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I don't think that's the case at all. By surviving the Games the way she did, Katniss not only showed up the government but becomes a symbol of hope for the rebellion. She's much more dangerous alive than dead. Had both Katniss and Peeta died the districts may have rebelled, but it would have been quashed just as quickly. With two victors the government needs to go on as if the results are great, that it's business as usual while under the surface everything is falling apart.
There was nothing special about Katniss' skills that made her a threat to the state. She survived because the state intervened on her behalf for no rhyme or reason that is internally consistent with the story. The "love angle" between her and Peeta could have also been used by the state on the other District participants. They are all male-female teen pairs, so what stopped the state from promoting another district's pair over District 12? What was so special about District 12? These are weak points of the story. No real reason why District 12 was given special treatment, just a deus ex machina. (I know the real reason: to prolong the story so as to establish a franchise).
We are told Katniss had good archery skills, but these were not even given prominent display (besides her hitting that apple). In fact, the action scenes were not spectacular. They were very ordinary. There were no edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting, rousing action scenes in the movie.
She didn't defy the state. She obeyed the state to the very end. She and Peeta had it in their power to truly defy the State by killing themselves on live TV. The poison was in their hands. Suicide would have been a more elegant ending to the movie.
Being human beings, I rather suspect they weren't all that thrilled with dying, which is kind of a big point of the whole story.
I thought the whole suicide bit was a big weakness at that moment. Nothing elegant about it. Had Kat looked at the camera and said, "I'm not going to kill my friend, and you can't make me," that I could have applauded. Had she gone down fighting soldiers sent to subdue her ... again, yay. But killing herself? That's the coward's way out in this situation.
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Originally Posted by ndfmnlf
But the author and the director needed that deus ex machina in order to prolong the tale and create the need for a sequel to the book and the movie, when the story could have ended elegantly in one short book.
Again: This isn't a deux ex machina. Look up the definition of that term. If you didn't like the ending or thought the author might have had ulterior motives for doing so, that's certainly debatable. But this isn't a deux ex machina any more than a cloud is a cantelope.
If another nation's cavalry charged in to save the day at the last second or if Kat suddenly turned into the Hulk to save the day or if Thor would have ridden down on a lightning bolt to smite the wicked or if a comet had suddenly struck the Capitol, then you'd have a good ol' deux ex machina. But the way this story ended simply wasn't that. You're misusing the term.
There was nothing special about Katniss' skills that made her a threat to the state. She survived because the state intervened on her behalf for no rhyme or reason that is internally consistent with the story. The "love angle" between her and Peeta could have also been used by the state on the other District participants. They are all male-female teen pairs, so what stopped the state from promoting another district's pair over District 12? What was so special about District 12? These are weak points of the story. No real reason why District 12 was given special treatment, just a deus ex machina. (I know the real reason: to prolong the story so as to establish a franchise).
We are told Katniss had good archery skills, but these were not even given prominent display (besides her hitting that apple). In fact, the action scenes were not spectacular. They were very ordinary. There were no edge-of-the-seat, nail-biting, rousing action scenes in the movie.
Perhaps you don't remember when Peeta made his confession on the TV show that he had feelings for Katniss. They also held hands during the ceremony on the chariot.
Being human beings, I rather suspect they weren't all that thrilled with dying, which is kind of a big point of the whole story.
I thought the whole suicide bit was a big weakness at that moment. Nothing elegant about it. Had Kat looked at the camera and said, "I'm not going to kill my friend, and you can't make me," that I could have applauded. Had she gone down fighting soldiers sent to subdue her ... again, yay. But killing herself? That's the coward's way out in this situation.
Again: This isn't a deux ex machina. Look up the definition of that term. If you didn't like the ending or thought the author might have had ulterior motives for doing so, that's certainly debatable. But this isn't a deux ex machina any more than a cloud is a cantelope.
If another nation's cavalry charged in to save the day at the last second or if Kat suddenly turned into the Hulk to save the day or if Thor would have ridden down on a lightning bolt to smite the wicked or if a comet had suddenly struck the Capitol, then you'd have a good ol' deux ex machina. But the way this story ended simply wasn't that. You're misusing the term.
A deus ex machina ( /ˈdeɪ.əs ɛks ˈmɑːkiːnə/ or /ˈdiːəs ɛks ˈmækɨnə/ day-əs eks mah-kee-nə;[1] Latin: "god out of the machine"; plural: dei ex machina) is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.
By changing the rules arbitrarily when there is no evidence these rules have ever been changed before (they've been doing this for 74 years) to favor a District's team that has nothing special about it to deserve favorable treatment meets the definition of a contrived plot device that solves an insolvable problem (the zero sum nature of the Hunger Games).
The author and director basically put themselves in a bind. They created a story about a zero sum game from which the main characters have to extricate themselves. The assumptions that the author/director laid down were so airtight that the characters had no other way of escaping except for the rules of the game to be changed. And not very skillfully at that. They had to change it 3 times for the story to evolve the way they wanted.
ndfmnlf - You may have a point but I think you are getting too caught up in the technicalities....please remember the primary intended audience for the book series.. I mean we are not dealing with Shakespeare or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle here, it is a cheap 21st century novel series for 13 year old teenage girls who are meant to read the book during their breaks between Justin Bieber concert and Jersey Shore...in the same league as Twilight, Buffy and what not! Judge it for what it is and just let it go dude/dudette and roll with the tides
ndfmnlf - You may have a point but I think you are getting too caught up in the technicalities....please remember the primary intended audience for the book series.. I mean we are not dealing with Shakespeare or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle here, it is a cheap 21st century novel series for 13 year old teenage girls who are meant to read the book during their breaks between Justin Bieber concert and Jersey Shore...in the same league as Twilight, Buffy and what not! Judge it for what it is and just let it go dude/dudette and roll with the tides
Exactly. This movie wasn't meant to be a masterpiece or anything like that. It was just meant for pure entertainment. To me it's like the show Dexter (which actually is very much more brilliant and original) or Entourage which doesn't teach me anything nor is it very realistic, but it sure is entertaining.
To me Hunger Games is like a movie like Apocalypto or the Grey entertaining, but not really meant to be too deep in its meaning. Not meant to be a masterpiece. Not meant to be oscar worthy. The sequels of the Hunger Games will be deeper, but you just need to take it for what it is.
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