WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It should come as no surprise that I'm always on the look out for dynamic, engaging, and strong female characters in pop culture 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the latest fictional female representation that has everyone talking is Katniss Everdeen, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the dynamic protagonist of the Hunger Games novels written by Suzanne Collins. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For those unfamiliar with the trilogy, the novels are set in a future dystopian North America, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a country called Panem. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The title of the book is a reference to an annual event organized by the oppressive government 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in which 24 children are selected at random to participate in a televised death match. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In the Hunger Games, as they’re called, the children are forced to brutally murder one another until only one is left standing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For the purposes of this video, I’m going to set aside the fact that some of the analogies Collins is trying to draw 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 reality TV, professional sports, and war begin to fall apart when scrutinized closely. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I appreciate her attempt to critically comment on social issues, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I just don’t buy that parents would passively give up their children to be slaughtered on national TV without a serious fight. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The death match as spectacle theme is really only believable if the players have been dehumanized or othered by society, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 either as convicts or slaves for example, it doesn’t work when it’s just randomly selected children from the general population. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That said, in this video I’m going to focus mainly on the portrayal of Katniss’ character in the first book and the movie adaptation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I thought the first The Hunger Games novel, published in 2008 was a captivating, engaging and riveting read 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and really I enjoyed being immersed in the science fiction world that Collins creates. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If you haven’t read the book or seen the movie yet [point] fair warning. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The story follows Katniss, a 16 year old from a poor, coal mining community in district 12. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She struggles to provide for her family in the absence of her father and later to survive the brutality of the Hunger Games. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She is a tough, no-nonsense, responsible, young woman 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who uses her smarts to support her family in an oppressive, and seemingly hopeless situation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Katniss is not reduced to her gender, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 meaning her behaviours and actions aren’t attributed to her being a woman, she is not sexualized and she is not objectified in the book. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her real world concerns and priorities of family and survival are put in sharp contrast 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to the superficial values imposed on her by the Capitol government as she is being groomed for the Hunger Games media spectacle. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These preparation scenes provide a critique of the beauty industry and also of the decadence of the wealthy 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in contrast to poor and working class districts who can barely afford enough food to feed their families. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Katniss demonstrates empathy and compassion for those around her including her friends, family, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and those oppressed and underprivileged in Panem. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Later in the arena she also builds a trusting and supportive relationship with Rue, the young tribute from district 11. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Later, when Rue is tragically killed, Katniss treats her death with honor and respect. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The romance elements of the first book were only slightly grating, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 much of it was Katniss’ uncertainty about Peeta’s feelings for her 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and her confusion about whether he was being genuine or just acting. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 . It was clear Collins was setting up a love triangle between Peeta, Katniss and Gale ala Edward, Bella and Jacob. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This is nothing new in novels targeted at girls and women and I could look past the cliché of it 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 since it wasn't central to the plot in the first book. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Katniss' naivety when it came to dating and relationships make sense given her age and her difficult economic, social and family life, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 , her naivety and confusion is an understandable part of her character's growth, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but only in the first part of the trilogy, unfortunately the love triangle takes a much more prominent role in books 2 and 3. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There’s been some understandable criticism of the rather extreme levels of violence in the novel, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 especially considering it’s marketed to young adults. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think this is a fair point however the way Katniss perceives and uses violence makes her somewhat unique. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Especially in comparison to other so called “strong female characters” 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 whose strength often stems from their ability and willingness to use violence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Although, Katniss does possess the hunting and tracking skills to survive in the harsh terrain of the arena, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 she remains troubled and disturbed at the idea of personally murdering another human 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 being even within the context of the death match. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Admirably she can’t bring herself to wish death on her opponents or even her enemies. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Knowing full well that if they remain alive she can never return home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These moments illustrate that Katniss hasn’t become completely desensitized to violence and suffering 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 even though she’s forced to participate in a horrifically violent system. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That said, I do wish Collins was more consistent in writing Katniss’ responses to death. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When Rue is killed the event is written as deeply traumatic and emotional for Katniss. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Katniss is not made to run off seeking revenge and is instead allowed to mourn in a really human way. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We follow along as she struggles through the process of grief. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She appropriately feels shock, pain, guilt and temporary depression. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To Collins’ credit, she writes this emotional process as a testament to Katniss’ strength as opposed to a weakness. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yet when Foxface is accidently yet tragically killed via poisonous berries, Katniss doesn’t even bat an eye. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She shows no emotional reaction whatsoever despite the fact that this young tribute from district 5, hasn’t hurt anyone during the games. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Although, Katniss doesn’t have a personal relationship with Foxface, her death 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 should still be represented as tragic and upsetting. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It should go without saying that in reality, violence is traumatic and it has very real and lasting consequences for everybody involved. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So I’m not arguing for stories to be completely free of violence, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I am arguing for violence to be portrayed consistently and to reflect its emotional and physical repercussions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In a media culture that sensationalizes and glamorizes violence, it’s refreshing to see a character like Katniss, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 react to violence in a more honest and genuine way, at least most of the time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I appreciate that Collins doesn’t have Katniss emerge from the arena unscathed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She experiences serious physical and emotional consequences and by the end of the games, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 her sense of safety and trust have been shattered. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 When the game makers announce that there can only be one victor after all Peeta throws his knife away in protest 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Katniss’ automatically assumes that he’s about to attack her, so she loads her bow and aims an arrow at his heart. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Later when the Capitol doctors are operating on Peeta, Katniss has a panic attack, and believes for a moment she’s back in the arena. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She imagines the medical staff as a pack of muttations attacking her friend. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These examples are evidence of the delusion and paranoia that Katniss understandably suffers 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 as a result of the extreme trauma she experienced during the Hunger Games. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 These scenes help to separate her from many of the so called strong female characters in popular culture who just replicate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the stoic, unemotional, unaffected, macho archetype where somehow they 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 go through extreme violence and trauma with no visible effect at all. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So it's refreshing that Katniss is allowed to go through a period of post traumatic stress 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that the emotional experience ultimately works to make her a stronger character, rather than a weaker one. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Some people have been asking is Katniss then a feminist character? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because of her compassion, empathy, cunning, resourcefulness and intelligence, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I think she embodies many feminist values, at least over the course of the first book. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In my next video I'll talk about the movie in comparison to the book, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 especially in relation to its portrayal of gender and also violence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Whenever a novel is turned into a film, there are going to be some major differences, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I'll discuss which of those changes were successful and which were not. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So be sure to check it out. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The Hunger Games fan art I used in this video was made by these amazing illustrators. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If you liked this video and want to see more in depth analysis of female characters in popular culture 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 please support me and my work by donating today. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You can visit feministfrequency.com/donate