“You’re like a bird.”

“A mockingjay, I think,” I say, giving my wings a small flap. “It’s the bird on the pin I wear as a token.”

I can’t be the only one that thinks Katniss sounds way too young here.  I mean, she’s up on stage flapping like a bird.  How am I even supposed to take this seriously?

A shadow of recognition flickers across Caesar’s face, and I can tell he knows that the mockingjay isn’t just my token. That it’s come to symbolize so much more. That what will be seen as a flashy costume change in the Capitol is resonating in an entirely different way throughout the districts. But he makes the best of it.

And again I ask: who cares? 

Look, it doesn’t matter if the mockingjay is a symbol in the districts if it’s also one in the Capitol.  Because it’s kind of a big thing in the Capitol right now and the Capitol is all that should matter to you.  You’re not supposed to know what it means in the districts, so ignoring its use as a flashy symbol of entertainment would actually be really suspicious.  If Katniss and Cinna didn’t know about the mockingjay being a rebellion thing, they’d be doing exactly this same thing right here.

And suddenly I am so afraid for him. What has he done? Something terribly dangerous. An act of rebellion in itself. And he’s done it for me.

I get that this is probably the best Cinna could do, given that he’s just a stylist and doesn’t really have a lot of scope beyond making Katniss’s clothes.  And I get that he could easily be killed just for thumbing his nose at the government.  They are evil despots, after all.

But it’s not really that impressive.  It’s just clothes.  You can cry, cry, cry about how symbolic it is, but in the end, it’s just a flashy costume change that doesn’t actually help anyone.  Especially when (I can’t stress this enough) THEY WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING IF THEY HADN’T KNOWN IT WAS A REBELLION SYMBOL.

IT’S THE HIGHT OF CAPITOL FASHION RIGHT NOW.

HE’S A FASHION DESIGNER.

IT KIND OF GOES TOGETHER.

Their easy give-and-take, comic timing, and ability to segue into heart-wrenching moments, like Peeta’s confession of love for me

If by segue you mean “sudden and out of left field.”

They effortlessly open with a few jokes about fires and feathers and overcooking poultry.

So (most) all the other tributes are working together, setting the stage of public unrest, calling for change, questioning the morality and legality of what the Capitol is doing…and Peeta comes out and makes jokes. 

Because he’s just such a good person.

Enormous applause. As if encouraged, I look up from my feathers and let the audience see my tragic smile of thanks.

Yes, thank you for letting me live for a few months with my “husband” before brutally killing us both.  Thank you just so fucking much.

Because that’s not creepy pandering or anything.

There. He’s done it again. Dropped a bomb that wipes out the efforts of every tribute who came before him.

You know, last year, that made sense.  It was very much a competition and all that, no one was even trying for anything different…but here, everyone is very clearly working together.  And Peeta comes along and says “fuck all of y’all.”  Because he’s a selfish dick.

No, really.  I don’t care that he’s trying to help out Katniss instead of himself.  They’re trying to effect greater change for the benefit of all; he’s trying to steamroll over all of them for the sake of one person because that’s what he wants to happen and he’s got no regard for other people.  That is the very definition of selfish.

But apparently Katniss could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.

Because I hate this book.

Not knowing how much I rely on Cinna’s talents, whereas Peeta needs nothing more than his wits.

Because this book is feminist and don’t you forget it.

Even the most Capitol-loving, Games-hungry, bloodthirsty person out there can’t ignore, at least for a moment, how horrific the whole thing is.

I am pregnant.

Another thing that could be interesting if played with.  These people are positively giddy at seeing small children get killed, but an unborn fetus?  Oh, that’s just too much.

There’s a lot of weirdness in our culture when it comes to sex vs violence.  We had a bit of it in the last book, too, where there was plenty of blood and gore, but Katniss couldn’t take her bra off to take a bath.  And that’s stuff that’s worth commenting on, but this book doesn’t.  Instead, this book is perfectly happy to play along.  Katniss does this section straight, as if of course they’re more upset about her being pregnant than about Cecilia already having three living kids.  Of course it makes perfect sense that it would horrify them, because of course killing a pregnant woman is so much worse than killing a 12 year-old.

Yeesh, I never thought I’d say this but…stop reading and go watch some South Park.  At least when they featured this issue, they realized it was fucked up.

Or maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe the reason everyone’s upset about pregnant Katniss but not mother Celia is because Katniss is the center of the whole fucking universe and Celia is just set dressing.

By the time the anthem plays its final strains, all twenty-four of us stand in one unbroken line in what must be the first public show of unity among the districts since the Dark Days.

