Katniss and Ellie - Dystopic Heroines

I don't do this often.  Well, not at all on the blog anyway, but I felt the need to just put this out there for a change. Malinda Lo whom I adore, wrote a great blog about the controversy about who the directors chose to play Katniss in the upcoming Hunger Games movie.  See her blogpost here. My little blogpost is about something altogether different. But it is the same.  A bit.

I am a big fan of the Hunger Games and much has been made of the casting of the very pretty and very talented Jennifer Lawrence as the main character, Katniss Everdeen in the HG trilogy.
   

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone


Personally, I'm not too fussed about her being blonde or what the majority of readers expect her to look like.  All I want is someone to do this fantastic female character justice and if anyone can, Jennifer Lawrence will do that.  She has an amazing screen presence and with the right training, will be able to live up to Katniss's agility and prowess as hunter / gatherer and fighter.

However, I submit to you someone else who has completely blown my socks off in the movies recently. And I think she would have rocked our world as Katniss.

I was lucky enough to attend a preview screening of Tomorrow, When the War Began here in London with some Quercus people, some press/media folk and also, the lovely Bookette.

I am not a watcher of daytime TV and cannot remember the last time I watched a soap of any sort.  So I was completely unaware who the actress was who takes the lead in Tomorrow - Caitlin Stasey - a seasoned actress from a variety of shows in her native Australia.

Caitlin Stasey in Tomorrow When the War Began

Caitlin represented to me what Katniss Everdeen should a) look like and b) act like where you are taken from "ordinary" circumstances and forced into extraordinary circumstances. Wonderfully underplayed and full of pathos, we are with Ellie and her friends as things escalate from a normal life into something practically unthinkable and some very uncomfortable questions about war are asked.

If you have not heard about Tomorrow when the War Began (books by John Marsden and movie out in the UK shortly) I will urge you to read / watch it.  As for the movie, It is not a dystopian movie.  It is a pre-dystopian movie about an unexpected invasion by coalition forces into a plentiful Australia. Before the invasion in the movie, it is a normal world and our characters lead normal if slightly tougher lives than many of us may know.  This gives them the resilience to become the lone fighters they evolve into during the course of the movie.

So, back to Caitlin/Ellie - this is who I would have loved to see in the role of Katniss Everdeen.  She proves that you can be tough, thoughtful, strong, individual and courageous without having to act like a mini-male.** Also, she knows how to handle herself in a fight.  She's pragmatic, a tactical thinker and kicks butt but she is also sensitive and strong and caring.  A great combination for any kind of heroine to have in any kind of action movie.  

And I think that as much as I'd love to see Caitlin in the role of Katniss, we should be grateful that the producers and director chose Ms. Lawrence because boyo, the girl can act.  And if it's a toss-up between looking "right" as the fans perceived Katniss to look, and for the actress to give a creditable performance in the role (everyone can train to be proficient in weaponry and fighting, look at Saoirse Ronan in Hanna who is a tiny slip of a thing) then I'm completely for the pretty blonde chick who can actually act, especially as she can be tanned up a bit and her hair dyed. Who knew that old Legolas in LoRT was actually a buff tanned boy from Canterbury with dark hair and eyes? Although...let's not talking about acting skillz in this instance.


Orlando who can rock blonde locks and blue eyes

In the meantime, for everyone waiting impatiently for THG to start filming and obsess about, hunt down the books for Tomorrow when the War Began and watch the movie when it comes out.

Links to:

Trailer for Tomorrow When the War Began

Trailer for Hanna

**Mini-male clarification from my point of view: Thanks to Anonymous who commented on this: what I meant by mini-male was, a lot of writers tend to create heroines with no femininity, basically using a male hero as a template and just placking on girl-bits and some emo-emotions.  This of course, is very wrong and reprehensible! Both Katniss and Ellie are great rolemodels, super lovely and very feminine yet tough and strong and independent.  True heroines in my eyes.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death - televised for all of Panem to see. Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12.

When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.WINNING WILL MAKE YOU FAMOUS. LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.

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When I picked up The Hunger Games, it was with a mild case of trepidation- generally speaking, getting into the head of a 16 year old girl isn’t something I do for fun.

Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the novel, lives in a land divided into 12 subjugated districts, kept firmly in check by the iron rule of President Snow, leader of the Capitol, victors of a ruinous civil war some seventy four years previously.

The story opens as Katniss’ district prepares for the shrill, compulsory fanfare of The Reaping, the annual lottery when the Tributes are chosen for the year’s Hunger Games: 24 Tributes, a boy and girl from each of the Districts, locked into a custom built arena to fight to the death until only one remains. . a stark and typically brutal reminder of the dominion of the Capitol.

This year, Katniss is going to the Arena, and things are never going to be the same again.

Because Katniss isn’t going to go out without a fight, not with her little sister, mother and the boy she’s now realising her true feelings for, watching. As she and the taciturn Peeta, her co-tribute, travel to the capital city, she begins to realise the scope and scale of the world beyond District 12, and the vast gulf between her world and that of the Capitol. And as she does, her determination to fight, to win and to stay alive hardens.

But she’s not alone in that; the tributes from the other 11 districts are looking to win as well, and the producers need to put on a good show; it’s a recipe for death- and a damn fine story.

I was pleasantly surprised how crisp and punchy the books were; you’re swiftly drawn into Katniss’ world, and with that, the lives of Katniss and Peeta. They’re both clearly drawn characters with their own goals and personalities and Katniss, rendered cynical at a young age by the grim reality of life in District 12, is given an endearing naiveté in respect of seeing past the obvious actions of those around her, a trait that deftly underlines her character and made her far more interesting.

The growth of their relationship is handled with equal care; it grows subtly, and becomes the foundation for much, if not everything, that comes after. It’s never allowed to smother the pace of the story or distract from the ever present threat of the Capitol and the deadly environment they find themselves in.

The story continues in Catching Fire, the second instalment of the trilogy, and reaffirms that the Capitol, still headed by the unrelentingly sinister President Snow, isn’t going to take Katniss’ victory lying down (and that’s not a spoiler- it’s written in the first person). Having returned home to the still gritty District 12 with the trappings of a victor of the Games, Katniss should never have wanted for anything again. But the reality of their vulnerability taints everything, denying her the chance to explore her feelings towards Gale, the boy she had to leave behind.

It’s not long before the repercussions of her actions are felt and the long arm of Capitol reaches out to smash apart any semblance of the future she’d hope to build. The same irresistible pace pervades Catching Fire, a turbo-charged rush that won’t let you lay the book aside without a fight.

They’re a fantastic, fun read – all I need to do now is force myself to wait for part 3!

See the promo video here.