Thursday, April 19, 2012
Songs of District 12--Daughter's Lament
I am a liar. Of immense proportions. Here I am, all, "This is going to be my LAST Hunger Games post. I don't have anything more to say on the subject."
Well, it turns out I do. Mainly:
I love this song. I think this fits District 12 perfectly. I love it so much that I think this is how The Hanging Tree song in the book might've sounded, if we had been given a tune. And I won't make anymore wild claims, like "This is last Hunger Games post! I promise." Well, now I make no such promises. I can't help when inspiration and enjoyment strike.
Over & Out,
Rachel
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Off We Go, Into the Wild Blue Yonder
...for eleven days, that is. I thought I'd pen down some thoughts before I, for all intents and purposes, disappear into the wild blue yonder.
I also promise that this will be my last Hunger Games themed post, because now that I've read the books and seen the movie, I can offer some insight on both.
Thoughts on the movie:
1) Jennifer Lawrence was flipping perfect as Katniss. She wasn't wooden, she wasn't a hard-core warrior maid, she was a young woman with remarkable talents put in extraordinary circumstances. She nailed Katniss's fierce survival instincts and love for her sister Prim.
2) On Prim, Willow Shields was also perfect--delicate and young and gentle enough so that we too, would volunteer in her place.
3) I want to marry Josh Hutcherson for being the perfect Peeta. No, really, he was amazing. Earnest, sincere and had the just the right touch of devotion to Katniss.
4) Amandla Stenburg as Rue was adorable and made me cry. I wept bitter tears in the theater during the lullaby scene and the riot in District 11.
5) "That is MA-HOG-ANY!" Oh, Effie, your cluelessness was pitch perfect. Thank you for creating memetatic mutation.
On another note, Gary Ross also did a brilliant job with one of the things I was most concerned about, the violence featured in the story. Thankfully, there were no drawn-out close ups of the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Quick flashes of violence and then the image of the bodies laying about was much more effective and wrenching. The curly-headed boy...gah, in way, that was even more traumatizing than Rue's death, because it only sinks in later...that little boy had no chance of survival.
Now, onto something that's been bothering me for the last couple of weeks, as the hype for the movie got more and more widespread. There seems to be a kind of schism between those who like The Hunger Games and those who like The Twilight Saga. Well, I'm going to put in my two cents and then I won't talk about it anymore, because I'll have said my piece.
STOP COMPARING HUNGER GAMES TO TWILIGHT. STOP TALKING TRASH ABOUT STEPHENIE MEYER. For that matter, STOP TALKING TRASH ABOUT TWILIGHT. THE PEOPLE WHO DO THIS ARE NOT BEING FAIR.
Okay, I'm done yelling for now. But, seriously people. It simply isn't fair to compare the two stories, despite the similarities on the surface, because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME STORY. I read both series and you know what? I liked them both, for different reasons. Yes, the Hunger Games deals with important themes like love, war, violence, devotion and loyalty. Yes, the Hunger Games is an excellently written story. We all know that. No one is denying it. But for crying out loud, what call is there to be mean about the supposed superiorities to The Twilight Saga? What call is there to be mean to Stephenie Meyer who, just like Suzanne Collins, was fortunate enough to create and write a world that's become so huge? So what if you don't like Stephenie Meyer and her characters and world she created? So what if you don't like the flipping Twilight movies? No one is asking you to watch them! No one is yelling, "Hunger Games suck, Twilight rules." Rather, the opposite is happening and I, for one, am tired of it.
Enough with the madness, people. Suzanne Collins and Stephenie Meyer let us live in their fantasy worlds and are kind enough the share them with us. Let's thank them for that, shall we? And move on.
Okay, then, I'm done with my rant. I promise you all, this my last Hunger Games themed post and until something truly earth-shattering happens (like the casting for Finnick Odair is released), I'll refrain from bending your ears until then.
Getting Off My Soapbox I Am Over & Out,
Rachel
I also promise that this will be my last Hunger Games themed post, because now that I've read the books and seen the movie, I can offer some insight on both.
