Some 'Hunger Games' critics say Jennifer Lawrence was too 'big'

[Baitball Blogger]

74. You asked your wife? So you're getting all bothered about this and didn't read the book?

Yes, Katniss describes herself as thin.

But that's too easy. Let's look at all the other clues. A writer uses more than a physical description to get the point across. In fact, that's the test of a good writer and in the beginning, it's only through clues that you get to know that hunger is a main concern for katniss because the book is written in the first person. So the writer portrays the point that the lack of food is a concern using various methods:

On the first page there is the description of Prim's cat. Katniss says this of the cat:

"He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home...The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed."

In the movie there's an encounter with the cat. Katniss tells the cat, "I can still eat you."

Page 6, "District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety," I murmur."

There's the bread that Gale brings to her on their first meeting in the book. In the movie Katniss shoves her nose in it to smell it. In the book she says this, "It's real bakery bread." Not like what they get with the rationing. So even with the rations she doesn't get enough. And one loaf of bread cost one squirrel. That is going to require a lot of hunting, and they generally hunt on Sundays.

On the next page she describes how her mother fell into a depression after her father died, allowing her children to turn to skin and bones.

This is a prelude for her meeting of Peeta for the first time. Because it was during this window, after her father died and before she turned twelve to earn rations, that she was ready to give up, when suddenly Peeta appeared and threw her the loaf of burnt bread in the rain.

So Katniss didn't get rations until twelve and she was now sixteen. Four years of rations which barely provides sustenance and hunting for game to trade for everything they need, not just food.

Page 10 she says that the first time she and Gale met, "I was a skinny twelve-year-old."

Page 13 she describes how often she had to submit her name in for more tessera because the hunting was not enough.

Page 28. Again starvation is the topic and how easy it is for people in District 12 to die from it.

And, of course, the clincher: Page 44 when she gets her first real meal on the train: She says throughout the meal Effie tells them to save space because there was more coming. "But I'm stuffing myself because I've never had food like this, so good and so much, and because probably the best thing I can do between now and the Games is put on a few pounds."

Then she says how she fights to keep the food down, and describes the food that she ate from the Hob which includes mice meat and tree bark. Not exactly the kind of thing that beefs you up.

Page 51 she describes how she learned to use the forest to supplement their food supply. Her appraisal: "I kept us alive."

She goes on to explain what I already said. The things she hunted were used to barter for all kinds of things. She says what they "didn't absolutely have to eat," was used to barter.

Page 55: More comparisons of the food they're served at the Capitol with what she was use to eating in District 12.

Page 94: The biggest comparison that indicates that Katniss, like many in District 12, don't get enough to eat. The scene is the first time they're in the same room with all the other tributes.

When Atala beings to read down the list of the skill stations, my eyes can't help flitting around to the other tributes. It's the first time we've been assembled. on level ground, in simple clothes. My heart sinks. Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than I am, even though many of the tributes have never been fed properly. You can see it in their bones, their skin, the hollow look in their eyes. I may be smaller naturally, but overall, my family's resourcefulness has given me an edge in that area. I stand straight, and while I'm thin, I'm strong.

So she's small, thin, and strong. Jennifer Lawrence only possesses one of those qualities.

That said, I'm looking forward to the next two movies because Lawrence has some serious acting chops.