Rife with symbolismthat speak to society today,The Hunger Gamesis a devastating story that follows children from 12 to 18 being forced into an arena, fighting to the death, in twisted spectacle of sorts. It is a terrifying prospect. The movie franchise’s source materials, Suzanne Collins’YA novel series, highlight that Katniss and Peeta are about 16 in the first games. As a reader, the audience can imagine the characters in whatever way they see fit, projecting a 16-year-old in their mind’s eye. The movies, however, give a slightly different interpretation of the appearance of teenagers. No matter how well the actors portrayed their roles, it is noticeable that Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth, along with some of the other teenaged tributes, are not real-life teenagers.
While movies and television shows cast older actors to portray teenagers all the time, in the case ofThe Hunger Games, it may have actually worked against the narrative itself. One of the more horrifying aspects of The Hunger Games is that it pits children in an arena against each other in a death match for sport. But, in the movies, most of them do not look like children, as outlined byLooper, and the aspect of that area of sympathy may not translate the way the movie needs it to. Furthermore, as great as the film performances may be, that does not remove the element that the people on screen do not look the right age. That could tamper with how the audience understands the content without knowing the correct character ages in advance.
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Loses the Appearance of High Stakes
Children fighting each other to death is meant to bring out horror in the audience. In the novels, it certainly does. Katniss is a teenaged girl when she volunteers for her younger sister. However, Katniss herself, while a teenager, is still a child. She may have experience with a bow and arrow, but asking her to fight in the arena is cruel. However, one of the elements of the movies that do not translate well is that these are supposed to be children. Indeed, they are spoken to as if they are adults. Yet, that is not as much a problem as they look like adults. While the Hunger Games is still surely too much for someone in their 20s to have to navigate, looking older than they are removes some horrors and emotional ties to this being a group of children who have been thrown into something far more significant than themselves.
The Loss of Childhood Innocence Does Not Register
Once they are reaped, the games will end with either their survival or death. By being forced into the games, one could claim that their childhood innocence, or what was left of it, has been stripped away. However, when the children the audience is watching are actually adults, it may not register that this is as despicable as it is. Although some of the districts are meant to have trained their entire lives for the games, others have not. For example, Katniss spent most of her time hunting while Peeta worked in a bakery lifting bags of flour. While this may have increased Katniss' archery skills and Peeta’s strength, they were still supposed to be from District Twelve, one of the poorest districts in Panem. Yet, Katniss, Peeta, and Gale do not appear to be on the verge of starvation, even if the narrative claims they are.
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They Look Like They Belong in the Rebellion Too Well
Katniss and Gale should stick out like sore thumbs amongst the experienced rebellion leaders. However, they actually seem to fit in quite well, which is an eerie element of the franchise. Although they are all fighting for the same thing, and Katniss and Gale should seem competent in what they understand about the districts and corrupt government, perForbes, they still look too much like they belong amongst the ranks of experienced adults. Putting make-up on Katniss to make her appear older on purpose is a struggling situation. Katniss already looks more aged than 17. However, adding additional make-up to make the character seem more senior seems contradictory to the horrors that the original book series wants to present.
The Capitol may already see Katniss, Peeta, and Gale as adults, but all three of them should not appear to look like they belong there as well as they do.TheHunger Gamesfilmsuse CGI on Peeta Mellark to create the appearance of the horrors the Capitol is putting him through. While it does show the struggles, stress, and torture that Peeta has gone through, he is still noticeably older than 17. Had the movie cast the proper ages, perhaps the scenes meant to portray the horrors of what has gone on would match better with the physical attributes of the characters on screen throughout the films.
