Books vs. Movies
In this podcast we set out to answer the age old question: is the book really always better than the movie?
Books vs. Movies
Ep. 19 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins vs. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023)
Curious about what the "Hunger Games" prequel has to offer? Learn how the film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" stacks up against the book, as we explore Coriolanus Snow's early years and his complex role as a mentor in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Discover how Francis Lawrence's direction manages to stay true to the book's intricate details, avoiding the pitfalls of splitting the narrative into multiple parts, unlike "Mockingjay." I'll share how the previous films influenced the making of this one and why sticking to a single-part format benefits the story.
We'll also dig into the key differences between the book and the movie, examining pivotal plot variations and character dynamics. From Coriolanus's strategic advice to Lucy Gray and the inclusion of the character Wovey to the dramatic snake scene, we'll decode how these changes impact the story. Plus, I'll recount my initial skepticism toward the prequel and how the film's performances won me over. Special shout-outs go to Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe for their compelling portrayals, as well as Viola Davis's captivating role as Dr. Gaul. Don't miss out on these insights and more!
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Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Yuvia, an actress and book lover based out of New York City, and today we will be talking about the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins and its 2023 adaptation the Hunger Games the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Hi everyone, it has been a while since I've recorded an episode and obviously you don't know that just based on when I'm releasing them, but I like sharing these like little tidbits with everyone you know. Get to know me a little bit more. Anyway, yes, as I said, today we will be talking about the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.
Speaker 1:This is technically a prequel to the Hunger Games series, which were released back in the 2010s, and I mean the chokehold that the Hunger Games had on teenagers during the 2010s. I mean it just made this whole dystopian, future fiction, teen fiction trend just like blow up, and that's what was popular at the time. So, yeah, I really really loved the series, the original series, and I was a little hesitant to get or to read this one. I kind of I was just like, well, I don't think we need it and all this stuff. So anyway, we're gonna, we're gonna get into it today. So the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was first published in 2020. This was a pandemic read for a lot of people, and this takes it back to the 10th annual Hunger Games. So the Hunger Games, at this point, are still a relatively new creation for Panem and all its citizens, and we are actually following Coriolanus Snow in this prequel. So, for those of you that need a reminder, coriolanus Snow is President Snow in the original Hunger Games trilogy.
Speaker 1:So at this point, coriolanus is only 18 years old. He and his family used to be one of the wealthiest families in the capital, to be one of the wealthiest families in the capital, and ever since the war that broke out between the capital and the districts. Originally, he and his parents were well. His mother died when she was giving birth to him, but his dad was this really famous war hero that passed away during that war, and they were victims of the war in that they lost all their money. So, all things considered, considering what ended up happening to the districts, losing all your money is obviously not that bad, but if you live in the capital, yes, being poor is something you want to avoid amongst the capital and all its glitz and glamour and everything.
Speaker 1:Coriolanus is getting ready to graduate and he desperately needs the scholarship that is being awarded to the highest ranking student so he can go to the university without any issues. Otherwise, there's no way he can afford to go. Unfortunately, this year's final project means that the top students of the graduating class have to be a mentor to the kids chosen to compete in the Hunger Games. This mentoring system is a brand new thing being introduced to the games. People are not interested in watching the games and they have to find a way to keep these games. The game makers have to find a way to keep these games going and keep the citizens interested, so they enlist the help of the top 24 students to become mentors in the games. And Coriolanus drew the short end of the stick by being paired with the female tribute from district 12. That is the absolute worst person he could be paired with. The odds of her winning are low. The odds are not in their favor at all, but Coriolanus, little by little, finds ways to make his tribute work in his favor, and as he grows closer to her he starts developing feelings for her, and he kind of has to decide whether he wants to be with her or if he wants to follow his ambitions of eventually bringing power back to his family.
Speaker 1:The 2023 adaptation the Hunger Games the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes that's the official title follows Coriolanus Snow as he mentors and develops feelings for the female District 12 tribute during the 10th annual Hunger Games. So, yeah, this is a pretty faithful adaptation. This is, I believe, the longest Hunger Games book and the longest Hunger Games film, and the reason for that is because the director, francis Lawrence I don't remember how many of the original Hunger Games trilogy he directed, but he for sure directed Mockingjay and Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2. And he was like we listened to the audience. We know that they hated that we split Mockingjay into two parts, and so we wanted to make this. We wanted to fit as much detail from the book as possible into the film, which means it's just long, and I'm glad they did that because, yes, splitting mockingjay into two parts was so like.
