A Deep Dive Into Why The Hunger Games Doesn’t Suck 

The title is really misleading, it should’ve been, “Caleb dragging the Divergent franchise for 30 minutes straight”

"Did you put your name in the goblet of fire, Katness?", asked Peeta while choking Katness calmly.

The biggest thing for me was in the books Katniss was so against having kids. She didn't want to bring children into a world where the Games were happening. And then in the epilogue, seeing them have two kids meant she felt safe enough to have them.

the scene with katniss screaming at buttercup that prim isn’t ever coming back still brings me to tears

The whole “that’s why I killed Caito, and he killed Thresh, and Tresh killed Clove. It just goes around, and around, and who wins? Always Snow” scene from Mockingjay Part II gets me every time

"I mean she killed that one girl with the beehive but she had it comin, she was an idiot." Damm lol. I didn't know People hated the Hunger Games. Hunger games holds a special Place in my Heart. One of the first series to get me into reading.

When he showed the ending of Divergent I was so confused because Tris was supposed to be dead but then I remembered they never finished the movies hahahahaha yikes

I feel like the problem with the hunger games franchise is that everyone assumes it's just like all the other dystopian YA of it's era, but they forget that all of that other stuff is inspired by the hunger games. hunger games is the OG

Suzanne Collins: dedicates an entire chapter to leg shaving. Also Suzanne Collins: kills Finnick in half a sentence.

Katniss entering the arena in catching fire is one of the best scenes in movie history. Nothing can change my mind.

the shaky camera could have worked so well if they saved it for the arena and only the arena, so the feeling of panic and stress would be felt in times of actual stress. not when you're walking down a hallway

Imo even after all these years Finnick is still one of my favorite characters ever. It was really groundbreaking at the time for me to read about a male survivor of sexual abuse, even if I didn't really understand what was going on when I first read it. It put into perspective how young these kids were, and how in war, the people in the middle who are just trying to survive get the most hurt. The fact that his "clients" would justify what they were doing to him with lavish gifts and waited until he was 16 to convince themselves that what they were doing was okay was *ughh* disgusting. Plus he's sassy, lovable, and covers up his pain with some amazing dark humour! 😔😫

I like how Katniss acts like an actual person. She always acts like an actual teenager and not some super genius Mary Sue (cough cough Tris). Katniss isn’t stupid, but she’s never so smart that you feel like she knows everything that’s going on.

“Remember who the real enemy is” It’s so powerful. You realize that in the first movie, even though the careers are the antagonists, the capital was, is, and always will be the enemy. It really puts in motion the third movie. It shifts Katniss from protecting those she loves to slowly becoming the mockingjay.

Peeta choking Katniss out of nowhere is the Hunger Game version of '"Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?" he asked calmly.'

Suzanne Collins is a whole icon, she made one of the most iconic books series of all time and then completely dipped! If that isn’t the biggest power move you’ve ever seen then I don’t know what is🤷🏽‍♀️

In the books, we find out the only reason why Peeta went on that mission is because Coin wants him to snap and kill Katniss. The Capital is bound to fall eventually and The Mockingjay dying would only make the rebellion angrier, and since Katniss demanded a lot of things in the beginning there would be no downside for Coin at all.

Catching Fire is literally the best book to movie adaptation ever done. It was like they took what I saw in my brain when I read the books and made it into a movie. Ugh so good 👌🏻😔

Controversial opinion: I know that Haymitch wasn’t supposed to be a major character or anything but I really liked him and I wish we could’ve seen snippets from his past. Like how he came to be a victor and what he was like as a child.

i GASPED at the cut in the "i volunteer" scene. how did I never notice.

can you please at least give rEASONS for your hatred of finnick this feels like a personal attack

The hunger games is one of those series I consider kinda an old friend, I love to go back and read them over and over

not liking finnick seems like a personal attack but i’ll try my best to let it go

it really annoys me when people get upset over prims death because "it was unnecessary" becuase that was the entire point. one of the most prevalent themes in the movie/book was that war doesn't discriminate. the whole point of prim dying was that you can try to protect your loved ones, but in the end, nothing can fully protect them. prim had grown up from who she was in the first book, she started to make her own decisions, many of which very much reflected some that katniss made. however, for her they didn't work out, which again shows us how most of katniss' plot was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as well as just sheer luck.

