Letter to the Editor

Melody Huang is a senior at Stuyvesant.

Dear Editors,

I disagree with the Issue 7 A&E review “Revisiting the Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” by Sofia Sen because the review fails to grasp that the essence of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is not to recreate what made the original Hunger Games trilogy successful—using flashy settings and dramatic combat—but to reveal Snow’s backstory and highlight the growth of the Hunger Games and the state of Panem into what it is in the trilogy.

The prequel successfully shows the audience how lackluster the original Hunger Games was before Snow’s contributions made them more marketable to viewers. The film portrays the 10th annual Hunger Games competitors one-dimensionally—as normal children just scared and trying not to die—mirroring how Panem’s viewers saw them. The fact that the original Hunger Games took place in the same, boring arena also shows the Capital’s lack of dedication to funding the games. This reveals the reason why the early Hunger Games failed: as Snow states in the film, they failed to give the audience a reason to watch the games. Since Snow advocated to connect the audience to the contestants, such as through interviews, betting, and sponsoring, the audience is able to see the contestants’ stories deepen by the time Panem develops into the 74th Hunger Games that Katniss competes in. The original competitors in the Hunger Games were accurately portrayed as scared children, forced to fight to the death—not as the “evil” competitors they were made out to be after decades of Snow raising the competition for his glorious games.

Though the prequel did have an underwhelming arena for the games, the District 12 forest in Part Three of the film was stunning. The hazy lighting filtering through the trees enhanced Snow’s hazy perception of what he and Lucy Gray Baird were doing in the forest at the end of the film. Additionally, just as the District 12 forest in the prequel parallels the setting of the 74th and 75th Hunger Games, the tunneled 10th Hunger Games arena matched the tunnels Katniss and her friends ventured through to assassinate Snow. The tunnels Snow scoped out in the arena for his mentee Lucy to hide in order to secure her victory and his prize money, launching his career, were similar to the tunnels that led to his demise in the trilogy.

The main conflict of the prequel was not the external conflict between Lucy and her competitors in the games, but the internal tension between Snow’s desire for power fighting against the sympathy in his heart. He consistently fought between helping Sejanus end the unjust Hunger Games and kissing up to the Capital to earn the presidency, even though he did know that supporting the Games that forced children to fight to the death was cruel. He also juggled the fine line between throwing his potential away to be with his love Lucy and using Lucy as an example of the potential marketability of the Hunger Games. Snow only connected with Lucy to gain her trust so he could be rewarded for his mentorship, exemplifying his disbelief that Katniss could actually love Peeta in the trilogy. Turning on both Sejanus and Lucy to return to the capital in Part Three of the film successfully completes his character development into the cold-hearted Capital President showcased in the Hunger Games trilogy.

Some viewers may have felt dissatisfied with the The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ending in favor of the anti-hero Snow. Heartfelt close-ups of the main characters he ends up betraying connect our heart strings to them as the film strings us along with the storyline. He selfishly did everything he could to make sure “Snow lands on top.” His destruction of his bonds with Sejanus and Lucy to save himself satisfyingly set up his own destruction by someone he loved. As Snow iconically states in the trilogy, “It’s the things we love most that destroy us.” The strong bond between Snow and his cousin Tigris dissolves into Tigris’s disgust at Snow’s heartlessness over the course of the prequel. Tigris is one of the characters who later helps Katniss overthrow Snow in the conclusion of the trilogy, bringing Snow’s iconic quote full circle. Overall, the prequel effectively builds Snow up to the villain he becomes in the original Hunger Games trilogy.

Sincerely,

Melody Huang