Speaker 1:I'm aware that it was a full-on cash grab, but even like hardcore hunger games fans like myself were like just because harry potter did it doesn't mean you need to do it Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did need to be split into two parts. Was it a money grab? Yes, of course it was, but that one. Based on the length and the content, I feel like it justified having it split into two parts. Everything that came after that did not need to be split into two parts and little by little the part twos started doing worse and worse in the box office until eventually we didn't even get an Allegiant part two, which was part of the Divergent series. So thank you, frances Lawrence, for not splitting this film into two parts.
Speaker 1:Completely unnecessary to have done that with Mockingjay and honestly I don't like Mockingjay part one. I think it's so boring. When I rewatch the series I skip it and go straight to part two. I yeah unnecessary and actually kind of boring, but anyway. So that is why I mean Suzanne Collins just naturally wrote this book very, very long. But the film is actually a pretty faithful adaptation, with some differences, as always, and we will get into those now. So I will say that the overall, biggest difference is that we get a lot more arena action in the film than we actually do in the book, and we're going to go into why that is, or at least why I think that is.
Speaker 1:But before we get there, one of the first off, one of the biggest changes is that. So Clemencia Dovecoat and Coralina Snow are paired up to work on this project, in which they kind of have to talk about changes that can be made to make the Hunger Games more engaging for the viewers, so that they actually want to watch the Hunger Games first of all and that they want to watch it year after year. So the 10th annual Hunger Games is actually as the Hunger Games have gone on, the viewership of the games has dropped and the capital really wants to stick it to the districts and make sure that these games keep on going. But they're obviously like all things there's no way to keep it going if there's no one interested in watching it. So Clemencia and Coriolanus are kind of tasked with coming up with ideas, possible ideas as to how they can keep that viewership going.
Speaker 1:In the film, well, in both Coriolanus does all the work, but in the film Clemencia is like oh my gosh, like I'm so sorry, I completely forgot and I didn't work on this with you. What do we need? What are we presenting? And he tells her everything that needs to be. He tells her everything that's in the paper and their plan is that they take turns presenting it. But you know she needs to be aware of what is being discussed. But when they show up, clemencia actually starts taking all the credit. She's just like oh yeah, like, this is what I came up with. And blah, blah, blah. And Dr Gall, who is the head game maker, is like oh well, thank you for that insight. Clemencia, I am going to prove, if you are telling the truth, that you really did come up with this. Here's what you need to do.
Speaker 1:And she drops the paper into this big vat of mutts. That again, mutts are mutations and these are all just snakes. But they've been mutated to the point where they can smell. Like, if you don't want them to attack you, you incorporate your smell somehow in there and they know not to attack you. So she drops the paper in there and obviously it only smells like Coriolanus, because Coriolanus is the one that did all the work. She drops it in there and she's like if you're telling the truth, the snakes won't attack you. So Clemencia obviously is not gonna like back off. So she reaches in there and she gets attacked. And that is the last we see of her it's we don't really know what happens to her in the film.
Speaker 1:We do find out what happens to her in the book, and I will get into that. But yes, clemencia takes all the credit and in and she's proven to be a liar and she's punished for that. In the. In the book Clemencia doesn't take all the credit for the assignment. They actually do go in and present it as a co-project and Dr Gall's like okay, great, so if you both really did work on this same thing, the snakes won't bite you. And so Clemencia does still end up getting bitten by a snake and in the film she doesn't return. That's as I said, that's the last we see of Clemencia. But in the book she does eventually return and she's completely traumatized by what happened. You know she's been poisoned and in the hospital for like weeks and but she does eventually return and she has I mean, at this point she has assigned tribute, but her tribute is like long dead and yes, so that's, I think, like the main, the biggest change that happens before we get into the games.
Speaker 1:Most of the changes do happen while we are in the arena and, like I said, the main reason for that is because we're. We get a lot, a lot more arena action in the book I mean in the film than we do in the book, and the main reason for that, I think, is just the arena is exciting and for casual Hunger Games fans, they are here for the arena, they're not here for the backstory, they are there to see the Hunger Games. So for entertainment purposes it makes sense to keep a lot of the action in the arena, which is what we're used to. But yeah, so the book is different from the original trilogy in that it is told from the third person point of view as opposed to the first person point of view. So the first three books were obviously written from Katniss's perspective. So the little sprinklings that were added in the film were just to kind of explain what Katniss thinks is probably happening, and it kind of just reaffirms as well what the audience already knows. But the book is actually written from the third person point of view, but it does focus exclusively on Coriolanus. So we don't get a lot of arena action other than what he sees on the screens as a mentor. So there are again.
