Still Hungry

Warning: the newly released and incredibly successful film The Hunger Games was not directed by a fat kid.

Before I continue my rant, allow me to first applaud the creators of the film for mostly remaining true to the book. The important plot points remained in tact and the characters retained the personalties set forth for them in the literary form. Also, the casting is to be commended.

Now, back to my original point. Obviously, the most notable event of the book is the battle to the death between 24 kids. However, a very prominent and equally engaging part of the story, which author Suzanne Collins took pains to emphasize, was the food.

Collins repeatedly noted the lack of food in the Seam, where Katniss was from, and the emaciated people that wandered the streets because of that void. She detailed the grey, rough grain that was handed out from the Capital as almost inedible. Collins descriptions of the rare times Katniss and her family could eat meat caught from the forest or cheese from Prim's goat made snacking while reading almost mandatory.

By the time the main characters arrived at the Capital, it was difficult to not have an empathetic hunger. The descriptions of the decadent food and the voracity in which Katniss consumed said food evoked a satisfaction that only a warm meal in an empty belly can. However, in the film, food was just a small side note, a blip on the screen. When they did show the food from the capital, it was so odd in appearance that its consumption was far from my mind. It was there for ascetic purposes, and not to induce the want and need so clearly articulated in the book.

To dismiss food to the margins in any film is hard to take, but in this case, it's almost impossible to stomach.