From Page to Screen

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the famous black and gold cover of “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. Between the movie’s long-awaited release in theaters on March 23 and bookstores desperately trying to keep the trilogy on their shelves, the book’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent months.

The adrenaline-rushing novel takes place in a futuristic nation called Panem, where Katniss Everdeen, the novel’s protagonist, volunteers herself as a tribute for the 74th Annual Hunger Games to take her younger sister’s, Prim’s, position.

In the Hunger Games, there are two tributes selected from each district. Their names are pulled out of a bowl at the reaping. The reaping consists of all the children ages 12 to 18 in the district, and their names are picked at random. Other teens can volunteer as tributes if they wish to do so. The rest of the tributes are randomly selected.

Katniss is the female representing District 12. The male representative from District 12 is Peeta Mellark. Since District 12 is also the poorest district in the nation of Panem, Katniss and Peeta become the underdogs. The Hunger Games is a national competition and its rules are simple: 24 tributes enter the arena and only one of them survives.

Katniss is forced to leave behind one of her closest friends, Gale Hawthorne, as well as her family, which only includes her mother and her sister, Prim.

When Katniss leaves, she is sent into a world that she would never have the chance of knowing — the Capitol of Panem. She is beyond far from her impoverished life in District 12.

She is mentored by Haymitch Abernathy, winner of the 50th Hunger Games, who is from District 12. Haymitch has the responsibility of helping Katniss and Peeta train for the games. Effie Trinket, District 12’s fashion-forward escort, was the announcer at the reaping where Katniss volunteered herself.

One of the only friends that Katniss makes in the Capitol is her stylist, Cinna. Cinna and his prep team transform Katniss from a girl in District 12 to a fierce competitor in the eyes of the Capitol.

“The Hunger Games” is different from its other book-to-film teen novels. Unlike J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series and Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” series, “The Hunger Games” is filled with everyday teenagers in a realistic setting. They possess no magic or supernatural powers. The only thing that causes them to stand out is that they must fight to the death in an arena where they have no idea what could be thrown at them next.

It is always interesting to see how Hollywood molds and shapes novels. From the looks of the theatrical trailer, the filmmakers and actors have all done a lot of work and they seem to be very invested in the series and their characters. Hopefully, the film does more than just scratch the surface of the novel and truly makes moviegoers feel like they are really in the Games with the tributes.