Thoughts on the movie:
1) Jennifer Lawrence was flipping perfect as Katniss. She wasn't wooden, she wasn't a hard-core warrior maid, she was a young woman with remarkable talents put in extraordinary circumstances. She nailed Katniss's fierce survival instincts and love for her sister Prim.
2) On Prim, Willow Shields was also perfect--delicate and young and gentle enough so that we too, would volunteer in her place.
3) I want to marry Josh Hutcherson for being the perfect Peeta. No, really, he was amazing. Earnest, sincere and had the just the right touch of devotion to Katniss.
4) Amandla Stenburg as Rue was adorable and made me cry. I wept bitter tears in the theater during the lullaby scene and the riot in District 11.
5) "That is MA-HOG-ANY!" Oh, Effie, your cluelessness was pitch perfect. Thank you for creating memetatic mutation.
On another note, Gary Ross also did a brilliant job with one of the things I was most concerned about, the violence featured in the story. Thankfully, there were no drawn-out close ups of the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. Quick flashes of violence and then the image of the bodies laying about was much more effective and wrenching. The curly-headed boy...gah, in way, that was even more traumatizing than Rue's death, because it only sinks in later...that little boy had no chance of survival.
Now, onto something that's been bothering me for the last couple of weeks, as the hype for the movie got more and more widespread. There seems to be a kind of schism between those who like The Hunger Games and those who like The Twilight Saga. Well, I'm going to put in my two cents and then I won't talk about it anymore, because I'll have said my piece.
STOP COMPARING HUNGER GAMES TO TWILIGHT. STOP TALKING TRASH ABOUT STEPHENIE MEYER. For that matter, STOP TALKING TRASH ABOUT TWILIGHT. THE PEOPLE WHO DO THIS ARE NOT BEING FAIR.
Okay, I'm done yelling for now. But, seriously people. It simply isn't fair to compare the two stories, despite the similarities on the surface, because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME STORY. I read both series and you know what? I liked them both, for different reasons. Yes, the Hunger Games deals with important themes like love, war, violence, devotion and loyalty. Yes, the Hunger Games is an excellently written story. We all know that. No one is denying it. But for crying out loud, what call is there to be mean about the supposed superiorities to The Twilight Saga? What call is there to be mean to Stephenie Meyer who, just like Suzanne Collins, was fortunate enough to create and write a world that's become so huge? So what if you don't like Stephenie Meyer and her characters and world she created? So what if you don't like the flipping Twilight movies? No one is asking you to watch them! No one is yelling, "Hunger Games suck, Twilight rules." Rather, the opposite is happening and I, for one, am tired of it.
Enough with the madness, people. Suzanne Collins and Stephenie Meyer let us live in their fantasy worlds and are kind enough the share them with us. Let's thank them for that, shall we? And move on.
Okay, then, I'm done with my rant. I promise you all, this my last Hunger Games themed post and until something truly earth-shattering happens (like the casting for Finnick Odair is released), I'll refrain from bending your ears until then.
Getting Off My Soapbox I Am Over & Out,
Rachel
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Perils of Pinterest
Yes, I'm an addict. No, I am not ashamed.
Since I'm still on a Hunger Games kick, here some of the images from the site that I especially love, and what give (to me at least) better images for the story.
More to come, stay tuned!
Since I'm still on a Hunger Games kick, here some of the images from the site that I especially love, and what give (to me at least) better images for the story.
 |
| This song has officially taken over my life. |
 |
| This scene made me break out in goosebumps. |
 |
| I volunteer as tribute! |
 |
| How I imagine Katniss in her armor and mockingjay bow. |
 |
| Here's what SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED when Peeta was rescued. |
 |
| How I think Katniss looked at the very end of it all. |
More to come, stay tuned!
Over & Out,
Rachel
Saturday, March 17, 2012
I Have Excellent Friends
It's so nice to have friends who understand me.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Thoughts on The Girl On Fire from The Girl Who Reads
This week, I bought the Hunger Games trilogy at the book fair at my mom's school. I just finished all three books just last night.
And then I lay down on my bed and cried, something I have never done after reading a series. Reading The Hunger Games trilogy was like being in a war. You watched people you grew to like and love die terrible deaths, people are irreparably damaged and fractured, and in the end, it's hard to tell who's really won and if it was all worth it.