Hunger Games Ending: Beautiful call back. Emotional. Divergent Ending: POWERPOINT TRANSITION

Hating the Hunger Games more than the Divergent series? W-what crack are those people on...? Edit: Hating Finnick??? What crack are you on, Caleb...?

Catching fire is the best movie and best book. The scenes with peeta and katniss on the train during the victory parade. “Stay with me?” Really shows katniss and peetas relationship- friendship- growing into a genuine one, not just for the cameras. That’s what makes mockingjay so heart wrenching.

I thought we all came to the conclusion that the Hunger Games was good and significantly better than Divergent

It's been awhile since I've read the books, but I thought Peeta was sent to Katniss' squad to sabotage her. Coin never liked her and saw her as a threat. By the time they were in the Capitol, the war was pretty much already won anyway so she was expendable. As for Peeta's "episodes", the book did a better job showcasing his wavering mental state, manic episodes, and gradual recovery. The movie hardly focused on him, so there was little time to show the same level of nuances as the books.

Peeta was sent on the mission to the capitol in Mockingjay part 2 because he was sent by coin. Coin wanted Peeta to kill Katniss but then Katniss killed coin. 😂😂

I think the parts with Peeta in the last two movies, where he goes crazy at random times in the capitol is because he gets triggered by certain things and his brain reacts to that negatively. And the love triangle between Gale and Katniss and Peeta is the best love triangle I've ever seen; it's Katniss choosing between a life of war (Gale) and a life of peace (Peeta)

12:58 'and I bet they played a laugh track in the Capitol' LOL

Your next video needs to be a deep dive into why you think Finnick sucks because he’s a sweet baby angel that deserved the world and if you’re gonna come for his head like that, I’m gonna need some receipts, lmao.

The point of the clock spin was that every section had the exact same tree so you couldn’t tell which one was the lightning tree until it got struck

I loved Peeta so much, he was such a breath of fresh air. A kind gentle baker love interest who isn't manipulative, aggressive or on the verge of stalking?? We love to see it

The Hunger Games is THE dystopian series don't @ me. Seriously though, I remember reading the first one in 2008 and I was obsessed. The political elements were actually so well done, really nuanced (unlike some OTHER teen dystopian series we know of *cough*)

The tribute jacket omg the MEMORIES. I used to braid my hair like Katniss too 💀

the camera guy had extremely low blood-sugar, we've all been there.

I think the real horror of the hunger games is how painfully young all the tributes are. Katniss and Peeta were KIDS and they were forced to fake a romance to survive because no one was stepping in to help them. It's so messed up, and I think that's what makes it so captivating.

me: omg yes hunger games caleb: but i hated finnick's character me: ....... wait what did you say

In Mockingjay part 2 Peeta wasn’t there just to advance the love story! Coin sent him there hoping that he would kill Katniss because she had already completed her purpose and at that point Coin saw her as a threat. Aaaaaaand...the only reason I know that is because I recently re-read the books, I wouldn’t remember otherwise lol

"you know you could have shot him in the foot right? but she went for the heart ... and I felt that" LMAO

I noticed you didn’t mention Gale once during this whole video, and honestly, thank you.

The best characters were: - Cinna - Johanna - *FINNICK* - Haymitch - Effie - Buttercup

I wish they actually cast kids. The books hammer home that they're children who are fighting to survive for the enjoyment of privileged adults.

I’ve watched the hunger games so many times, and it has been a favorite series of mine, yet I’ve NEVER noticed how shaky the shots are and I’m LAUGHING, I got motion sickness suddenly

I didn't notice the shaky shots until you pointed it out but I actually really like that technique. I think it works well.

i love those videos discussing the hunger games and divergent and i would love seeing videos about fandoms that kinda died down or the series went down and i would fucking love for you to make videos about other fandoms like the shadowhunters chronicles or anything idk you could literally post a 60 minute video where you just stare at a wall and i would definitely watch it

that reenactment of katniss entering the quarter quell games was *chef’s kiss*

22:55 actually Peeta was sent (Katniss thoughts) "Coin sent him so he could kill me" because Katniss dying would be more powerful and would advertise rebellion. So ya Coin sent Peeta so Katniss oofs :)

Like... do you script your videos or are you just naturally funny... this is the important questions I contemplate

video on YA characters you hate, starting with finnick.

