'The Hunger Games' of Hollywood?

You’d have to be living under a rock to not at least know of the hugely successful film ‘The Hunger Games’ that came out a couple of weeks ago. Based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, the best seller turned film franchise has a huge, and well deserved, following. 'The Hunger Games' follows the narrative of heroine Katniss Everdeen. Along with twenty-three other young people from twelve different “districts” of the post-apocalyptic country Panem, Katniss has been chosen to fight in a battle to the death in an annual, televised event called The Hunger Games. With such a big following of the book (the first in a trilogy from Collins), the actress chosen to portray this strong and resilient character would have to be put into consideration both for the fan’s expectations and the filmmaker’s vision for who Katniss was. Jennifer Lawrence, an Academy Award nominee and a phenomenal, typically Indie-film actress, ended up winning the role.

However, the thing that bothered me the most was not Lawrence’s performance (she did exceptionally well as Katniss, in my opinion) but the criticism she received while playing Katniss. While every actor receives criticism on their performance, that is to be expected in Hollywood. However, maybe more so to be expected are criticisms on weight and appearance, especially for women in this business. In particular, an article in the New York Times suggested that Lawrence was “too big” for the role of Katniss, while another made references to Lawrence’s “baby fat”. While their argument is Katniss is supposed to be struggling to survive on little to eat, it is still a jab at the actress and could have been put a different way. Jennifer Lawrence is not “big” in any stretch of the imagination: she is at a quite healthy-looking weight (and I have to say it’s refreshing). And while, in the novel, Katniss is described as “stickly thin” and does lose weight while in participating in the games, it is not a huge deal to the overall theme of the story.

Perhaps that is the rub here; it is frustrating in our society to talk about this because it all comes down to the same problem: public perception on image. I understand that some may think that Katniss should be skinnier, but how is that realistic or imperative on film? We see her struggles unfold on screen just as we do in print. While the appearance may be skewed a bit, Katniss fundamentally represents strength; she is extremely tough and spirited and a young woman that represents a true heroine – that is what is important to expose on the screen, not how skinny she is.