Speaker 1:I don't remember the names of all the tributes because first of all in the film they just there's, like, since the focus is Coriolanus and Lucy, who's the other main character, we'll get to talk into her in a little bit, like in the film and the book, like we have all these names thrown at us and then, spoiler alert more than half of them die before the games even get started and then so we don't need to know their names and then the ones that do make it into the arena I mean, coriolanus just cares about Lucy, so he doesn't. We don't really focus on any of the other tributes, so I'm going to refer to them more so by their fates in the arena. Again, we're in the arena. There's going to be a lot of spoilers, so if you don't want to know what happens in the arena, now's your time to turn back, but anyway. So, yes, I'm not going to refer to them by names, mainly because I don't remember their names, just letting you know.
Speaker 1:So there is one girl who is sick from the moment she arrives, and in the book that is how she meets her fate. She, she's coughing and coughing and coughing and then she just dies. Whatever she, whatever she had, whether it be a flu or I don't know, I'm I'm just gonna say she died of the flu. I don't. I honestly don't know if that's what she died of, but she was sick and she was coughing a lot and there was no blood when she coughed. So it's not like tuberculosis. So I'm gonna say like she died of the flu untreated flu. That's how she dies in the book. In the film she is the victim of poison.
Speaker 1:Lucy Gray is the District 12 tribute that's paired with Coriolanus and before she goes into the arena he gives her some poison. And she meant the poison for the tributes that have teamed up and are looking to hunt her down because she's the popular one. And it's obvious that she's the popular one, so they want her to die. So all these waters get delivered. So she poisons one of the water bottles and the sick girl ends up drinking the water. And there's a different tribute that actually ends up dying in this way in the book. But we'll get to that. So the coughing girl actually dies of the sickness in the book and in the film. She is accidentally poisoned by Lucy Gray.
Speaker 1:In the film and the book, coriolanus is like don't you dare team up with Jessup. Jessup is the male tribute from District 12. He's like don't you dare team up with Jessup. It is safer if you fend for yourself, so and like. Eventually you have to turn on each other. So don't you dare team up with him. And of course in the film Lucy defies Coriolanus and she, he kind of tells her like escape to the tunnels and just hide there. So in the film she grabs Jessup and takes him into the tunnels with her. He's a little weakened at this point from, so at this point they don't know what he has. It ends up later being revealed that he has rabies, but he's starting to feel like a little woozy and sick at this point. So she like grabs him and helps him into the tunnels and they escape into the tunnels together. And there's there's like chase scene where the the tributes are like chasing after them and then they don't. They get stuck and yeah. But anyway, in the book Lucy is Lucy Gray is still very, she, very much does still care for Jessup, but she does follow Coriolanus's advice and escapes to the tunnels by herself.
Speaker 1:There is a I believe she's the tribute from district eight, if I'm not remember, if I'm remembering correctly her name, wovie. I do remember Wovie mainly because so Wovie is played by Sofia Sanchez in the film and Sofia. There's Voldemort, little jingles in the background. So Sofia has Down syndrome. So that is very distinctly why I remember Wovie and the name kind of just stuck with me.
Speaker 1:Wovee is also mentioned a lot in the book as being like one of the smaller ones, but I think Wovee stuck with me because we're seeing a child with Down syndrome in the You're gonna fall, oh my gosh. I'm sorry, that was Voldemort. He gets a little close. He's on my bed right now and he has fallen off the bed before. So I was like don't fall off, okay, sorry. So yes, wovey stuck with me because we have the only actress with Down syndrome, the only character with Down syndrome in all of these films, and she's portraying someone from the Hunger Games that obviously does not make it. So it's just like oh my gosh. But yes, so Woevee, I do remember Woevee, woevee in the film.
Speaker 1:So as the Hunger Games are coming to an end in the book you know this point this is the longest the Hunger Games have ever gone on. Usually it's an hours long affair, which is another reason why people aren't as into it, I guess because it's just over so fast. But as it's winding down, the snakes are brought in to kind of finish off the games, and I mean this happens in the film as well. So in the film the snakes are brought in. Obviously they attack anything that they don't recognize the smell for. So they the tribute, the remaining tributes, see the big tank of snakes being lowered into the arena and wovy shows up and she says something like is that a good thing or not? That was, that's not what she says, but she, she kind of comes out with hope that, like this tank is something that's going to ensure their survival. And then it opens and she's like one of the first ones to get eaten by the snakes.
Speaker 1:So Wobie dies because of the snakes in the film, but in the book she's the one that is accidentally poisoned by Lucy Gray. So yeah, I don't, I'm not exactly sure why they switched the deaths of those characters. Maybe they just thought that sickness was too boring of a film I mean too boring of a death for film and they wanted to change it. And maybe they wanted, like this, really tragic death. I don't know, I don't know, but they did.