(The rest of this post is full of spoilers, so don't read if you haven't finished the series yet. Consider yourself warned.)
The Hunger Games was wrenching enough--reading about young men and women dying a variety of gruesome deaths isn't very pleasant, but watching Katniss and Peeta struggle to survive and maintain their humanity just adds to it all. Katniss's fierce drive to survive in the arena and protect her family, while being completely clueless about the secrets of her own heart is something I think anyone can relate to. We've all had intense, complicated situations that require all of our attention and energy, and we leave the inner workings of our own hearts completely out of it, because it's just too much work to try and figure it out. In The Hunger Games, that's really what it's all about, survival.
Catching Fire was like being on a roller coaster, the stakes going higher and higher and the whole time you're thinking, "It can't get any worse. It possibly can't get any worse...it just got worse." And it just keeps going. Katniss and Peeta are put through the wringer emotionally, mentally and physically. They're put through a perverse "Victory Tour" of the the twelve Districts, with President Snow looming over them, breathing out threats and murder. In order to survive, Katniss and Peeta are forced to pretend (to a certain extent) being desperately in love, to keep their families and District 12 safe. They're falsely engaged, and then forced back into the arena with past Hunger Games victors. Before, Katniss had only one goal in the arena--stay alive and come back home. Now, it's reversed: make sure Peeta survives, no matter the cost. While all Peeta wants is for Katniss to live. And then, just when you think we've reached the very top and they can't get put through any more without being irrevocably damaged...the roller coaster starts going down at terrifying, breakneck speed. With bombs attached. Shrapnel goes flying in every direction. And us, the reader, is desperately trying to figure out how to come through it all without being emotionally scarred from everything that's going on.
Mockingjay is the limit, the absolute limit. You come away feeling like you just watched your loved ones die in a war. Peeta is captured, Gale is being consumed by vengeance against the Capitol, and it wouldn't surprise me if Katniss could be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She's the face of the rebellion, the titular Mockingjay, but she hides in remote places and tries not to think about all the damage she's gone through. She has screaming night terrors with all people who've died, the loved ones that are lost coming back to haunt her.
But as before, Katniss eventually finds one driving force--rescuing Peeta. If that means becoming a pawn for the rebels when she's just got through being a pawn for the Capitol, becoming the Mockingjay, then so be it. She's not much of a savior, our Katniss--she's a terrible actress and she can't follow orders to save her life (literally). She gets too attached to who her superiors call "the wrong people" and no one, as Haymitch says, should let her make the plans. But through sheer grit and fight and indomitable will, Katniss overcomes. She lives. Is she damaged? Yes. Has she lost almost all the things she's cared about? Without a doubt. But does she go on, does she survive the unthinkable? Always. Katniss can't do anything the easy way; the girl has fire in her and she's a fighter born. We love her for that and we too mourn the dead: Cinna, Finnick, Boggs and Prim. And though we've cried and mourned and howled in protest for the terrible things we and Katniss have had to go through, these lines makes it all worth the suffering:
"That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.
"So after, when he whispers, 'You love me. Real or nor real?'
"I tell him, 'Real.'"
~Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay, page 388.
My soul was lifted for that alone.
Over & Out,
Rachel
And then I lay down on my bed and cried, something I have never done after reading a series. Reading The Hunger Games trilogy was like being in a war. You watched people you grew to like and love die terrible deaths, people are irreparably damaged and fractured, and in the end, it's hard to tell who's really won and if it was all worth it.
(The rest of this post is full of spoilers, so don't read if you haven't finished the series yet. Consider yourself warned.)
The Hunger Games was wrenching enough--reading about young men and women dying a variety of gruesome deaths isn't very pleasant, but watching Katniss and Peeta struggle to survive and maintain their humanity just adds to it all. Katniss's fierce drive to survive in the arena and protect her family, while being completely clueless about the secrets of her own heart is something I think anyone can relate to. We've all had intense, complicated situations that require all of our attention and energy, and we leave the inner workings of our own hearts completely out of it, because it's just too much work to try and figure it out. In The Hunger Games, that's really what it's all about, survival.