You know, this makes a bit of sense.  If anyone from the districts would be able to organize across fence lines, it would be the victors.  They’re the only ones able to talk to each other and carry information from district to district.  It could be that they’ve been wanting to do something like this for years, but they were off the spotlight and had to work through scared kids, all of whom couldn’t help because…you know, scared kids.  So here they finally have a chance to say their bit and make their stand and…

…and of course it all gets dropped right away.  Which in turn makes me ask, what the fuck was this?  Why did they organize for the interview, but not for any other part of the ordeal?  I mean, a handful of them did, but it was basically just Johanna, Beetee, and Finnick.  A lot more people than that were organized here, so why weren’t they in on the rest of it?  How far did this organization go?  And why didn’t they bring Katniss and Peeta in on the deal?  Or if not Katniss, then at least Peeta.  How far did all this go, and what was the point of it?  What was the goal?  Were they just going “hey, this sucks, let’s make ‘em sob before we go”?

We’ll never know, and there’s no point in trying to figure it out.  We can’t even wait for Narrator Katniss to let us know, because she has no fucks to give about these questions.

The moment we step off the elevator, Peeta grips my shoulders. “There isn’t much time, so tell me. Is there anything I have to apologize for?”

Apparently Peeta operates by the ‘better to beg forgiveness than ask permission’ mantra.

“Nothing,” I say. It was a big leap to take without my okay, but I’m just as glad I didn’t know, didn’t have time to second-guess him, to let any guilt over Gale detract from how I really feel about what Peeta did. Which is empowered.

But that’s okay, because Katniss is just a silly, indecisive female who can’t handle knowing things ahead of time, and that’s why it’s okay to make decisions for her.  Lying to her and taking the power and autonomy away from her makes her FEEL EMPOWERED.

EMPOWERED.

That’s right, guys, lie to your ladies!  It’s for their own good, and they’ll thank you later.

Because this book is feminist, and don’t you forget it.

But even if all of us meet terrible ends, something happened on that stage tonight that can’t be undone. We victors staged our own uprising, and maybe, just maybe, the Capitol won’t be able to contain this one.

You know, I think I’ve figured out why this whole thing bothers me so much.

It’s just so damn self-congratulatory.

Just look at how much she carries on and on about how awesome and rebellious it is that they all stood there and held hands.  But what really comes out of that?  Nothing.  It was a nice, strong image, but in the end, that’s all it was.  An image.  A moment in time without context or weight or consequence.  A pretty picture that gets dropped once the moment is over.  And the author doesn’t even realize how useless all this is, because she’s too busy being caught up in how pretty the picture is.

Even the idea of opposing the Capitol’s agenda is a source of confusion for the people here,” says Haymitch.

So…are these people repressed?  Brainwashed?  We had Effie apologizing to thin air, so clearly at least someone is aware that opposing them is a bad thing. 

And what is even the point of all this?  Who are the Capitol people?

See, the repression of the districts sort of makes sense.  Keep them in poverty, means you get less overhead costs and all your goods are cheaper.  If there’s any kind of resource problem, then instead of spreading what’s available around and making everyone just-above-poverty, they’re hoarding it so that a select few live the good life at the expense of everyone else.  Okay.  That makes sense.  It’s evil, but it makes sense. 

But who are the Capitol citizens?  There’s an implication that they do nothing, but then again, they must do something because we see shops in the later books and someone has to be putting on all these TV shows and technologically advanced games and parties and doing make-up, etc, etc.  So…what, are they like a District in and of themselves, around to provide services and entertainment?  District 12 produces coal, District Capitol produces white collar workers?

But in that case, if it’s really just the government people who are in charge and benefiting, then why not keep the average citizens as oppressed as the Districts?  Why put forth all the effort to keep them stupid instead of just crushing them?  Why are they being babied?  One would think the only reason to do that is if they have some sort of power/ability to do them harm, but that never comes about, so who the fuck are these people? 

I’m so confused, and I’m not going to get an answer, because I really don’t think the book even knows that there’s a problem here.

“Katniss, when you’re in the arena,” he begins. Then he pauses. He’s scowling in a way that makes me sure I’ve already disappointed him.

“What?” I ask defensively.

“You just remember who the enemy is,” Haymitch tells me. “That’s all. Now go on. Get out of here.”

This is the book of not telling people things.

Because reasons.

Suddenly the door behind him bursts open and three Peacekeepers spring into the room. Two pin Cinna’s arms behind him and cuff him while the third hits him in the temple with such force he’s knocked to his knees. But they keep hitting him with metal-studded gloves, opening gashes on his face and body.

Finally, the despotic government has done something despotic.  After a whole book of saying that they can’t punish anyone, for no good reason, or saying that they have to hide their punishments as ‘mysterious explosions,’ it’s like they finally realized “oh yeah, we’re in charge of shit, we can just bust in and beat the dudes we don’t like.”

About time you got on the ball, Snow.

Something seems to be wrong with my vision. The ground is too bright and shiny and keeps undulating.

First she can’t tell that she’s on fire, now she can’t figure out what water is.  “Oh, weird, it must be something wrong with my vision!”

Everyone picks on Bella for not realizing that she went inside a house, but this gets a free pass?