Speaker 1:So Wovee is the one that dies from accidental poisoning in the book and in the film she gets attacked by the snakes, and in the film again, because it's a lot more exciting the tributes, like I said, there's like the tributes that always form an alliance. They are hunting Lucy Gray specifically, like they'll kill any of the other tributes that they come across, but their target is Lucy Gray specifically. And in the book they're kind of just Lucy Gray is not their target, like they're killing everyone until they have no choice but to turn on each other, but Lucy Gray is not their main target the way she is in the film, like they have it out for Lucy Gray, and in the book they're just teaming up, killing whoever they come across as they as they do. So, yes, in the books I mean in the book the snakes are not what finish the remaining tributes. They finish most of them. When the snakes are brought in again, most of the tributes have gone into hiding and they've been hiding out for days and so it's really really boring to watch. So, again, to kind of spice things up for the people watching the games, they bring out the snakes to get the tributes out of their hiding spot, but the snakes to get the tributes out of their hiding spot. But the snakes are and they kill most of the remaining tributes, but not all of them. In the film, the snakes are what finish the games. They kill all the tributes, except for Lucy Gray. So yeah, I think it would have been really interesting to have kept the original, the part in the book where the snakes don't finish off the tributes. Maybe just at that, just to speed things up along, especially since they knew it was going to be a long film, they they added the snakes so they wouldn't have to keep going.
Speaker 1:But yes, the last major change that I want to talk about is after the games it's revealed that Coriolanus cheated by way of throwing Lucy Gray's handkerchief into the tank of snakes before it's released into the arena, which is how Lucy Gray survives the snakes. And so this is exactly what the dean of the school, dean Highbottom, wants, as he hates Coriolanus Snow and wants to see the end of him. So he's like oh, you cheated, guess what. You don't get to graduate and instead you're going to become a peacekeeper, see ya. And in the film, corio requests to be transferred to District 12, and that request is initially denied before he bribes his way into going to District 12. But in the books his request to go to District 12 is approved instantaneously. Originally he's going to get sent to District 2, I believe. And then he's like Um, actually do you mind if I go to District 12? And they're like, I mean, I don't know why you would volunteer to go to District 12 when District two is so much better. But I'm sure, bro, and he gets approved and he gets sent to District 12 right away.
Speaker 1:So those are the major, major changes between the book and the film, or at least the ones that I want to talk about. But yeah, so let's get into the nitty gritty. I feel, as you can see, I'm like really, really, really into this episode, just because this is, I don't know, I love the Hunger Games, but anyway. So I actually watched the Hunger Games the Ballad of Songbirds, of Snakes film before I read the book. Like I said, I wasn't really interested in reading the book when it came out. Don't really know why it just I was just like it's, we don't need a prequel, it's not necessary, so let's, it's okay to leave franchises behind sometimes. So that was kind of like my reasoning for not being as interested in it.
Speaker 1:So, honestly, the main reason I ended up watching the Hunger Games movie was because I am an AMC Stubs member and they were like if you watch this movie, you get an additional 1000 points to on your account and like obviously, the more points you have you can use it to redeem on like popcorn and stuff. So I'm being totally honest and I say that was my main reasoning for watching the film. I was not opposed to watching it, but I was also like I said, I was like I don't need to watch it. And then I actually ended up really really liking it and I was like I mean I watched the films and I have to read the book for the podcast. So that is the story of what happened there. But yeah, I really really liked it and yeah, I'm really, I'm really glad I watched it. But so let's get into the more, maybe gritty aspects of it.
Speaker 1:And so I just want to say Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, I thought was absolute perfection. She was fantastic. I thought she was a perfect Lucy Gray and I actually didn't know this until later, but she was the fan choice to play Lucy Gray. Like fans were campaigning for her to play the role after West Side Story came out and she was like I mean that would be great. You know, I'm not gonna say no or anything, and I thought she played the role really, really well. Lucy Gray is part of the Covey, which is like this before the districts were made they were, they used to travel all around the country playing their folk music and then, once the districts were established, they were forbidden from leaving District 12. So now they're District 12 specific people. But, yeah, I thought she was great and the emotion when she would sing, especially during the televised interviews where they introduce all of the tributes. You just really felt the emotion when she was singing that song. So I thought she was a Lucy Gray, a fantastic Lucy Gray, and I can see why the fans that had read the book really wanted her for that role.