I have seen all of the movies and plan to read the books. Lemme just praise the movie real quick. Y'know how normally, in really dramatic scenes, movies tend to have very dramatic music? Not HG. They take out the music and replace it with ear ringing sounds, and it makes the scene even more eerie than before.

Finnick and Peeta are the best parts of the whole series you can't even argue with that.

What I've always loved about Katniss being a dystopian teen heroine is that she's a *believable* one. She has the guts to say fuck you to the government and eat the damn berries but she's not capable of singlehandedly bringing the Capitol down. They use her as a puppet to fight back and Suzanne says it pretty clearly. She is the face of the rebellion, not the brain. I believe that. And that's something that a lot of dystopian YA novels get wrong.

I see it as she killed Glimmer on accident and she didn't KILL Cato to protect someone she killed Cato out of Mercy

The books are better than the movies by FAR but as far as book adaptations the movies are pretty decent. However there's a lot of character interaction between Peeta and Katniss that the movie didn't capture quite as well as the books did.

Finnick was my favorite so I’m HURT. I need an explanation. 😅

living as a middle schooler that read a lot of books in the Hunger Games/Divergent/Fault in Our Stars craze was a weird time man

Mockingjay did NOT need to be 2 movies. Breaking Dawn didn’t need 2 parts. The only one that did was Deathly Hallows imo

I was with you until you said you hate finnick 0/10

the hunger games was the first book series i read as a kid that had me legitimately physically shaken upon its conclusion, i just sat there with mockingjay on my livingroom floor reading the epilogue over and over again but not being able to make sense of the intense emotions my lil 12 yr old self was feeling... also uhh divergent is some of the shittiest writing i've ever seen become popular, it is so bland, it literally only succeeded via riding on 1) the dystopia craze 2) the cool premise of society split up by personality i guess 3) hOt HoT hEt RoMaNcE soo tl;dr caleb you're so valid and i'm glad you're out here spitting truth

This video is just an excuse to drag Tris Prior and I'm all in for it

idk I really like the shaky camera, it has a "documentary" feel about it, it's pretty unique.

we just finna pretend that you didn’t just trash “if we burn you burn with us”, the most iconic moment in the franchise. we gonna pretend we didnt hear that

Honestly a perfect video except for the part about hating Finnick

I saw Catching Fire when I lived in Norway on opening night there and let me tell you the audience literally clapped and gave it a standing ovation when the credits rolled. It was wild to see these mild mannered reserved Norwegians CLAP TO A SCREEN

Last time I was this early prim was still alive🤭

Something I really appreciated about the book ending was that Katnis and Peeta were literally never the same again.

I kept reading the series for: 1. FASHION 2. Effie. Just Effie. What a queen. 3. World. Building.

You’re complete disrespect for Finnick really has my blood boiling ngl But good video lmao

i had the shirts, the blanket, the pin, the weird temporary obsession with archery, and i read the first book 27 times! I loved these books, they made me excited about reading and fiction.

Honestly one of my favourite parts about the Hunger Games is like the meta-narrative surrounding it. Like so much of the books is about how The Capitol is completely desensitised to watching all these children murder each other on TV, and a lot of what they care about is the image of Katniss and Peeta being together, as opposed to the actual health of their relationship. And then all the actual irl press and general media reaction to the films is "omg, Peeta or Gale?".

Some of the stuff you didn’t like about in Mockingjay Pt. 2 was explained in the book. Coin sent Peeta HOPING he would kill Katniss.

lets be honest with ourselves the world building is the most impeccable world building ever produced in a dystopian novel its brilliant and its an actual world with laws and explanations and tangible experiences from the world we ourselves live in

I now need a 40 min video on why you hate Finnick thank you

Atlas by Coldplay at the end of catching fire SLAPS

Literally started crying all over again with that 5 seconds of footage of Rue’s death

The Hunger Games - 7/10 Catching Fire - 9/10 Mockingjay pt 1 - 8/10 Mockingjay pt 2 - 8/10

Uhm. ..peeta wasn't sent to the capitol to advance the love story coin sent him there to kill katniss because she saw her as a threat to her plan of wanting power

No one: Literally no one: Not even James Charles: Gabe: YOU'RE WRONG, HE NEEDS SOME MILK!

