I have been trying all day to think of a way to properly express my excitement over the Hunger Games trailer, but it has just been coming out in fangirlish Tumblr posts and inarticulate "AHHHHHHH"s. Which is perfectly fine, for if I'm going to fangirl about something, it should be The Hunger Games. But here is my attempt at a mature reasoning behind my jumping and screaming and tumbling:
My 13 Favorite Things about the Hunger Games Trailer: A Coherent List
1. It basically starts the same way the book starts. Yes, the book starts with Katniss waking up and noticing Prim has gone to sleep with their mother, but immediately after that she goes to the woods with Gale and they talk about the reaping and the Capitol and the [im]possibility of running away together.
2. It explains the story just enough. It gets people interested (although, the people who didn't know anything about it until they saw the trailer and are now interested because of the trailer... yeah, I'm giving them the stink eye) without giving away spoilers. It does this by only including footage from the first half of the film. The Games themselves are a mystery. We only see glimpses of Rue and Foxface and the rest of the tributes, rather than seeing Katniss's interactions (or lack thereof) with them.
3. The reaping. Amazingly, it's exactly how I pictured it. I'm not even just saying that. I pictured Effie up on the stage with her crazy getup, picking the names from the glass bowl and reading them with a note of triumph in her voice, seemingly ignorant of what that little piece of paper means for the people whose names she's reading. I pictured all the people in their nicest clothes, which are still pretty casual, and I pictured Katniss and Gale looking at each other before the names are read, knowing that if one of them gets reaped, it's up to the other one to keep both of their families taken care of. I pictured Prim starting to walk up to the stage with her head down and Katniss running up and screaming "I volunteer!" (P.S. the crack in her voice when she says this= SO heartcrushing), and the Peacekeepers trying to haul her away until they understand what she said. And Peeta. God, J-Hutch, how do you do it? His face when he walks up to the stage. He's not a killer. Nobody is going to volunteer for him, and he's certain he's going to die. Welcome to life as a regular District 12 tribute. We'll come back to Peeta later in this list.
4. Actually, we'll come back to Peeta now. The look he and Katniss give each other on the stage... I'm sure only people who have read the books will understand its full impact, so here are a couple excerpts:
"Oh no, I think. Not him. Because I recognize this name, although I have never spoken directly to its owner. Peeta Mellark.
No, the odds are not in my favor today.
I watch him as he makes his way toward the stage. Medium height, stocky build, ashy blond hair that falls in waves over his forehead. The shock of the moment is registering on his face, you can see his struggle to remain emotionless, but his blue eyes show the alarm I've seen so often in prey.
...Why him? I think. Then I try to convince myself it doesn't matter. Peeta Mellark and I are not friends. Not even neighbors. We don't speak. Our only interaction happened years ago. He's probably forgotten it. But I haven't and I know I never will.
...The mayor finishes the dreary Treaty of Treason and motions for Peeta and me to shake hands. ...Peeta looks me right in the eye and gives my hand what I'm sure is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. Maybe it's just a nervous spasm.
We turn back to face the crowd as the anthem of Panem plays.
Oh well, I think. There will be twenty-four of us. Odds are someone else will kill him before I do.
Of course, the odds have not been very dependable of late."
"Peeta and I know the other's survival means our own death."
5. Prim. I don't know why, but I never really became that attached to her reading the books. But watching the trailer, and seeing her face while she's fighting Gale as he's carrying her away from the reaping, I felt so bad for her.
6. Effie's accent. It's exactly how the Capitol accent is described... and I always imagined it sounding a little British.
7. The Capitol. It's supposed to be this bustling metropolitan center where all the luxuries are enjoyed, but it just looks like an over-industrialized place where nothing is real. Looking at it for too long would probably make you feel like you can't breathe.
8. The timing of all the Training Center footage. First with Katniss saying "So you're here to make me look pretty?" and Cinna saying "I'm here to help you make an impression." And then the President Snow voiceover explaining the tradition of the Games, saying "One young man" --insert shot of Caesar Flickerman holding up Peeta's hand and Peeta looking slightly more confident than when his name was first called-- and then "and woman"-- they show Katniss and then, for an instant, Rue-- and then "trained in the art of survival, to be prepared to fight to the death"-- footage of Cato being a killing machine-- and then cut to Peeta giving his speech on the roof about not wanting to be a piece in their Games and showing them they don't own him and, if he's going to die, he wants to still be him.
9. Katniss's reaction to Peeta's speech on the roof. I'm so glad they didn't have her immediately understand what he was saying. It's important. "I just can't afford to think like that" shows the difference between Katniss and Peeta. Katniss is focused on making it out alive at whatever cost; Peeta is more concerned with being the right person, showing the Capitol they can't change him. Not because Katniss is selfish, but because Peeta genuinely doesn't believe he stands a chance.
10. The three-fingers-to-the-lips-and-then-up-in-the-air signal. "At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love."
11. I love that they show the people in the square watching the Games on the jumbotron. I also love that the trailer shows things we don't get to see in the book, like Gale in the woods by himself and people's reactions to what happens in the Games back in District 12.
12. How it ends with all of the tributes running either to or away from the Cornucopia and then the Hunger Games logo shows up and baaaa-baaa-baaa-baaaa, Rue's 4-note tune that sufficiently creeps me out and makes me squee with joy at the same time. I just love it.
13. #HeadForTheSquare ...????? Intrigue!
Additional noteworthy components:
-Cinna's head nod before Katniss enters the Arena
-The soundtrack
-It shows the *twirl* during Katniss's interview with Caesar
-The fact that the Training Center itself is not at all how I pictured it. Which is to say, it does not look like a gymnasium.
-"THE GAMES... WILL CHANGE... EVERYONE." =O EPIC.
this is all just very fascinating.
ReplyDeleteand you probably think I'm being sarcastic.