Living a life of quiet desperation, spending most of her time keeping starvation at bay from her and her family, she is thrust into the spotlight when attempting to save her sister. Thrust into a game of survival, literally, she unwillingly becomes the symbol of the rebellion against a totalitarian government. Yes, she. Is Katniss the new Buffy? Not that there needs to be a new Buffy; she stands quite well on her own, and Katniss stands as her own character. But considering the incredibly strong box office earnings of the film in its opening weekend, it seems that young people -- the books and film are geared for young adults -- are more than ready for a new hero, and this new hero's gender is, well, irrelevant.
But is she a good role model? Certainly, film characters are frequently put in situations where their ethics and morals are put to question, or they must fight adversity. I'm thinking of films that feature human heroes, such as police officers up against criminal elements; scientists to whom no one will listen when they attempt to prevent disaster; or we could extend this to superhero films, with characters such as Batman, Superman or Spider-Man, who must balance humanity against their own powers. All these characters are meant to represent humanity at large: the struggles we, as humans, must also contend with as we choose between right and wrong, and all grey matters in the middle. They become heroes, and are often held up as role models. But mostly, they are seen as complex characters, an extension of us.
But these are (almost always) men. Women are 'the other'; a film featuring a female will usually be said to represent a woman's perspective, ignoring the fact that women make up slightly more than half of the human race and "women's" issues are human issues. While no one person can be expected to stand in for all of us, it is certainly ridiculous to suggest that only men can be representative.
I'm sure I don't need to point out how horribly
underrepresented women are in film, both on
And so what of Katniss? Her world is very different from Buffy's and Bella's. In this post-nuclear war United States, she lives in a poverty-stricken district, learns to hunt to keep her family from starvation, and must develop a hard shell to keep her emotions and heart in check. Although only 17, she has had to grow up fast. She is intelligent, but keeps most people at bay. When her friend Gale attempts to speak to her of wider political concerns, she (at least at first) mostly ignores him; her lack of interest stems from her concentration on keeping her family alive. She is incredibly media-savvy: over years of observation, she has learned and continues to learn how to perform in the games to keep herself alive. She is brave, but not stupid enough to be fearless. She is selfless, but not kind (except in rare moments with Primrose and Rue.) She is frequently acerbic, has few friends, and doesn't care that she doesn't.
She has what has been stereotyped as 'female' qualities: she nurtures her sister, Primrose, and Rue, a fellow contestant; she cries over the death of Rue; she develops romantic feelings; she does not kill the other contestants without remorse. And she has so-called 'masculine' qualities: she is stubborn; she uses romance as a means to an end; she is frequently emotionally detached; and she is an excellent hunter. Indeed, she takes the place of her deceased father, in becoming the family's main provider, and her lack of sentiment solidifies that role.
I'm guessing (or at least hoping) that you will read the
previous paragraph and think, that
The society Katniss inhabits does not appear sexist or racist; rather, its citizens are judged by their socio-economic status. The games themselves do not give an advantage to brute strength, and there is as much of a chance that a girl can win as a boy. The marketing for the film, for the most part, has concentrated on the action; the romance, which is a subplot, has only been touched upon in the past few weeks.
However, it still seems impossible for Katniss not to be seen as a woman, as least by some. An article on Slate quite rightly bemoans various critics who think that Jennifer Lawrence is not 'skinny' enough to play Katniss, who according to them, is supposed to be half-starved. If they had had at least one eye and ear open during the film (or read the book), they would know that, while Katness certainly isn't well-fed, she hunts precisely to keep away starvation. Since none of these critics seems to have a problem with the very well-built Liam Hemsworth, whose character Gale lives in the same district as Katniss and faces the same problem of lack of food, they seem more more upset that someone who isn't a size 0 has a lead role that isn't comedic. Katniss and Lawrence must still fight to be seen as character/actor, rather than just a body.
So is Katniss a great female role model? More to the point, does she need to be? No one expects every male character on screen to be one, though certainly some are either implied or inferred as such. As are female characters. Any characters outside of the male/white/Christian/heterosexual norm have gone through periods in film where they were designed and expected to be 'role models', examples of whatever that particular subject was supposed to be in society. We need to move beyond this. Katniss is far from perfect, as the subsequent films will reveal. But her imperfection is part of her character development,as it would be with a male hero or role model.
underrepresented women are in film, both on
And so what of Katniss? Her world is very different from Buffy's and Bella's. In this post-nuclear war United States, she lives in a poverty-stricken district, learns to hunt to keep her family from starvation, and must develop a hard shell to keep her emotions and heart in check. Although only 17, she has had to grow up fast. She is intelligent, but keeps most people at bay. When her friend Gale attempts to speak to her of wider political concerns, she (at least at first) mostly ignores him; her lack of interest stems from her concentration on keeping her family alive. She is incredibly media-savvy: over years of observation, she has learned and continues to learn how to perform in the games to keep herself alive. She is brave, but not stupid enough to be fearless. She is selfless, but not kind (except in rare moments with Primrose and Rue.) She is frequently acerbic, has few friends, and doesn't care that she doesn't.
She has what has been stereotyped as 'female' qualities: she nurtures her sister, Primrose, and Rue, a fellow contestant; she cries over the death of Rue; she develops romantic feelings; she does not kill the other contestants without remorse. And she has so-called 'masculine' qualities: she is stubborn; she uses romance as a means to an end; she is frequently emotionally detached; and she is an excellent hunter. Indeed, she takes the place of her deceased father, in becoming the family's main provider, and her lack of sentiment solidifies that role.
I'm guessing (or at least hoping) that you will read the
previous paragraph and think, that
The society Katniss inhabits does not appear sexist or racist; rather, its citizens are judged by their socio-economic status. The games themselves do not give an advantage to brute strength, and there is as much of a chance that a girl can win as a boy. The marketing for the film, for the most part, has concentrated on the action; the romance, which is a subplot, has only been touched upon in the past few weeks.
However, it still seems impossible for Katniss not to be seen as a woman, as least by some. An article on Slate quite rightly bemoans various critics who think that Jennifer Lawrence is not 'skinny' enough to play Katniss, who according to them, is supposed to be half-starved. If they had had at least one eye and ear open during the film (or read the book), they would know that, while Katness certainly isn't well-fed, she hunts precisely to keep away starvation. Since none of these critics seems to have a problem with the very well-built Liam Hemsworth, whose character Gale lives in the same district as Katniss and faces the same problem of lack of food, they seem more more upset that someone who isn't a size 0 has a lead role that isn't comedic. Katniss and Lawrence must still fight to be seen as character/actor, rather than just a body.
So is Katniss a great female role model? More to the point, does she need to be? No one expects every male character on screen to be one, though certainly some are either implied or inferred as such. As are female characters. Any characters outside of the male/white/Christian/heterosexual norm have gone through periods in film where they were designed and expected to be 'role models', examples of whatever that particular subject was supposed to be in society. We need to move beyond this. Katniss is far from perfect, as the subsequent films will reveal. But her imperfection is part of her character development,as it would be with a male hero or role model.
Obviously the role model question is more relevant when the film is geared towards the young, who are more impressionable. This goes double for girls, who have been sorely lacking in images of themselves as anything other than two-dimensional objects for some time. The subsequent books (and their film adaptations) will no doubt add more to this debate. Katniss is far from perfect, and at times she is helpless and lacking in decisiveness. But no more so than any male character would be in her place. What the film presents is a role model; the fact that it is a girl as oppose to a boy is irrelevant. And that's the best kind of role model.