Reading the Book First vs. Seeing the Movie First, Female Heroines, and other Catching Fire related topics

So if you’re a massive super-geek like I am, you know that there are only 10 more days until Catching Fire is in theaters! For those of you who live under a rock, Catching Fire is the second installment in the Hunger Games trilogy, and the movie adaptation with Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will be out on November 22^nd.  So whenever a movie is released that’s based on a book, people are faced with an important, life altering decision: do you read the book first, or see the movie first? Here’s my take on the age old question. There are pros and cons to both options. If you read the book first, you’re able to form your own images of the characters in your head as well as the setting and see the story through your own eyes (this theory is slightly flawed though if you’re constantly being bombarded with trailers of the movie whenever you turn on the television though). By reading the book first, you interpret the story in your own unique way. If you see the movie first though, you won’t be prejudiced when you do see the movie. So many people complain after a book-inspired movie comes out, complaining that the whole film was ruing because the movie was missing one little part from the book.  Sometimes these people have every right to be angry because Hollywood butchered their story, but sometimes reading the book first can make you resentful to slight changes/artistic liberties the movie takes with the story.  In my opinion, I prefer to read the book first, because I’m inpatient and want to know the story as soon as possible and get pumped for the movie, and it’s easier to read the book before seeing the movie often. The point is though, your choice determines your first exposure to a story and how you interpret the story. Film and literature are different storytelling methods, and whichever one you choose changes how you see characters, setting, and the plot.



                Keeping on the subject of the Hunger Games, there was a lot of talk about female heroines when the Hunger Games came out last year. Many articles have been written about how the Hunger Games is paving the way for strong female leads in both books and movies. While I agree the Hunger Games has put strong female characters like Katniss in the spotlight, this isn’t a new phenomenon. While Hollywood is finally getting on track and bringing stories with strong female leads to light (Divergent, the Mortal Instruments, etc.) books have been doing it for years. I could make this post uber-long and list off all the books with strong female characters, but I won’t. I could also make a list of books with strong male characters, or strong animal characters, or strong alien characters. People need to stop focusing on the gender behind a character and just look at the character’s…well, character. I feel that gender, race, species, shouldn’t be the defining characteristic about a character’s story. It can be a quality that grabs your interest in a story, but ultimately, base your judgment of a character on their story and personality, not what’s on the outside.

                In conclusion, go see Catching Fire and appreciate Katniss for her intelligence and stubbornness and ninja skills, not just because she’s a chick with a weapon. Catching Fire comes on November 22^nd, and you can bet your bow and arrow that it’ll be awesome—regardless of if you read the book or see the movie first.