The Game of Hollywood’s Hunger Games

Every now and then, a book comes along that transforms my body and soul–in the literal sense too because I starve and sleep-deprive myself in order to finish reading as soon as possible. There was The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Eyes of the Dragon, Food for Millionaires, Life of Pi, A Great and Terrible Beauty, My Sister’s Keeper, Eat Pray Love, The House of the Spirits, The Harry Potter series and much much more but I am terrible at remembering titles.

The Hunger Games is no exception. In fact, if anything, it is like all my favorite books rolled into one fantastic trilogy. There’s the love story, the action, the drama, the mystery, the conspiracy, the humor, the meaningful message that stays with you on the state of our world.

But at the heart of it, my favorite is Suzanne Collins’ courage in centering her saga around a fierce teenage girl who is fearless, compelling and authentic in coming of age and fighting to do the right thing. If that doesn’t make every girl want to be her then get this: she also has two hot guys willing to die for her love. (I know that sounds like Twilight but trust me, this book is NOTHING like that one.)

So when I found out that The Hunger Games was also in the stages of being turned into a movie, of course I was looking forward to seeing who would be the lead actress. This is the role of a lifetime! And it calls for a woman to not just sit around and look pretty but to kick butt.

I had my eyes set on Hailee Steinfeld who blew me away with her performance in the otherwise mediocre Coen Bros. film, True Grit. At only 14, Hailee possesses this depth in her acting that I hardly see in actresses 3x her age. And plus, she’s super adorable, possessing a true Everywoman look (and by that, I mean her eurblasian ancestry). Her age and looks makes her the perfect protagonist of the book, Katniss Everdeen.

But then along comes Jennifer Lawrence and her sparkly blonde hair and her bodacious bod and her Oscar-nominated acting talents and she apparently became a no-brainer as THE actress to play Katniss (according to the author herself, no less!)

My disappointment wasn’t that Lawrence can’t act or is too old or anything but just that it seemed like another Hollywood blonde stole the show yet again. With the casting of Steinfeld, or even an ethnically mixed unknown actress, this could be a move forward for Hollywood, stepping into the globalization generation.

But the casting gods have spoken and Lawrence has signed on as Katniss. If you think I’m not stepping into that theatre come March 23, 2012, think again. I’m sure the Winter Bones actress will do a fine job. And I look forward to all the other loud and divisive messages Collins have been trying to make on the big screen.

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posted by Janice | Comment: 4 | Books, Films

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