Critical Investigation: Task 6

Introduction to Critical Investigation essay. 200-250 words.

*quotes from film.*

- Katniss Everdeen: We are NOT star-crossed lovers.

- Peeta Mellark: I don't know. Turn me into something I'm not. I-I-I just don't want to be another piece in their game, you know?

- Katniss Everdeen: Yeah. I just can't afford to think like that. I have my sister.

- Katniss Everdeen: Of course. Maybe I can. I am smart, you know.

[Word count - 251]

"I mean, she saved my life." - Peeta Mellark

To what extent does 'The Hunger Games' trilogy subvert traditional gender representations.

Judith Butler has been an icon for the third wave feminism for the last couple of years. There have been several ways in which women have fought to be seen and represented as equals. One way in that which this has been done is through film. Women in film are often represented as sex objects and there for the pleasure of men, which is argued by Mulvey in regard to the ‘male gaze’[1]. This is evident in films like ‘Tomb Raider’ (2001), which reinforces the zeitgeist of that time. Over the recent years these representations have been subverted and women are now beginning to make a whole new image for themselves, with films such as ‘Divergent’ that came out after the first Hunger games film, showing similar characteristic in terms of the female lead character. The extent to which this may be true is unclear in the sense that there are still women being portrayed in this stereotypical way. However, we see that there has been a massive development in not only how women are represented in films but also men. Men are becoming more in tune with their emotional side in film and it is not just about their masculinity and strength anymore. Gender representations in ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy have brought light to the different ways in which gender is stereotyped and how this has exceeded those in the past. ‘The Hunger Games’ opened up opportunities for “a host of girl power films”[2] since in its opening weekend it was the “third best in the box office history”[3]. The film explores how different characters develop and their role to the film through their behaviour, thought and emotions. The film uses the binary opposition good versus evil as a narrative base whilst also adding a unique touch that draws in the audience.

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[1]  Mulvey, L. (1975)

[2] Rankin, S. (2017)

[3] Ibid.