Catching Fire is THE BEST book to movie adaptation and y’all can fight me if you disagree

god this is just reminding me what a gift the hunger games is.

There are three things that completely redeem the Mockingjay book, making it my second-favourite book in the series (after book 1 of course). The first is the fact that you actually see the ramifications of having been in two Hunger Games in Katniss. So many films and books have their main characters killing people, and losing close friends and/or family members, in their quest for whatever, and they get over it within what seems like minutes. But Katniss is traumatized...she is heavily medicated, in therapy, and finding tiny little alcoves in which she can hide, and sleep the day away. She's depressed, and likely suffering from PTSD. And at the beginning, she believes that Peeta is dead, so she's mourning the boy with the bread as well. I really like how Collins handles this, how it takes Katniss weeks before she starts to function more normally. The second thing I thought was just brilliant was the fact that Katniss got into this whole mess for only one reason - to save her sister's life - but Prim dies anyway. Moreover, Katniss and her merry band of televised assassins make their way through the streets of the Capital, losing nearly everyone along the way as they attempt to get to Snow and kill him...and yet, not only do they NOT get to kill Snow, the war is ended by others, without their contribution. It is rare for an author to create a hero archetype like Katniss, reluctantly pulled into a war only to find that she was born to lead (or whatever), and then show that one person FAILING - all of their actions, all of their successes meaningless (TO THEM, mainly) because they failed in the task they set out to accomplish. And like I said, Katniss failed twice - her sister still dies, and her assassination attempt never even comes close to succeeding. Granted, she plays a role in getting the war to the point where it CAN be won - her propos and role as the figurehead of the revolution is important. [And let's not forget about the fact that the whole reason there IS a revolutionary war is because of Katniss threatening to eat the poison berries, and subsequently blundering her way through her political reality as a Hunger Games victor, fomenting more than one uprising and convincing Coin that the time is ripe for a regime change.] But it takes an army, it takes technology, it takes contingent factors like the Capital's inherent weaknesses (mainly the fact that it relies on the districts for everything) to truly bring about the end of the oppression faced by those in the districts. Anyway, I like the way Collins chose to tell this story because it teaches us that the impact of one person on society can be large, but it is not infinite. And just because you're the hero doesn't mean your story will end the way you want it to. Finally, I like the nuance with which Collins walks us through the days leading up to Snow's execution. Katniss visits Snow, and he tells her that it was Coin, not him, who bombed the children, and killed her sister. She tells him that she doesn't believe him, but there is a little seed of doubt in her perspective on the events of that fateful day at the president's mansion. She tries to talk it over with Haymitch, but he makes a joke that's in poor taste, and she runs away. But when it comes time to vote on Coin's idea to hold one more Hunger Games, Katniss has made her mind up - that seed has grown into a tree (a hanging tree, if you will), and she believes that she knows the truth. She intends to play along with Coin's plans, exhibiting anger at the Capital for her sister's death, and using that to justify a "yes" vote, to the consternation of Peeta, who doesn't understand why...yet. No...it's actually Haymitch who truly "gets" Katniss at this moment - he knows that even with the massive amount of grief she feels at this time, she is not the kind of person to support naked revenge against innocent children, just to get back at their adult relatives (having been in two Hunger Games, and witnessed the devastation of a massive war, she knows that senseless violence only creates more violence). In fact, he likely shares her worldview on this subject - being a mentor for decades has certainly traumatized him, and left him cold on the prospect of more child murder. He knows _exactly_ what Katniss is doing, and plays his part really well. There is no discussion beforehand, no narration explaining what's going on. *You have to PAY ATTENTION.* So Coin believes her plan has worked...she believes that Katniss, who is the symbol of the revolution, is behind her. And yet, mere hours later, it's Katniss who puts an arrow into her (subverting both her expectations, and those of the people who weren't paying attention). This is the ONLY time in the entire series where Katniss kills someone NOT in the service of protecting herself, her friends or her family. As it turns out, she's not against revenge, necessarily...but she knows that taking her pain out on some Capital kids she doesn't know is NOT going to help her heal. And Peeta gets it by the end...it's why he is in a position to stop her from killing herself after she kills Coin. He figured it out, and knew that she didn't intend to live through the day. Anyway, I really like the subtlety with which this ending is executed (pun intended). It is funny how differently the Divergent and Hunger Games series ended. And I think the main difference is that Collins had a plan - she knew where her story was going from the start. Roth didn't. She wrote an extremely tropey YA story with a mildly interesting conceit, and never bothered to think about where she would go from there. So while Mockingjay is a triumphant conclusion to a pretty memorable story, Allegiant is one of the worst conclusions to a YA story EVER written. This should serve as a lesson to future authors - not knowing where your story is going AFTER the conclusion of the first book isn't important if that book is intended to stand along...but if you want sequels, you'd damn well better know what's going to happen, how the characters are going to develop, what events are coming up, etc. Putting the effort in at the beginning will make your sequels SO much better. And actually, putting that effort in could make your FIRST book so much better, too, because you can lay the groundwork for plotlines that will eventually pay off in a later novel. But I'm not going to fault Roth for this lapse too much...you can't really expect a debut author to know these things.

