And May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor.

Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games took the literary world by storm in 2008, and then reached the movie-verse in 2012. The novel follows the tragic story of Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl living in a post-apocolyptic country, divided into twelve districts. She is thrown into the barbaric Hunger Games to fight for her life against other youths from the twelve districts. Despite being a teen novel, Collins delves into deep themes such as dystopia, violence in entertainment, and social class division. Both the book and the movie won over the hearts of readers of all ages, and received nothing but universal acclaim for its compelling characters and story elements.

Now, 6 years later, Collins’s beloved story still proves its prominence in the entertainment industry. In Brooks Barnes’s New York Times article, “‘The Hunger Games’ Remains No. 1 in Theatres,” the third installment to The Hunger Games movie series, Mockingjay – Part 1, is revealed to be the top grossing film for the third weekend in a row. The movie has netted $21.6 million this weekend, and a total $257.7 million over three weekends. Mockingjay is followed by Penguins of Madagascar and Horrible Bosses 2.

There is a lot of focus on the movie’s lead actress Jennifer Lawrence, who plays the role of Katniss Everdeen. Lawrence, who exploded onto the movie scene in the first Hunger Games film in 2012, has proven her talent in Oscar-winning films such as Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. But many question how much of it is sheer talent or internet media hype. Critics say Lawrence is great at playing the strong, prominent, dark female roles, but is limited beyond that realm.

This is my answer: it doesn’t truly matter. I have always loved The Hunger Games, and Jennifer Lawrence plays an amazing Katniss Everdeen. I have also seen American Hustle and her depiction of Mystique in the X-Men films, and she plays each of her roles with minimal flaws. And that’s okay. Look at actors and actresses such as Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter, who always play the same type of role in the same type of movies. They are still revered as two  of the most talented and lovable actors and actresses in the industry. I would also like to disagree and point out that Lawrence is actually a very diverse actress, and her roles have ranged from stoic heroine to burnt-out housewife. She has done The Hunger Games excellence, and I’m sure she will continue on to do even greater, more daring things later on with her career.