything and we love hearing from you. So go give us a follow and join the conversation.
01:02:17
Speaker
If Mockingjay has you wanting to experience the story in a whole new way, we have partnered with Libro FM to bring you a link to the Mockingjay audiobook. Libro.fm is one of your favorite ways to listen to books because every purchase supports an independent bookstore of your choice. So you shop, you listen, and a local bookstore wins. The link is waiting for you in the show notes, so go check it out.
01:02:44
Speaker
And we want to hear what you thought of part one. what we got right, what we missed, and whether you think the movie earned its split. Drop us a message on socials or leave a review. It means the world to us and helps other book lovers find the show.
01:03:00
Speaker
Until next week, keep your arrows ready, wear your pen with pride, and remember, if we burn, you burn with us. We'll see you in the next chapter of Based on a Book.
01:03:12
Speaker
Bye.