It’s finally time for me to break out my near decade-old mockingjay pin once again.
“The Hunger Games” is having a renaissance with the upcoming release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” book to movie adaptation and I’m living for it.
The movie is set to release on Nov. 17 and I already have a countdown set.
I read the 2020 novel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins earlier this year in preparation for my most anticipated movie of the year.
“The Hunger Games” franchise now consists of four books, with movie adaptations for each.
As an avid fan of all things Katniss Everdeen, my heart soared when Collins announced that she would be adding another installment to one of my favorite childhood book series.
I was distraught when I first heard the newest book would be about one of my least favorite characters, President Coriolanus Snow.
I thought the book would be tired, another young-adult novel about an over-privileged kid becoming a terrible dictator.
After reading the far too short 528-page novel, my opinion was swiftly changed.
Book Review
In the novels, the Hunger Games were originally created as a punishment for the rebellion that the 13 districts of the fictional country of Panem led against the oppressive government, the Capitol.
The games consisted of 24 randomly chosen “tributes,” a male and female victim from each district between the ages of 12 and 18.
These children were thrown into an annually-modified arena each year and fought for their lives as the brutality was broadcast to the country, serving as entertainment for the wealthy elite and brewing fear for those within the districts.
The original trilogy followed the main heroine Katniss Everdeen as she volunteered for the annual bloodbath in place of her sister, Primrose.
The newest installment follows the previously mentioned dictator, President Snow, as he grew into his tyrannical role and cast his immortal influence over the games.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is set about 60 years before the first book in the franchise, recounting Snow’s social and political impact starting with the 10th annual Hunger Games.
I truly doubted that I would enjoy the book when I picked it up. President Snow was a deeply-hated character I’ve despised since I first read the series at 12 years old.
There was no way in hell that he wcould be a compelling main character for me, I would build no emotional connection to him. I was only reading the book out of obligation to my inner Hunger-Games-obsessed child.
Collins smacked me over the head with emotion and character depth which forced me to change my mind.
Snow is introduced to the audience as a star student at the Capitol’s prestigious high school. The opulent wealth that the viewers always associated with the Hunger Games’ elite Capitol are replaced by rations and struggling in the aftermath of the war.
I immediately felt a tug on my heart strings. I began to relate to Snow, struggling to fit in and hoping to carry on the family name. Collins addresses the horrors of the aftermath of conflict, which broke my heart even more.
Rubble, trauma and uncertainty plagues the entire previously immortal Capitol. Reading how Snow tries to forget seeing a formerly well-off family resort to cannibalism just to survive the war was a jarring image that I wasn’t expecting from our soon-to-be tyrant.
The emotions continue to ride the highs and lows of a sickening rollercoaster as we’re introduced to how Snow becomes involved in the infamous Hunger Games.
His assigned tribute to mentor, the starring lady Lucy Gray Baird, was from District 12, the poorest of the remaining 12 districts after the 13th was supposedly destroyed during the war.
This juxtaposition between the two characters, one that comes from wealth and the other that struggles to afford a meal, sets the scene for the moral conflicts that the book later presents.
Unsurprisingly, Collins creates an intricate tapestry of moral dilemmas and internal struggles that left me rooting for a man that I knew would commit war crimes in the future.
She also had me rooting for the most toxic relationship I have ever seen in a novel. The relationship between Gray Baird and Snow has a terrible power imbalance and is doomed from the start, but I still held onto that slight ray of hope until I closed the book for good.
I now remember why Collins had such a chokehold on my childhood. The writing, which is still juvenile enough to appeal to the young adult-audience, is still captivating.
Her expertly crafted commentary on issues such as classism, racism and economic struggles made me want to pick up the entire series and read it all over again.
Movie Expectations
After such an incredible novel, it’s hard to not hold high expectations for the upcoming movie adaptation. With how true to the original texts the four other movies are, I expect the “Ballad of Songbird and Snakes” to be the same.
The movie studio Lionsgate did a fantastic job with the original four screen adaptations, bringing to life the little dialogues and characters that danced around my head when I was a child.
The casting for the newest installment is spot on, with each character looking exactly how I imagine them. While I’m not familiar with any work from the majority of the cast, I have blind faith in the decisions of the casting directors.
They did so well finding the perfect Katniss and Peeta, it can’t be too hard to find the best dashing young Snow and Lucy Gray Baird.
From the short clips I saw, the aesthetic of the movie reflects the first installment of the film franchise.
The moody, muted and earthy tones of the districts in contrast with overly-saturated colors of the wealthy Capitol still holds strong in the soon-to-be-released movie as the first released over a decade ago.
While this fact makes me feel incredibly old at only 21, I greatly appreciate that the studio appears to be maintaining some continuity within the series.
When movies within the same franchise are released so far apart, it becomes difficult to connect them back to each other with the aesthetic choices. Lionsgate appears to have overcome this, at least judging by their trailers.
Another aspect of this upcoming release that has me counting the days until I can use my opening night tickets is the upcoming soundtrack.
The newest rendition of “The Hanging Tree” sung by Rachel Zegler fits with the narrative of the novel so well, just as the original sung by Jennifer Lawrence.
This version has a more emotional reflection of the event told in the song as Gray Baird was there to witness the distraught lover calling out for her man as he was publicly executed.
Olivia Rodrigo only adds to this excitement with the release of her song “Can’t Catch Me Now.”
The beautiful melody brought me to tears as I drew parallels between Gray Baird and her fan-speculated relative Katniss Everdeen.
I’m looking forward to seeing what other intoxicating ballads appear throughout the movie. The general soundtrack seems to be much softer than what the previous films featured, which is a refreshing change.
