The Hunger Games saga has always been one of my favorites. Both in literature and in cinema. I'm not a fan of dystopias, but Suzanne Collins provided me with good times. And in addition to having a lot of admiration for Katniss, the main character, I fell in love with the romance between her and Peeta Mellark.
When I read and watched the films I was 15 years old, and at 16 I went to the premiere of Catching Fire, which for me is the best film in the saga and an excellent adaptation. Due to my age, I might not be able to analyze things that today, at almost 24, I am able to rethink.
It all started when days ago I sent a tiktok from an edit about Katniss and Peeta to one of my best friends, and I was surprised by the answer: she hates Peeta. I was outraged and went to get satisfaction on WhatsApp. My friend writes very well and is a lawyer, so you can imagine that her defense would be impeccable.
The first factor, which I did not agree with, is about the way Peeta threw the bread to Katniss, which in the book has a very symbolic value for Katniss and in the film it is portrayed in just a flashback. There was a whole context for which Peeta was afraid to help her because of his parents, and also no one in that district was in a position to provide good deeds. My friend found the way he played disgusting, but until then I reread his character.
It is clear that Peeta always had a crush on Katniss, but never had the attitude to approach her or even to offer a friendly shoulder, since she lost her father, went hungry and so on. When they go to the game, where only one person can win, Peeta does not ally with Katniss in the beginning, allying himself with the people who wanted to kill her, just for survive. If he liked Katniss so much why did it take so long to be by her side? And then came the couple's narrative, where Katniss needs to help Peeta who is injured and induces her in a survival novel to captivate the audience. Peeta already liked her, unlike Katniss who had no feelings. There was no real consensus from Katniss for this strategy, but she finds herself without an alternative and this ends up getting out of control, as we can see in Catching Fire. Katniss had her family as a priority, so she was willing to do anything.
In Catching Fire, Katniss still has no control over her choices. Since Peeta forges a supposed pregnancy to save her. But again, it is not a strategy that Katniss has consented to play. Meanwhile, she finds herself forced to repress her feelings for Gale (who honestly was never a fan, but he took care of her family while she was in the arena), having to make a commitment to the narrative that Peeta and Haymitch created. She spends half the saga having to accept this situation and induce herself to like Peeta.
Until this actually happens, and unconsciously Katniss becomes emotionally dependent on Peeta, after all he was with her in the most chaotic moments of her life, and she feels the duty to repay everything he "did" for her. So much so that she becomes extremely patient with him even though he has been tele-kidnapped and almost killed her.
And in the end, Katniss and Peeta get married and have children. However, at the beginning of the saga, Katniss told Gale that having children was not her wish. Did she really want to live this or did she once again give in to Peeta's wishes?
These things that my friend pointed out made me rethink many things, and how it serves as a reflection of the lives of many women. After all, no matter how strong Katniss was, she never really had complete control over her life, both because of the government and also in her interpersonal relationships. I confess that having thought about these points made me sad because I always liked Peeta a lot, but I thought it was important to open myself up to a new analysis, in a non-romanticized way, because that says a lot about the way I have related to some people. Everything Peeta did for Katniss was the least a person can do for the one they love: protect their lives. But whoever loves also respects their space, their feelings and their choices.
And what do you think about that? Did it make any sense to you? I am open to debates and new reflections!
Aline Machado.