The long-awaited prequel to the “Hunger Games” franchise, “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” debuted in theaters Nov. 17, 2023. The movie serves as a contrast to the original series and delves into the origins of the games.
Warning: spoilers follow.
Out of all of the “Hunger Games,” this one takes the cake. However, the one thing that stays the same in all the movies is the sadness of goodbyes. The mix of emotions: fear, anger, love, and heartbreak in this movie brings the audience close to the characters and brings an empathetic view on villians.
The games are a way to punish each district for their part in the rebellion in the Capital 74 years ago. A boy and girl from each of the 12 districts are pulled from their homes to fight to the death in an arena. In the other 4 movies, the contestants are treated like royalty before entering the games. They are given all the food they could ask for and luxury living with nice beds and furniture.
In the prequel, they were picked from their homes and taken to the arena right away. They never had time to prepare, and that made a way of sadness for the tributes and how poorly they were treated before the games.
This movie gives the answers we all had going into the book series and the movies made soon after:
“What was life like before the beloved Katniss Everdeen and why does Snow hate her so much?” The audience is taken back to the 10th annual Hunger Games and provides background on the franchise villain President Snow.
In Songbird and Snakes, he was paired with the female District 12 tribute, Lucy Grey Baird, as her mentor. At the very beginning, everyone loved her because she showed bravery at the reaping. She wore a bright colored dress that captivated everyone. And as the movie went on, he was falling in love with her and wanted to protect her during the games. He noticed the games grew in popularity because of her. He used his position to influence the gamemaker to change the rules by helping the contestants. He bent the rules to protect her in the area. She ended up winning and the gamemakers found out what he had done so they sent him to be a peacekeeper (a guard in each district ) and ended up in District 12 to be with Lucy Grey. Their relationship grew and she learned of his past misdeeds and left him. He ended up heart broken and bitter and went back to the capital.
Katniss is known as the “Mockingjay”, a symbol of the rebellion. The Mockingjay is shown many times in the prequel and plays a big part in why Snow hates Katniss. She reminds him of Lucy Gray. They both changed the way people thought about the games and weren’t scared to show themselves for who they were.
I watched the previous movies as a kid and loved them. And all these years later, I get to watch how it started. This movie was everything I thought it was going to be and more. Getting to see the background of Snow and how his villain origin story started was enlightening. Going from a kind soul to a corrupted man made me take a second look at the character. I now finally understand the story of the Hunger Games, and it feels complete. I very much encourage you to go see this film. It is truly amazing.
