tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post6891844673657139863..comments2023-09-07T09:20:40.453+01:00Comments on demention: Not a review of the Hunger Games by Julienne DurberJuliennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03177445245144105172noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-3528766944057130142012-10-09T19:37:19.722+01:002012-10-09T19:37:19.722+01:00Thanks Maryom, it's great to see this interpre...Thanks Maryom, it's great to see this interpretation of Katniss from the point of view of the film.<br /><br />And I'd like to add to your list my favourite butt-kicking female on celluloid, Ellen Ripley - ithout whom the universe would be a much more Alien-y place.Juliennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03177445245144105172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-62027343420557402892012-10-09T19:33:18.107+01:002012-10-09T19:33:18.107+01:00Some great points, Teri. Well done fuelling the d...Some great points, Teri. Well done fuelling the debate so eloquently. Hopefully some of our male readers will let us know what they think. Over to you guys ...Juliennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03177445245144105172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-12204687462844844532012-10-09T09:17:06.221+01:002012-10-09T09:17:06.221+01:00Firstly I have to admit I've only seen the fil...Firstly I have to admit I've only seen the film - where I don't think Katniss came over as a full-blown action hero, more as someone caught between a rock and a hard place and finding a way out. There's always been plenty of 'kick-ass' women in fiction from WW2's comic strip Jane - who always seemed to beat up the bad guy while losing most of her clothes! - through The Avengers' Mrs Peel to Lara Croft. I don't think boys would object to reading books with any of those women on the cover!maryomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18265044617480788043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-39432062201625626372012-10-09T03:40:37.075+01:002012-10-09T03:40:37.075+01:00I don't see being strong, kick-ass and resilie...I don't see being strong, kick-ass and resilient as male characteristics: Katniss is a brilliant heroINE, and every inch a girl. I love that she sacrifices herself for her sister, and does everything she can to survive - without stopping to swoon at boys along the way. Also I don't see Peeta as passive at all. He plays a clever game to save her. <br /><br />Whether or not Suzanne Collins deliberately set out to create a strong main character in Katniss... of course she did. Was it a deliberate machination to widen her reading audience? I doubt it. <br /><br />For myself I love the strong teenage characters appearing in recent dystopian novels: I'll admit I also love that most of them are girls. Of course I can't speak for other authors, but there aren't any deliberate gender politics involved in the construction of my characters. <br /><br />There is no doubt that most boys will hesitate to be seen with books with covers that are overtly girly - but most boys I've spoken to recent years when I was working in libraries, plus readers of Slated, don't seem to care if the character is female, as long as it is a good story. <br /><br />Maybe 14 year olds today are less bothered by these things than they were a few decades ago?<br />Teri Terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13641477543947472370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-39633514626268996802012-10-08T20:50:02.148+01:002012-10-08T20:50:02.148+01:00Thanks CB, that's a great comment. You've ...Thanks CB, that's a great comment. You've made some really interesting points.<br /><br />Perhaps Collins is trying to subvert expectations and explore the arbitrary nature of gender-specific qualities, and that's a thing that we need more of in YA fiction. It's clearly the way to get boys to engage with female characters and vice versa.<br /><br />And I love your last question! I'd be interested to know how other Demention readers would answer it ;)Juliennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03177445245144105172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-20135931033382904282012-10-08T16:27:55.400+01:002012-10-08T16:27:55.400+01:00I read the first bit of the Hunger Games on google...I read the first bit of the Hunger Games on googlebooks. I spent most of it thinking Katniss was a boy (unfortunately, the bit where they mention she's a she was not available!) Of course, had I bought the book with the picture of her on, I would have known she was a girl. BUT, there are covers with Peeta on, too, presumably to appeal to boys. Had I picked up one of those I'd've been incredibly confused to discover she was female! <br /><br />Like you said, Katniss is more or less un-gendered and this is both one of the strengths and one of the problems with the novel. On the plus (and it is a MASSIVE plus) Katniss is a perfect of example of how "feminine" qualities (you know, like getting all emotional) aren't intrinsic parts of being female. And the fact that Peeta has qualities we would label "feminine" helps bolster the fact that this was clearly a very deliberate intention of Suzanne Collins's. And an admiral one that I love her for. <br /><br />On the flip side, if Katniss could be male and it not change the story in any way, are we really just reading about another male hero? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11770474548845786944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-3924733466162788972012-10-08T10:51:53.288+01:002012-10-08T10:51:53.288+01:00oops! - Thanks Nicola now updated. Glad you liked...oops! - Thanks Nicola now updated. Glad you liked the book, hope you enjoyed the post.Juliennehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03177445245144105172noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1464589489014860611.post-47692560583528692222012-10-08T10:15:26.140+01:002012-10-08T10:15:26.140+01:00Stephanie Meyer? Suzanne Collins...
I also loved...Stephanie Meyer? Suzanne Collins... <br /><br />I also loved the Hunger Games, btw, though I've only read Book 1. Nicola Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07847390687632715336noreply@blogger.com