i LIVE for the dragging of divergent 😭 oh how personally offended i would have been back in 2014 bc i loved that series sjsjdjxj

Okay I feel like of all the ya dystopians from the craze, this is the only one that stands the test of time. Like I'm still nostalgic for the experience of reading/watching Divergent and Maze Runnee but also they are super cringey and not well written. Hunger Games is freaking amazing, (although I love Finnick so we do disagree on that point 😂)

I need a video on why you hate Finnick because he is best boi and I AT LEAST NEED AN EXPLANATION

I don't really care much for the hunger games series but watching you rant for 30 minutes with genuine excitement about why you love the series and characters while still criticizing certain elements of the movies is 100/10 somehow makes me love it too

See, I've always loved your humour but one thing nobody ever seems to compliment is the fact that you give really balanced, in-depth reviews. Even if you're biased, you never fail to acknowledge flaws. That makes me really trust you because it shows you're not just some crazed fanboy blinded by their love of their fandom. I LOVE IT

14:50. In the books they actually can't tell which wedge is the 12:00 wedge because every wedge has a tall tree. So I'm wonder why the movie changes that.

catching fire, the book and the movie, are superior works of story-telling and both do such a good job of keeping you interested in katniss' journey and in every other character. they are god-tier.

Although I'm pretty disappointed in the adaptation of the first Hunger Games movie, the one thing I love about it more than the others is the overall vibe. It feels, for lack of a better word, organic? Less polished and more rustic. This could be attributed to the smaller budget tbh, but it does an excellent job at capturing the brutality of the Hunger Games and the destitution of the districts. I particularly love the depiction of District 12 (the gray color schemes, the frail looking children, the muddy streets and fragile houses and buildings), and the bloodbath at the Cornucopia (the battle feels so much less choreographed than fight scenes in the later movies). I feel like it highlights the inhumanity of the Hunger Games, especially since most of the actors playing the tributes are true to the characters' ages. While Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films are by far more detailed and more accurate to the books, they can sometimes come across as too rich or elaborate. I was fairly disappointed in how much bigger and grander (comparatively speaking) District 12 seemed in Catching Fire imo (bigger buildings, seemingly more space), and how much less personal the settings felt in the following 3 films (perhaps from more CGI). The Catching Fire and Mockingjay movies are absolutely excellent and overall much better than The Hunger Games, but the simplicity of the first movie I think was actually one of its strengths that I wish translated just a little more in the following films.

The ending of the last book is identical in picture, but theres an narration as well in the book about how she never really wanted kids, but Peeta did, and that they both still have nightmares and that her children don't realize they're playing on a graveyard. Its super intense and way better then, girl sits holding baby with a half smile with husband plays with child #2

If mockingjay wasn’t split up and they cut a little bit of unnecessary stuff out, and made the movie move faster it would have been perfect

I actually really love Finnick. He's probably my favorite of the Victors besides Katniss and Peeta. I was really sad when he died and I kind of feel like he was super glossed-over in the movie.

so is no one gonna talk about the new panem book by suzanne collins coming out in 2020😶😶😶

I want this played at my funeral, this trilogy practically raised me, I would literally die for Katniss and Peeta

*makes video about his love for the hunger games* literally the first point Caleb makes: yeah the movies suck and the cutting in it is amateur and the shots are shaky but I LOvE thE HunGER GaMEs

20:57 Hunger Games equivalent of "Harry did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire"