Girl On Fire

This is long, so I’m going to try and keep my intro brief (ha!).

While Taylor hasn’t specifically name dropped The Hunger Games series recently, I think she’s been referencing it a lot, specifically movie number✌🏻.

All four Hunger Games movie feel connected to Taylor, but Catching Fire caught my attention the most as it relates to Performanceartlor and MMT.

Note: For the purposes of this post, I will be discussing the movie series, not the books. Like Taylor said in that Time POTY interview “For me, it is a movie now.”

  • Taylor recorded✌🏻songs for the first Hunger Games movie
  • She released those same✌🏻songs the day the Eras tour kicked off (along with All Of The Girls You've Loved Before and If This Was A Movie)
  • Eyes Open was one of three song titles written on the piano Taylor used during her AMA Artist of the Decade Lover performance (The other songs on the piano are Delicate and Ours)
  • To get muse-y for just a second, it is well documented that Taylor and Dianna went out on a date as friends (just two friends, two good friends, two bessssst friends) to see the first Hunger Games movie together
  • I’ve said this before, but I don’t think it can be said enough: the lyrics for Eyes Open feel like if Dear Reader and Mastermind had a baby

Three points that stuck with me after I rewatched the first movie:

  • The way that Katniss/Peeta get the help they need in the arena is with a fake kiss/upping their fake relationship
  • The public comes to their side because they have a relationship to cheer for
  • Peeta is shown to be very strong, but Katniss is the one in charge

I’ve laid this post out differently than I normally do. Instead of going through things chronologically, I’ve broken my notes down into different topics.

Katniss/Taylor

  • Revealed as Cinna’s (Lenny Kravitz) muse
  • When Katniss is on the “Katniss/Peeta is 5eva” love tour, the district crowds are upset that she’s spewing the capital BS and beg her to speak her mind (could that be any more Taylor coded?!?!?!) - the district residents feel like Katniss is betraying them
  • Katniss’s actions spark the revolution (that people have wanted for a very long time) but in this movie it’s really only towards the end that Katniss herself is outwardly participating in defying the Capital. A lot of her moves are made in protection of her family - especially her younger sister Prim. This feels connected to the criticism that Taylor gets for not speaking up/out more.
  • At one district stop Katniss sees a young girl who says to her, “one day, I’m going to volunteer just like you did” Katniss is horrified that anyone would follow in her footsteps (again this feels so Taylor coded through the lens of the singers that idolized Taylor and are now in the industry themselves).
  • The crowd at one point cries out for Katniss to lead the revolution when Katniss is still very much dealing with post games PTSD (this made me think of “and the crowd was chanting more”)
  • The side braid that Katniss wears appears to be a symbol of resistance in schools according to Snow’s granddaughter

Braids in general are a big part of the way Katniss's hair is styled in all the Hunger Games movies

  • Katniss is constantly being shown to want to escape into the woods (folklore coded?)
  • Katniss is too afraid to love during the battle
  • Katniss’s eye make up at one point very much reminds me of Taylor

Draw the cat eye, sharp enough to kill a man

  • The reaping is where we see Katniss’s first outward defiance of the capital
  • When Katniss is showcasing her skills she makes an effigy of Seneca Crane (his name is written in red letters) and then she does a Truman like bow before walking away

Good morning, and in case I don't see ya: Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!

  • Katniss seems to sort of clue in at one point that there is something going on behind the scenes with Haymitch
  • When the ship rescues Katniss at the end she is carried up on the plane in a Christ like pose - that reminds me of Taylor’s pose in the LWYMMD music video
  • District 12 (aka Katniss’s home) is destroyed by President Snow (I can go anywhere I want, anywhere I want just not home?)
  • The last shot of the movie breaks the 4th wall - Katniss reminds me Reputation Taylor here

All that's missing is Katniss winking at the camera

Side note: As I was writing this up, I realized that the ship name for Katniss and Peeta could be Pee-niss 😂 and because I have the maturity of a teenager, I had to use it at least once. You're welcome 😂

Pee-niss/TnT

  • In preparation for the upcoming Katniss/Peeta reunion “We must feed the monster”
  • When Katniss/Peeta are reunited for the public to see, there are cameras shoved right in their faces. It’s actually quite a dystopian picture as they are unmanned cameras
  • They reunite and Katniss puts on an over the top show which culminates in a kiss for the public/Snow
  • During an interview with Caesar Flickerman, Katniss is performing for him (Ides of march reference?)
  • Katniss/Peeta are mouth pieces for the capital - they both give speeches on how generous the capital is and lie as well “Everything is great here in district 12”
  • They are performing with fake smiles, laughing, and affection

Can you feel, the love tonight?

  • Katniss’s favourite colour is green (the Time Stone in the MCU) and Peeta’s is orange (the Soul Stone in the MCU).
  • Peeta’s description of orange to Katniss “more like a sunset kind of orange”
  • They have to go on a “Katniss/Peeta is 5eva” tour to show the rest of the districts how in love they are
  • Katniss suggests getting married as part of the ruse to appease Snow and to protect Katniss/Peeta now that they’re representing the Capital
  • Caesar reporting on Katniss/Peeta “they’ve given us a new twist in their love affair”
  • A fake proposal happens on Caesar’s show and he says “A fairy tale ending for two star crossed lovers”
  • Effie says “Eyes bright. Chins up. Smiles on” before they enter a party for the capital elites (feels ICDIWABH coded)

Katniss does everything with a broken heart 💔

President Snow

  • At one point he calls Katniss out on her fake relationship with Peeta. He sees right through her (Archer reference?)

TnT watching Catching Fire: Wait, is this fucking play about us?

  • Snow is focused on preventing an uprising, which could then lead to a revolution. (Change reference?)

It was the night things changed

Can you see it now?

These walls that they put up to hold us back fell down

It's a revolution, throw your hands up '

Cause we never gave in

And we'll sing hallelujah, we sang hallelujah

Hallelujah

  • Snow wants to control/use Katniss to to keep the status quo
  • Katniss is threatened that unless she can convince Snow (and in some part the Capital) she’s really in love with Peeta, there will be violence
  • Snow makes a toast to Katniss/Peeta with what appears to be white wine(??!?!) and lets Katniss know she failed at convincing him that her love for Peeta is real with a shake of the head
  • His granddaughter loves Katniss and Peeta together - she’s in love with their love story

The Capital = the industry (music/Hollywood/etc)/MMT implications

  • Haymitch about being a tribute “The trip never ends, you don’t get off the train, you are mentors now” aka you belong to the capital and are now part of the games/the machine that keeps things running. It can also be a take on being a celebrity/part of the entertainment industry
  • Haymitch again “Every year your private life becomes theirs - from now on, your job is to be a distraction so people forget what the the real problems are”
  • Haymitch says that the way to win the Games is with allies
  • Effie wants all of them to wear GOLD to to show they are a team 👀
  • It’s pointed out that the other tributes have been in the game longer (could be a stand in for older closeted celebrities in the industry)
  • Finnick talks about being able to make out like bandit in the capital because his company as a games “Victor” is a commodity - it doesn't matter if the encounter is sexual (this could be commentary on using one’s body to attain/keep fame through the industry/machine)
  • All the tributes are united. They hold hands and raise them in defiance - the crowd starts booing and there are calls to cancel the games. Then everything goes black
  • Effie gives the boys their GOLD trinkets. Peeta gets a medallion, Haymitch a bracelet and Katniss already has her Mockingjay pin
  • Haymitch to Katniss “Katniss, when you’re in the arena, remember who the real enemy is”
  • Haymitch gives his gold bracelet to Finnick so Katniss knows to trust Finnick’s in the arena, and to indicate they are on the same team.
  • Finnick to Katniss “Katniss, Remember who the real enemy is”
  • After she’s rescued from the arena, Katniss tries to figure out what is going on. She opens a door to see Haymitch, Finnick, and the Gamemaker in a room together
  • They tell Katniss “This is the revolution, you’re the Mockingjay, and we are on our way to District 13”

The Gamemaker

  • His first meeting with Katniss feels Mastermind coded
  • He tells Katniss that he volunteered to take over for Seneca despite the lack of job security because he wants “the chance to make the games mean something”
  • Katniss does not get what he’s actually saying
  • When he talks to President Snow on how to take down Katniss “It’s moves and countermoves. And it’s all we gotta look at” (like i said, Mastermind coded lol)

Oh, Snow, you have no idea what's coming

  • The Gamemaker keeps pushing back at Snow’s desire to eliminate Katniss - he’s playing chess with Snow and even though Snow is suspicious, he doesn’t understand yet that he’s being lied to
  • The Gamemaker about adding a twist to the 75th Hunger Games “It’s what we Gamemakers like to call ‘a wrinkle’”
  • Snow says to the Gamemaker as they watch the games “Moves and countermoves” The Gamemaker replies “Indeed” then he tells Snow to get comfortable and watch the show (checkmate?)
  • The Gamemaker was never on Snow’s side

The Hunger Games

  • What happened in the arena for the 74th games was a game - not war, which is what Katniss gets threatened with in this movie
  • Caesar “The 74th annual Hunger Games brought us the greatest Love Story of all time” 👀
  • The capital colours are red and yellow (Chiefs colours?!?! 😂)
  • The pageantry of the spectacle ignores the horror of the games (this could be stand in for the glimmer of Hollywood hiding the rot from within/the industry distracts from the horror of the world)
  • the Victors are mad they have to compete again and are trying to stop the games - Haymitch suggests that Katniss does the same. Peeta tells the crowd that him and Katniss got secretly married and that Katniss is pregnant
  • Lightening strikes are seen in the distance during the games
  • When a storm starts it looks like a spiral in the cloud
  • Katniss shoots an arrow in the sky (the archer again) - shit goes sideways and all the camera feeds are cut off (reminds me of the Truman Show’s feeds getting cut when they can’t find Truman)
  • The arena (aka set) starts to break apart around Katniss revealing that they aren’t in the forest at all - it’s all an illusion (Also Truman Show-esque)

'Cause it seems to me, this thing is breaking down

Midnight

  • When the games start, we hear 12 chimes. Finnick says “Midnight?” Katniss says no, it’s the number of districts
  • Katniss doesn’t want to stay with her “allies” so Peeta says “We should stick with these guys until midnight”
  • Before they leave for battle Katniss says to Peeta “I will see you at midnight”

It’s a Clock

  • Wiress keeps saying “tick tock tick tock” then there’s a lightening strike again and she is still repeating “tick tock”
  • Katniss has a realization “IT’S A CLOCK”. It being the arena (Taylor’s IG caption is the same when she revealed the Midnights variants made a clock)

Maybe everything is also about Midnights

  • It all starts with lightening “it strikes at noon and at midnight"

Miscellaneous

  • When Gale kisses Katniss at the beginning of the movie, he says “I had to do that at least once” (I don’t want you like a best friend? lol)
  • Resistance slogans are written in red letters (reminds me of the 22 Eras shirts)
  • The opulence and waste of the capital is staggering. They puke when they get full so they can continue gorging themselves - people are starving in the districts. Peeta is disgusted by the waste
  • For the reaping, Effie is covered in orange butterflies
  • Peeta gets electrocuted (Electric Touch? lol) and almost dies - Finnick revives him with CPR
  • This suit of Katniss reminds me of OG stinky 😂

Don't blame Katniss for what you made her do

  • And finally, this scene which feels like something a Gaylor made up

YAIL reference that goes right into a 321 countdown? 🙃🤡🤭