official-which:

xoJane: The Hunger Games: I Want My Bread and Roses Back

emptyroomsoftime:

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Bread and Roses Strike, which occurred in 1912 when textile workers struck for dignity, better working conditions, and fair pay. Led by women, most of whom were immigrants, the strike was violently suppressed. Strikers died in the fight for better conditions, a not uncommon occurrence at the time.

In the books, there was an obvious and clear connection to the Bread and Roses Strike; Katniss and Rue are both women of color forced to labor by the state in unsafe conditions, living in poverty while the capitalist upper classes enjoy every possible amenity. They are forced to perform by the state to the death, and when Rue dies, Katniss attempts to give her dignity and humanity through the floral tribute; in return, Rue’s home district gives Katniss bread.

This is beautiful and I never caught it.

So I’m hesitant to quote any more from this article since two paragraphs are already quoted above, but here is one and a half sentences which I love because they basically sum up every problem I had with the film: “However, it lacked some punch. […] the entanglement of class, race, and power was a critical part of the narrative in the novels and it was largely absent in the film.”

Please go read this because the article did an excellent job of addressing these issues without tearing down the movie as a decent adaptation.