Now to the Treatments: why we should trust Lionsgate and how they are not letting The Hunger Games be over come with the dreaded Twilightis!
1. The Casting-
My friends every major/minor actor/actress in Hollywood was scratching out their eyes to star in THG. It was all the buzz in LA. Now as an actress I'm very judgmental of other actresses, as I know others are of me as well. It’s just the Name of the game, and I'm hardest on myself (:-/) Now, how easy would it have been for Lionsgate and Gary Ross to make a casting decision such as what was made with Kristin Stewart as Bella in Twilight. Again, this is not meant to offend anyone who is a KStew fan or disagrees with me. But for me, casting her was going against the books description. And Can we count how many times she dissed playing Bella and the Twilight fandom? I understand studios and producers do what they have to do, and by all means they have made enough money based on their decisions. My only point is if quantity is ahead of quality, you lose the heart.
Now, what did Lionsgate do? They ditched all the big name or slightly known named teen girls knocking on their door, and cast a marginally known, but critically acclaimed first time Oscar nominee for a film many people still haven't even heard of or seen. Safe to say-- she was not cast for her name or her following. She’s a girl who’s accepted the fame and the subsequent loss of privacy, and following this would give her, on the basis of how much she loved the story and how much she would regret leaving it behind had she said no (as described in her EW magazine interview). A movie studio actually chose talent before looks and fame!! What?! Blonde hair, purple hair I don't care, it can be changed, all I wanted was an actress with the talent and strength to handle Katniss the right way, AND BE GRATEFUL FOR IT! Same can be said for Josh Hutcherson being cast as Peeta. Then came Woody, and Donald, and DANNY ELFMAN!!! squeal!! There's your big names for you!! Dude. We have deserving Oscar nominees littering our film, and that doesn't mean a lot sometimes, but I think we can all agree all the people I named have deserved the awards they have been given and/or have been nominated for. Lionsgate have treated the mindless love triangle and teen following by giving The Hunger Games a dose of performers with talent enough to show that the story and characters are oh SO MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT!
2. Oh really, MTV? You wanna use us for ratings? Well then it's on OUR TERMS :-)
It's obvious The Hunger Games has made a deal with EW magazine, so that EW is the one to release exclusive photos and stories first. Oh well, cut ‘em a break, whether we like it or not, they’ve gotta advertise and get the ball rollin’ now so that they can make back the multimillion dollar budget they gave the film. They can't make EW is the one to release exclusive photos and stories first. Oh well, cut ‘em a break, whether we like it or not, they’ve gotta advertise and get the ball rollin’ now so that they can make back the multimillion dollar budget they gave the film. They can't make this movie pro-Bono (for free), people. And magazines like Seventeen will come up with stupid polls just to have even the littlest HG reference in their pages, to why? Sell them of course, to make money of course, to feed the designer dogs, of course! ‘Cause HG is that powerful. Be proud! Now, as far as the teaser on MTV, well I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I did. And I think it was Lionsgates way of sticking with the fans, and stickin’ it to MTV. Also Telling us (the fans), “we got this & Twilightis will not get the best of us!” MTV is Twilight's residence for teasers and cast appearances blah, blah, blah, and The Hunger Games teaser would have probably been a bigger success had they done it up Twilight-style. AKA, shirtless Peeta, Gale hunting also while shirtless, Katniss kissing Peeta in the cave who's shirtless (Not Katniss, Peeta), ect. But what did Lionsgate do? They gave us Katniss, in the games, at her best with her bow and arrow, and the fireball scene only fans could recognize. See, this teaser was mainly understandable for the fans, and I think it was done that way on purpose. It was intriguing for others, but most people who haven't read it that I know didn't quite get it. It was Katniss and action, no cheesy love triangle, or teen angst fest. I loved it, and I think it was a message to the fans, "trust us, Tributes! We have built you a strong ship!" They treated the MTV symptoms by strengthening the healthy cells, the Super Fans.
3. Our Plainly Pretty But No Model Brunette Is-- Actually A Plainly Pretty But No Model Brunette (Ya’ Got that?) -
Jennifer Lawrence is stunning, no denying it. But are her looks comparable to KStew, or Emma Roberts, or even Leven who was cast as Glimmer? No. Not at all in my opinion. Which is why she so was believable in Winter’s Bone and why she will be as Katniss as well. Take off all her makeup, don't wash her hair for a day, and make her sweaty in the middle of the woods, and she is as plain Jane as it gets.
Which allows for her incredible strength and talent to be the focal point, and allows us, the audience, to see her true beauty beyond the Hollywood (or Capitol), glamor. Her true beauty is in her love for her family; her desire to stand up for what's right in Rues death, her ability to lose all fear in an instant out of compassion for the suffering her nation and fellow Tributes are enduring. These things are what make Katniss truly relatable, and beautiful. Lionsgate treated the "She's All That" symptom, you know the one where the super hot girl wears a pair of glasses and suddenly is an ugly nerd, but then puts a skimpy mini dress and contacts and becomes a knockout (Classic, you should NetFlix it). They gave us a dose of a down to earth actress whose beauty comes from her strength. Watch Winter’s Bone, you'll see what I mean, but be prepared it’s not Hunger Games, and it’s not She’s All That.
4. Suzanne Collins-
Yes, our defense against the pop culture Liam and Lenny and bring into THG is simple, the author herself. Suzanne from day one has been apart of every aspect in the making of her precious story into a live action film. She's the co-screenwriter (so rare in Hollywood book to movie, you have no idea!), she was in the casting room, saying yeses and and noes. We have to trust that her unusually strong involvement in this means Lionsgate wants this done right. Given the nature of themes and plot of THG I sincerely doubt that Suzanne will bow down to Hollywood (the Capitol) and let them destroy her creation. Her books had such powerful and important messages that obviously come from Suzanne's own heart, and I can't see her sacrificing them for the sake of the Capitol money :-). So if she supported Liam and Lenny, two very big players in her books. Well shoot, I do too, against my better knowledge and fear of Twilightis-- I do too.
So in conclusion what I want to do is encourage my fellow HG and YA novel fans. Keep the faith, yes, Twilightis is rampant these days and there is no cure. In fact, many more symptoms will arise as our dear film nears its release date. Just let them do what they do, and you do you! Ignore the Twlightis Carriers & have confidence that Lionsgate and we the fans, have treatments ourselves that can lessen the symptoms until Twilightis is weeded from the system the day the film comes out: then all the MTV "Hunger games" hottie fans, will probably be bored and go back to watching Eclipse on repeat. I truly believe all involved have the fans back, just look at the new viral campaign?!?! Hello!! P.S, I'm District 7!
Let's instead spend our time using The Hunger Games to bring light to the things that make The Hunger Games so important to us and make a difference! Stand up for what’s right, have compassion, volunteer in The Seam like areas in your city where people are hungry, love on your family a ‘lil extra, and be a good example of The Hunger Games fandom, TRIBUTES UNITE!
SO INSTEAD OF CATCHING TWILIGHTIS MY FELLOW TRIBUTES, LET'S CATCH FIRE!!!
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