Speaker 1:My only criticism with her performance is her dialect. She had a really really, really thick southern drawl, a little too thick and a little too mumbly. A parts where I missed what she was saying. I couldn't understand what she was saying and again, I'm watching this in theaters with like fantastic speakers and I was still like not sure what you just said just then. For the most part, though, I did understand all her dialogue. There was just there were quite a few moments when I was just like. I have no idea what you just said, so that's my only critique of her performance, but otherwise I thought she was the perfect Lucy Graybeard.
Speaker 1:Tom Blythe's Coriolanus Snow. I thought he was great as well, he really. So the Coriolanus in the book, I feel like his I don't even know how to describe it Like his, like his I don't even know how to describe it like his feelings for Lucy Gray definitely seemed a lot more manufactured than what Tom Blythe brought to the role. Like his feelings for Lucy Gray seemed very, very genuine. And so the ending since I hadn't read the book at that point was just like, I don't know, it just seemed. I felt like it was a bigger betrayal for Lucy Gray because his feelings did seem very, very genuine towards her. And I mean I still don't know how calculating he was, he was, he actually was in the film because, like, like I said, tom blythe just brought this like authenticity and he was like, so cunning, but like he, like, he's one of those that I mean.
Speaker 1:Obviously you know that coriolanus snow is going to turn into a villain if you've read the trilogy, but you know how I've complained a lot about like, for example, for example, max Mangella in Horns and Hugh Grant in the Undoing, how, like, as soon as they were revealed to be the villains, they kind of started like ha ha, I was the villain, you know. Like their portrayal switched like a little too much where it's like OK, like we know, you're the villain, you don't need to play up the fact that you're a villain. Now that it's revealed that you're the villain, like with him, I didn't get that at all. Like he was, just like when it hits you that all of all his feelings might not have been real, it's just like oh, how could you betray me? Like I, like I know you were going to, because you do become President Snow, but how could you do this to me? And in the in the book, I felt like it was a little bit more obvious that he's gonna turn into what. What he's going to turn into so because, even like Donald Sutherland as President Snow, you know, as this old man still kind of had like this charm and charisma to him, even though he's like, so so yeah, I really appreciated that about Tom's performance. So that's really all I have to talk about performance wise. I mean, this is a very, very stacked cast and they won't. I mean, viola Davis is Dr Call you can't go wrong with. Oh, she like she had so much fun, so much fun playing that villain. You could tell she was having a ball and you absolutely hated her in all the best ways as the villain. So so it was. I mean, yeah, you can't go wrong with Viola Davis, but yeah, so I mean it was it's a stacked cast and they were all. I thought they were fantastic.
Speaker 1:I loved the little Easter eggs that were thrown in there for fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy films, more so than the books. But I really really loved the Easter eggs they threw in there. And, yeah, I really really loved the Easter eggs they threw in there. And, yeah, I really really enjoyed it. And I'm kind of mad at myself that I didn't read it a lot sooner, but yeah. So thank you, amc Stubs for offering me those 1000 points, or else I don't know when I would have. I probably would have waited till it was streaming or something. But anyway, let's get into the ratings. So I did genuinely love both of them. But you know, in spite of Lucy, in spite of Rachel Zegler, even though I really enjoyed Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe as our leads and I thought you know they had great chemistry and they portrayed and just the film I thought was very engaging and I think, yeah, so in spite of all of that, so yeah, even I loved as much as I loved the film and I loved Rachel Zegler and Tom Blythe's performance Book Edges the film out just the slightest, slightest, slightest bit and it's just for those little details that are found in the book that you can't include in the film.
Speaker 1:They included a lot, but you know there's always still those minor little changes that I already talked about and there's minor little details that really add to the storytelling that you can't include in the film just because of the medium that it's in. So I did rate the film four stars and I rated the book four stars as well. So I don't I feel like it's cheating to say it's a tie. So I'm not going to say it's a tie. I do think the, even though I rated them both four stars and I think they both deserve four stars, like I said, just for those minor details that they changed in the film and those minor details that they couldn't include. The book does edge it out just the tiniest little bit, but I will say, I think they are both fantastic and they are both worth checking out. But let's make it official the winner of this round is the book. So, yes, but check them both out. I think they're both worth it. And, yeah, I will.
Speaker 1:I don't have, at this point, my next book that I'm going to discuss on the podcast. I think I know, but I don't want to say it and then have it change at the last second. So, that being said, thank you for tuning in. Please rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening to it and tell all your friends about it. Let them know. This podcast has become such a passion project of mine and it would really mean the world if you would share my passion with your friends. So, yeah, I do this all by myself, I record it, I edit it, I do everything all by myself, just because I love it so much. So please rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening to it, share it with your friends and I will see you next time. Bye.