- Judging from a lot of the chatter I've seen on the Internet, seems that Mockingjay is an incredibly polarizing conclusion to the series, with a fair number of folks who loved the first two books hating the conclusion of the series. Admittedly, Mockingjay is a considerable change from the first two, being even bleaker in tone, and a previously major character disappears from much of the book (and has a dramatic character change when he returns), but in most ways is a pretty natural conclusion to the series. I suspect a lot of the disgruntled fans are angry because the final volume has an unusually high body count, including several beloved characters, and because of how the romantic conflict in the series is ultimately resolved. That said, I did find the final 30ish pages quite rushed, as though Collins only had time to write an outline-y first draft in order to meet her deadline. This isn't Twilight, where (based on the overviews I've read) the final volume goes completely bugnuts (half-vampire/half-human child! Edward giving Bella a c-section with his vampire teeth!)
- There will, of course, be a movie, and casting is well underway. The kids are tricky not just because of the ordinary difficulty of casting young adults, but because the characters are not (at least for much of the story) remotely glamorous. In particular, Katniss has to have both the unerring ability to kill and deep reluctance about using it. Allegedly, a lot of folks want Lyndsy Fonseca (Nikita, and FutureTed's daughter on HIMYM), but she seems a little old. A name I haven't heard, but who I might be able to see working, would be Ariel Winter (Alex on Modern Family), but she might be a little too snarky.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR: I finally got around to finishing Mockingjay last night, and now that an adequate amount of time has passed since the book's release, wanted to open up a thread to address two issues relating to the series:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree that I was less bothered by Mockingjay than the kerfuffle's suggested I might be. I also think the pacing in the last bit is hard, especially as the shift from country at war to faction that is victorious occurs. Partly it may have been rushed and partly that may be unavoidable.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ariel Winter, I think Katniss would have been snarky if she wasn't always having to be so responsible for people, so I could see her playing it well. I suspect they may shift to an older actress both due to labor laws and because of the adult themes of war.
I was personally bothered by Mockingjay, but not artistically bothered -- that is, it was way too bleak for my liking, but the bleakness was perfectly appropriate to the story, so I thought it was well done even though I didn't enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Saoirse Ronan for Katniss. Mae Whitman might work, or if they go a bit older, Anna Kendrick (she's got chops) or Jurnee Smollett. Love Ariel Winter in Modern Family, but that doesn't show whether she has the depth for Katniss, though she might -- but she's more Prim's age.
Off the top of my head I don't remember Katniss' physical description from the book, but in my head, I think the perfect person to play her (given the ability to time travel) would be Jodie Foster as a teen ager. Serious, responsible, competent with an absolute inability to see herself as beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI feel like a Hollywood executive, "we need a young Jodie Foster type!" But I am really not up to date on young actresses.
I really enjoyed all three books, and what I enjoyed most about Mockingjay was the progression of the story from simple, black-and-white "the government is bad" in the first book to a more conflicted portrayal of power, leadership, and the morality of war. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but it also felt right to me - as I remember (SPOILERS AHEAD....) after Katniss kills President Coin, she goes home and we learn very little about the political aftermath. Since the books are from Katniss' perspective, this felt right - she disengaged from that world the moment she killed Coin, and the rest of the book did a good job at showing the toll her experiences took on Katniss.
ReplyDeleteI don't know enough about young actresses to suggest actors for the three teenage characters, although I hope they cast actual teenagers. (Especially if they plan to make two more movies.) But I do think Jeff Bridges would make a great Haymitch.
In our discussion about casting in August, I remember someone making a point I strongly agreed with: The actors should be young -- what is happening to them is so disturbing because they are young. I'm not going to have the same reaction to Anna Kendrick being forced tio kill another teenager as I would to someone like AnnaSophia Robb.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I picture Katniss as anything but a blonde. And I think Saoirse Ronan is too pretty or delicate. SOmething about her makes me feel like she would break in the Games.
I don't know the first thing about these books beyond what I just read above, but I read this as "Meg Whitman might work," and I thought the idea of Meg Whitman playing a young teen all angsty about killing was really funny. NO POLITICS. Jerry Brown would have been funny too.
ReplyDeleteAdmitedly I only just finished Hunger Games (the final two arrived yesterday so, soon...) but as I was reading I pictured Dakota Fanning as Katniss.
ReplyDeleteMaybe my perception will change with the second and third installments.
Of course the ability to do the emotions Katniss experiences is paramount, but in the books the inhabitants of various Districts (and areas within the districts) have uniform coloring, so it's difficult for me to imagine Katniss with anything other than the dark hair and grey eyes that she and other Seam residents have. I hope they don't lose than bit of the story because it speaks to the absolute isolation of the districts and the caste-like reality for some.
ReplyDeleteSaoirse Ronan would make a great Annie Cresta later along. He's too old for the part but I always saw Colm Meaney as Haymitch.
