The Warsaw High School Times

The book prequel to the bestselling modern classic series “the Hunger Games” had its premiere in May of 2020. The movie adaptation was just released on November 17th.

Panem (a fictional, post-apocalyptic nation in Notth America), resembling the real world in so many aspects, is an amazing perspective on power and what it does to people. None of the tributes (individuals made to compete in the Hunger Games) were bad; all they wanted was just to survive, and that need to stay alive and come back home to their families led them to do terrible things.

The world presented in this universe is divided into the Capitol, home to the privileged, wealthy, and powerful citizens of Panem, and the 13 districts, one of which is completely destroyed, home to the poor citizens who had to work so that the people in the Capitol could have everything they needed. Many districts struggled with extreme poverty and hunger among their inhabitants.

In the Hunger Games trilogy, we were introduced to Katniss Everdeen, who volunteered as a tribute to save her little sister. A tribute is a person between the ages of 12 and 18, randomly chosen during the “reaping” in a district. Each district draws two tributes: one male and one female. After they have been chosen, they are sent to the Capitol where they fight in the Hunger Games until there is only one person left.

Katniss fought the system from inside the Games, and she made hard decisions. People she loved were in danger, but she defeated the government, and even though nothing will ever be the same for her, she’s trying to live a normal life.

The prequel shows the story of the tenth Hunger Games, which occurred 64 years before the main trilogy. The main character, Coriolanus Snow, lives in the Capitol and is chosen as a mentor in the Hunger Games for Lucy Gray Baird, from District 12. He is supposed to get people to watch the Hunger Games, and in order to do that, he should keep his tribute safe, and show her off to the public to gain their attention. Lucy Gray is an amazing young artist who usually performs with The Covey (her performance group). She obviously wants to stay alive, but the odds are not really in her favor because the 12th District is one of the poorest and she doesn’t really have the physique it takes to win.

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is rough; sometimes it is even quite disgusting, but it should be. It shocks the audience, and that is why anyone who has ever seen this movie will certainly remember it. The desperation, the fear, the grief, the sadness – all of the emotions accompanying the tributes make this a truly captivating story.

The soundtrack is heartbreaking, Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, with her amazing voice, did an amazing job of exhibiting all of the character’s emotions. She was fierce, and was not afraid to mess with The Capitol. The song “Can’t catch me now” by Olivia Rodrigo at the end of the movie is an amazing homage to many of its characters.

“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is an amazing story that everyone should get to know, either through the book or the movie version.