Aside from the neatly packaged three-chapter story structure, the new release ofThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesfeels like a haphazard mishmash of three different storylines. The focal point of the first story is Coriolanus Snow, played elegantly by Tom Blyth, as he plots to dig his family out of poverty through a cash prize from mentoring in the Hunger Games. Set sixty-four years before Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitchchanged the course of Panem,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesoffers a very different version of the Games. As college-aged Snow prepares for the 10th annual Hunger Games, the districts of Panem are still recovering from the effects of the rebellion, felt most vividly through the various illnesses and disabilities in this year’s tributes.
The second storyline follows Snow’s mentee, Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird, in a character arc similar to Katniss Everdeen. This “chosen one” trajectory predictably leads to her winning the contest and foreshadows the events of the original trilogy. Lucy Gray’s warm personality and affectionate singing won over the hearts of the Capitol in the same wayKatniss’ performative solidaritywarmed audiences of the 74th Hunger Games. She represents Snow’s one-way ticket away from the perils of Panem, an escape from the hassle of police training and political bootlicking.
Less obvious is the third storyline, one which predates even Snow himself. Bubbling under the surface of this film is a fraternal misgiving between Coriolanus’ father, Crassus, and his classmate Casca Highbottom, a story of betrayal, resentment, and revenge. It’s a plotline that could have used more emphasis throughout the film and punctuates the ending scene as Snow murders Peter Dinklage’s Highbottom. There’s a lot packed into the new Hunger Games prequel, but most of it can be deciphered through the big reveal at the end.
Morality of War
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
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Inebriated one evening, Highbottom offhandedly suggests the idea of the Hunger Games as a cruel punishment for the rebellions of the twelve districts and an annual reminder of their failure to win the war. A trashy drunk comment to one, however, is a twisted treasure to another, as Crassus takes this idea to the Capitol, where it isimplemented as a yearly tradition. The bloodshed of a cruel war is prolonged through a horrific display of murder and barbarism, a tragic fate Highbottom never wished to bestow upon the hapless districts.
Highbottom’s grueling drug addiction becomes symbolic of his crippling guilt from being responsible for the onset of the Hunger Games. His guilt and resentment, mixed with ill feelings towards Crassus, leads to Highbottom exalting his guilt onto university student Coriolanus. With Crassus murdered and theHunger Games failing in ratings, Panem dwindles back into unsettling territory. Highbottom hopes this can spell the end of the Games for good, but the ending scene guarantees the very opposite.
This film comes at an oddly timely moment in human history as the Israeli occupation in Palestine continues to result in rebellion and punishment. Like Highbottom and Josh Andrés Rivera’s Sejanus Plinth, many around the world condemn the traditions of bloodshed and violence that permeate our own society. The ending scene aims to highlight those who recognize their own complicity in a broken system and who denounce the Capitol’s use of war and violence as a means of cruel punishment.
Tragedy as Entertainment
On the flip side of the closing scene is Coriolanus’ burgeoning attempt at scheming his way to wealth and authority. Murder, deceit, and revenge are not outside Snow’s capabilities, proving he’s willing to go to any lengths to achieve his goals. Chief among them is a revamped super project that would bolster the grim Hunger Games into a must-watch spectacle. Inspired by the performance of Lucy Gray and motivated by his ambitions to climb out of poverty, Snow would go on to establish the Hunger Games as we know it today.
Comparing the 10th and74th Hunger Gamesdraws attention to the ways the Gamemakers utilize tragedy as entertainment. The 10th Games are very simplistic and straightforward, leaving little room for creativity. Technology is not as streamlined, and the perks hardly work as they’re supposed to. It’s what American sports presumably looked like before they got a taste of ESPN’s television money. The 10th Games are brutal and unrelenting with their intentions as imposed punishment. In contrast, the 74th Games depict Snow’s masterpiece at its peak. Snow’s Hunger Games employs the biggest displays of showmanship, staged drama, and glamorous spectacle as a deceptive ploy to increase viewership, positive public opinion, and dictatorial population control.
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After witnessing Lucy Gray’s impact on the Capitol’s citizens, Snow is acutely aware that audiences are just looking for good entertainment, solemnly declaring the “whole world is a show.” Like American news networks,the Hunger Gamesexploits and capitalizes on the tragedies of society and broadcasts them in debate segments and talk shows. By saving the photo from Sejanus’ army kit, Snow commits to a contrived truth, a revised history aimed at supporting his renewed future for the Games. He murders Highbottom to maintain his version of the truth, a falsified narrative that preserves the order of control.
With a plot so dense and information-heavy,The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesdebatedly deserved a multi-part breakdown. Some parts felt rushed, others were weighed down by exposition, and the ending scene certainly yields contemporary relevance. Regardless,Balladall but confirms that the world of Panem will always be worth revisiting.