I just finished my second read-through of The Hunger Games (having finished Mockingjay last week) and now as I reread the other two books I won't be able to get the picture of Jeff Bridges as Haymitch out of my head. So, so perfect.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stop laughing at the vision of both of them being teen angsty and swirling around in my brain right now.
ReplyDeleteI felt like the last 30 pages were rushed, too -- so rushed that I felt some of the emotional impact of major deaths was lessened. But I liked the bleakness of it, the horrible irony that the only reason Katniss got involved in the first place was to save Prim, not to lead a revolution.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I am 99% sure they will cast actors who are at least 18 if not older so they can have them for full days. Actors under 18 have tons of restrictions on how long they can work, and with a film like this that has such a predominantly young cast and so many tough action scenes I just can't see Lionsgate (the studio making the film) spending so much extra money on the extra work days an under 18 lead would need.
ReplyDeleteI found Mockingjay incredibly depressing. I understand that it is a more "real" ending, but I wanted a happier ending for Katniss than (VEILED SPOILER ALERT) her eschewing one suitor because of his inadvertently causing tragedy and going with the other one because "well, I guess I have to marry somebody." Though people will point to the "true" game moment as proof that she really loved him, I still felt like it was a super super depressing way to end the love story. Again - realistic, as Katniss would certainly be irrevocably damaged from 2 rounds in the Games and then leading a revolution, but so sad.
Stevie - totally agree re: the impact of one major death - I read the page, turned the page, then turned back and was like "what? that person just got killed with barely a mention???"
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction. Perhaps it was meant to be disorienting?
ReplyDeleteApparently, Chloe Grace Moretz (from Kick-Ass and Let Me In) is interested - that could work, though she seems too young for the part.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely - Mockingjay was so relentlessly bleak that I am feeling the need to warn my friends about it ahead of time so they are better prepared than I was.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Katniss' depressing ending, I think you're right that the quiet/dark nature of the resolution is more realistic, even though it was kind of a huge bummer. The one thing I did like about it (or maybe this is just the part I focus on to make it seem less tragic) is that - MORE VEILED SPOILERS - she seems to end up with the right person because he brings a sense of lightness and hope to her life (the yellow dandelion reference) as opposed to her other love interest, who brought out her darker and more aggressive qualities which she was trying to leave behind. Even with that line of thinking the entire ending is still beyond dark, but I think by the time I was about 2/3 of the way through Mockingjay I had given up on any sort of actual happy ending.
This could probably occupy an entire thread, but query whether [SPOILER ALERT] the rejected suitor really only "inadvertently" caused the tragedy, at least in Katniss's view. Throughout the book, Katniss becomes increasingly suspect of Gale's black-and-white views of The Capitol and D13, and of his blind allegiance to the rebel president, who she sees as willing to let the ends justify the means. So, for Katniss, YYYY had a lot more culpability in creating the weapon that killed XXXX.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it, but you know Kristen Stewart would get considered for Katniss. She's the right age-ish, she has the look, although I don't think she's athletic enough for it. Plus Katniss is pretty much always sullen, so that would work. Plus, at this point, she's used to being in a love triangle.
ReplyDeleteI hope she doesn't get cast, but I think many of the girls I've heard being mentioned are actually a little young for Katniss, who is 15, I think, in the first book.
Oh, and Dakota Fanning should play the mayor's daughter, right? Or whatever the leader in Katniss' district's title was.
ReplyDeleteMoretz is a fine actress, and I haven't seen "Let Me In," but Hit Girl is the exact opposite of what Katniss should be. Hit Girl kind of revels in the killing, while Katniss is in a state of revulsion by it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is where Lyndsey Fonseca is coming in. She looks like a younger Kristen Stewart, is showing her athletic side in "Nikita", and has the right look for Katniss (brunette with lighter eyes). I guess I'd be OK with her. I wish they'd go for three unknowns for the leads, with a bunch of names for the supporting roles, but the chances of that happening are slim to none. Think of all the characters you could cast with names -- Haymitch, Cinna, Katniss' parents, President Snow, Effie, etc.
ReplyDeleteK-Stew actually has one other thing going for her, to Vanessa's point above... she did play Jodie Foster's daughter (Panic Room) and was kind of a JF clone in that.
ReplyDeleteYoung Jodie Foster = Jena Malone. Even played young Jodie Foster in Contact. She could be really good as Katniss.
ReplyDeleteKatniss is brunette, but, you know, hair dye. And I think Saoirse Ronan has an action-movie type thing coming out.
ReplyDeleteJeff Bridges would be a great Haymitch. I also was thinking Randy Quaid, if he wasn't out of commission. He'd do well for Haymitch's recklessness and uncaring about his fate.
ReplyDeleteThe leader of District 13, I can't remember her name, I always pictured as Helen Mirren.