Catching Fire was like being on a roller coaster, the stakes going higher and higher and the whole time you're thinking, "It can't get any worse. It possibly can't get any worse...it just got worse." And it just keeps going. Katniss and Peeta are put through the wringer emotionally, mentally and physically. They're put through a perverse "Victory Tour" of the the twelve Districts, with President Snow looming over them, breathing out threats and murder. In order to survive, Katniss and Peeta are forced to pretend (to a certain extent) being desperately in love, to keep their families and District 12 safe. They're falsely engaged, and then forced back into the arena with past Hunger Games victors. Before, Katniss had only one goal in the arena--stay alive and come back home. Now, it's reversed: make sure Peeta survives, no matter the cost. While all Peeta wants is for Katniss to live. And then, just when you think we've reached the very top and they can't get put through any more without being irrevocably damaged...the roller coaster starts going down at terrifying, breakneck speed. With bombs attached. Shrapnel goes flying in every direction. And us, the reader, is desperately trying to figure out how to come through it all without being emotionally scarred from everything that's going on.
Mockingjay is the limit, the absolute limit. You come away feeling like you just watched your loved ones die in a war. Peeta is captured, Gale is being consumed by vengeance against the Capitol, and it wouldn't surprise me if Katniss could be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She's the face of the rebellion, the titular Mockingjay, but she hides in remote places and tries not to think about all the damage she's gone through. She has screaming night terrors with all people who've died, the loved ones that are lost coming back to haunt her.
But as before, Katniss eventually finds one driving force--rescuing Peeta. If that means becoming a pawn for the rebels when she's just got through being a pawn for the Capitol, becoming the Mockingjay, then so be it. She's not much of a savior, our Katniss--she's a terrible actress and she can't follow orders to save her life (literally). She gets too attached to who her superiors call "the wrong people" and no one, as Haymitch says, should let her make the plans. But through sheer grit and fight and indomitable will, Katniss overcomes. She lives. Is she damaged? Yes. Has she lost almost all the things she's cared about? Without a doubt. But does she go on, does she survive the unthinkable? Always. Katniss can't do anything the easy way; the girl has fire in her and she's a fighter born. We love her for that and we too mourn the dead: Cinna, Finnick, Boggs and Prim. And though we've cried and mourned and howled in protest for the terrible things we and Katniss have had to go through, these lines makes it all worth the suffering:
"That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.
"So after, when he whispers, 'You love me. Real or nor real?'
"I tell him, 'Real.'"
~Katniss Everdeen, Mockingjay, page 388.
My soul was lifted for that alone.
Over & Out,
Rachel
Monday, February 27, 2012
Jane Austen in Middle-Earth
So I tried my hand at writing a "deleted scene," of sorts, between Ayden and Violet and well...it seemed like a good idea at the time, but now it's just not working for me.
Ayden: I don't know why you're so unhappy with the deleted fight scene.
Me: Because it's too... violent. And just...not you.
Ayden: So you'll let Violet hit me, but I can't hit her back?
Me: You curbed-stomped her in that deleted scene! Isn't that enough?
Ayden: No.
(Long silence)
Me: *sighs* Okay, okay. The reason why I don't like that fight scene is because I want it to be very clearly defined who's in the wrong here. You striking out and provoking Violet doesn't fit your character.
Ayden: What do you mean it doesn't fit my character? I am the character! You think I don't know what fits me and what doesn't?
Me: You hitting Violet and beating her in physical fight muddies the waters. You're the heroine. You're in the right of it (at least for now). Plus, there's just too much fall-out from the aftermath. It makes everything so much more complicated than has to be, especially between you and Sydney. Also, what said in the last entry still stands--you are not the only character in the story. You can't just decide to do something and not let it have consequences. And for me, looking at that fight scene, the consequences for you would be terrible. Believe me, I wanted to put that fight scene in there. I wanted to see you take Violet down as much as you do. But it doesn't fit. It just doesn't. Would you put Jane Austen in Middle-Earth?
Ayden: ...No.
Me: Well, there you are. Me making you win a brutal cat-fight between you and Violet is like putting Jane Austen in Middle-Earth. It just doesn't work.
Ayden: ....Do I still get to hit her? Just once?
Me: *even longer sigh* I'll see what I can do.
Ayden: You better.