ReplyDeleteThat's what they call acting. I'm not hiring Hit-Girl, I'm hiring Moretz.
ReplyDeleteI was more thinking in terms of age, body-type, believeability as a bad-ass, and not-conventionally-gorgeous. Moretz fits the bill for me fine, other than possibly the age thing.
I'd like to think it was meant to be disorienting, but considering the close relationship between Katniss and said dead person you'd think that later there'd have been more of a contemplative moment. And I shudder to think what happened to the significant other said dead person left behind. Yikes.
ReplyDeleteThat's President Coin. Helen Mirren would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteAnd Effie needs to be Kristin Chenoweth, right? I know it's almost too obvious, but come on. Effie is basically a cross between Galinda and Annabeth from West Wing, with a little Olive Snook thrown in for good measure.
ReplyDeleteAnd think of the costumes that Chris March could make for the tributes' entrances...
Russ - I think the question (if I recall correctly) was did YYYY know that XXXX was going to be there? It seemed like she'd volunteered and gone - not sure if there would've been a way to know that ahead of time. (That said, he must have known Katniss would be there, so really he could have killed HER in his revolutionary fervor...)
ReplyDeleteI feel like we need a spoiler thread for only people who have read all 3 books - I keep worrying about ruining it for those who haven't read them all but it's all but impossible to discuss this book w/o spoiling stuff.
Even if YYYY didn't know that XXXX would be there, the idea that he could use such a weapon at all was hideous to Katniss.
ReplyDelete...and use one when it wasn't absolutely necessary (like in the games), which I guess is the most important point.
ReplyDeleteJus finished it today. I don't think I'd mind the ending so much, especially how Katniss ends up, but the characters were drawn so thinly that at times it just seemed like she was going off with blonde boy or brunette boy, and that the distinction she plays up at the end felt more "telling" than having been shown, to me.
ReplyDeletePictured Kristen Stewart as Katniss--the sullenness, Robert Downey Jr. as Haymitch.
I (rightly or wrongly) envisioned Haymitch as older, but I like the general idea, so maybe I'd go with Nick Nolte. :)
ReplyDeleteI listened to all 3 books on CD. They were very entertaining though hard to stomach at times. I really enjoyed them! I wish there was a book 4.
ReplyDeleteI missed the discussion! Boo! I was on vacation.
ReplyDeleteNOTE: I'm just going to go ahead and use character names, so: NOT-VEILED SPOILERS
1. I thought I'd made it through without weeping until the cat showed up. That got me. (Of course, the first two books got me something like 30 pages in).
2. One thing I appreciate about this series is that it doesn't forget that life is messy and complicated and not fair. Also whenever there is a love triangle in a YA series I try to remember that we're talking about teenagers. That's not to say their stories aren't as important--just that not ending up with the guy you love at 16 isn't exactly going to be the most tragic ending ever, 99 times out of 100. There's a lot of life to live after 16. (One of the major problems with Twilight is that she literally ends up spending eternity with her high school boyfriend and that's supposed to be a happy ending--a more charitable reading would be that spending eternity with your high school boyfriend is the horror part of the horror-romance. And of course the Harry Potter epilogue was just terrible). Anyway, I like that Mockingjay acknowledged that sometimes relationships have gigantic obstacles, and sometimes those obstacles are possible and worthwhile to work through (Peeta), and sometimes they're not (Gale). I like that the thing with Gale was complicated. He went down a path that was fundamentally divergent to Katniss's, based on her experiences as a Tribute. Then that path led him to cause Prim's death. One of those two things alone may have left the relationship within the realm of salvagable, but the two together are just too much.
3. I did NOT like, however, that the series ends, as in the very last sentence, with Katniss reflecting on her "choice" regarding the love triangle. There is so much more to the story, and ending it that way felt like the book agreeing that the triangle was the big thing.
4. I'd be OK with them casting 18-year-olds as the 16-year-olds for labor purposes, as long as they really truly look 16 at most, and in that case it'd be best if they were unknowns. At least Katniss. And Rue really does need to look 12! Essential. There have always been great war stories for and about kids. These aren't adult books about adults. They're kids' books about kids.
5. I agree that there's something about Kristen Stewart that she would have been great for the part, emphasis on the would have been. She's not a bad actor and there's something about her face and her manner--forgive me, but it's almost like an ordinariness--that feels right for Katniss. But that's also what made her the choice for Bella. And now she's just an adult. She's too grown-up. Better to err on the too young side, because they're not starting filming tomorrow, and if it's a success there will be more films, and she only ages one year per book.
6. Haymitch was in the previous Quarter Quell, which means he would have been a teenager just 25 years earlier. Given how poorly he takes care of himself, a pretty wide age-range of actors could play him. Really, think of a good actor that's at least 35 and at most not dead yet and he could probably do a good turn as Haymitch.