It's all about compromise.
Over & Out,
Rachel
Ayden: I don't know why you're so unhappy with the deleted fight scene.
Me: Because it's too... violent. And just...not you.
Ayden: So you'll let Violet hit me, but I can't hit her back?
Me: You curbed-stomped her in that deleted scene! Isn't that enough?
Ayden: No.
(Long silence)
Me: *sighs* Okay, okay. The reason why I don't like that fight scene is because I want it to be very clearly defined who's in the wrong here. You striking out and provoking Violet doesn't fit your character.
Ayden: What do you mean it doesn't fit my character? I am the character! You think I don't know what fits me and what doesn't?
Me: You hitting Violet and beating her in physical fight muddies the waters. You're the heroine. You're in the right of it (at least for now). Plus, there's just too much fall-out from the aftermath. It makes everything so much more complicated than has to be, especially between you and Sydney. Also, what said in the last entry still stands--you are not the only character in the story. You can't just decide to do something and not let it have consequences. And for me, looking at that fight scene, the consequences for you would be terrible. Believe me, I wanted to put that fight scene in there. I wanted to see you take Violet down as much as you do. But it doesn't fit. It just doesn't. Would you put Jane Austen in Middle-Earth?
Ayden: ...No.
Me: Well, there you are. Me making you win a brutal cat-fight between you and Violet is like putting Jane Austen in Middle-Earth. It just doesn't work.
Ayden: ....Do I still get to hit her? Just once?
Me: *even longer sigh* I'll see what I can do.
Ayden: You better.
It's all about compromise.
Over & Out,
Rachel
Saturday, February 4, 2012
I'm Hiding Under the Table
Ayden: I can't believe you.
Me: The ban on characters talking still stands!
Ayden: I don't care! Why is she here??
Me: You know perfectly well why.
Ayden: I don't want her here. And no one else does, either! You know what I was about to do! Why should we have to suffer her?
Me: Ayden, this may come as a shock to you, but you are not the only person in this story. There are other people who need resolution and closure too. I'm sorry that I had introduce Violet, but--
Violet: Did I hear my name?
Ayden: YOU! Get. Out.
Me: Oh boy.
And that leads to today's entry title. Why I'm currently hiding under the dining room table where I do most of my work, trying to avoid the verbal shrapnel that's about go flying. Ayden has...taken a strong, definite, certainly not discreet stand on her opinion of Violet D'Ambrosia's entering the narrative at this point. And Violet...well, she's not being very forthcoming. I can't get a read on her (oh the irony) and she's not likely to be offering enlightenment any time soon. You know how a cat will hide and then come as if it's their idea all along, not like you've been calling them for the past five minutes? Violet's like that. Only worse, because cats can't talk. And also aren't manipulative, malevolent, chaotic and just plain underhanded. Or at least, not all cats.
Violet: You give me such wonderful compliments.
Ayden: YOU...!
Me: Still hiding.
Over & Out,
Rachel
Me: The ban on characters talking still stands!
Ayden: I don't care! Why is she here??
Me: You know perfectly well why.
Ayden: I don't want her here. And no one else does, either! You know what I was about to do! Why should we have to suffer her?
Me: Ayden, this may come as a shock to you, but you are not the only person in this story. There are other people who need resolution and closure too. I'm sorry that I had introduce Violet, but--
Violet: Did I hear my name?
Ayden: YOU! Get. Out.
Me: Oh boy.
And that leads to today's entry title. Why I'm currently hiding under the dining room table where I do most of my work, trying to avoid the verbal shrapnel that's about go flying. Ayden has...taken a strong, definite, certainly not discreet stand on her opinion of Violet D'Ambrosia's entering the narrative at this point. And Violet...well, she's not being very forthcoming. I can't get a read on her (oh the irony) and she's not likely to be offering enlightenment any time soon. You know how a cat will hide and then come as if it's their idea all along, not like you've been calling them for the past five minutes? Violet's like that. Only worse, because cats can't talk. And also aren't manipulative, malevolent, chaotic and just plain underhanded. Or at least, not all cats.
Violet: You give me such wonderful compliments.
Ayden: YOU...!
Me: Still hiding.
Over & Out,
Rachel
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