The Hunger Games started off as a young adult book series written by Suzanne Collins. The novel series began with The Hunger Games in 2009 but continued with Catching Fire in 2009 and Mockingjay in 2010.
Like many books that are immensely popular with kids and adults alike, the trilogy was quickly turned into a movie franchise.
The movie series ran from 2012-2015 and starred Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role of Katniss Everdeen. Most people prefer books over movie adaptations and this goes for The Hunger Games as well. Not everybody likes the books by Suzanne Collins, but it is safe to say that more people enjoyed the books over the movies.
The movies were met with mixed reviews especially the final two films since Mockingjay was cut into two movies. There are plenty of fanboys and fangirls who love the franchise that can see no wrong with any of the movies, but there truly are elements that are just head scratchers.
Some of these mistakes are just minor errors while others are plot holes that are so big that Katniss would be able to shoot an arrow through them from 100 miles away.
May the odds be ever against the filmmakers, as we point out 25 Things About The Hunger Games That Make No Sense.
Why Do They Need District 12?
Panem was a nation developed in a post-apocalyptic world in North America. The nation consists of the Capitol, where the rich and famous people reside, and the thirteen districts where the working and poor classes reside.
Each district has their own specialty which provided the Capitol with goods to provide for the rich. In the case of Katniss, she comes from District 12, which is the poorest of the thirteen districts. The heroine would, of course, come from the poorest of the districts because everyone loves the story of an underdog.
District 12 consisted of four areas: the Seam, the merchant section, Victors’ Village, and the Hob. The Seam was the poorest of these areas, and was where people often starved and only got electricity for a few hours a day.
The merchant section was where people could buy and trade goods. While the Hob was similar to this, it was more of a black market of sorts. The Victors’ Village is pretty self-explanatory, but it is the area where past District 12 Hunger Games victors live.
District 12’s specialty was mining before the Second Rebellion and later turned into a District that produced medicine. While a medicine District makes sense, a coal mining one seems out of place. Since the Capitol appears to be very developed, are they really still depending on coal for energy?
It seems extremely far-fetched and makes you wonder why it was even a District specialty in the first place.
Volunteering As Tribute
The Hunger Games movies are sometimes considered rip-offs of the Japanese movie Battle Royale since they share so many similarities. The event within the movie called “Hunger Games” is a dark and gruesome spectacle that residents of the Districts and Capitol are forced to watch.
The concept is a morbid tradition that not only thins out the population but also reminds the Districts who the boss is and that they need to stay in their place.
In the first movie, Primrose Everdeen is chosen as one of the tributes for District 12. The scene is quite heartbreaking as Katniss volunteers as tribute so that her little sister does not have to fight in the games.
Katniss is supposedly the first person to ever volunteer but is this really believable?
Has this scenario never happened to other siblings before? It seems unlikely, but why would they even allow people to volunteer? Citizens are allowed to get food rations in exchange for adding their name to the reaping balls an additional time.
With this logic, each district could pick two children to volunteer for the games each year. This way everybody could just keep adding their names to the reaping balls in exchange for more food and oil, and then the one person would volunteer at the reaping.
Yes, two children would still have to be sacrificed, but everyone would still be able to benefit from the extra food and oil. Has nobody in the thirteen districts ever thought of this ploy?
The Career Pack
While two children are chosen from each district to participate for the Hunger Games, some stand a better chance at survival over others.
While Katniss’ district, District 12, is seen as the poorest of the poor, other districts are much wealthier. Districts 1, 2, and 4, which are the luxury, masonry, and fishing districts respectively, are supposedly wealthier and have better living conditions than other districts.
While all candidates should have an equal chance at winning the games, some have an unfair advantage over others. Some people in the wealthier districts train for the Hunger Games. While training for the Hunger Games is illegal, those in the wealthier districts get away with it because they have ties with the Capitol.
The tributes who train for the games are known as career tributes since they have trained all of their lives to compete. These tributes often have an unfair advantage over the other tributes but not the ones trying to hunt Katniss.
The four career tributes may appear to be brutal but they make some very poor choices throughout the first movie. For some reason, they trust Peeta while trying to find Katniss and even after they find her in a tree, they still decide to keep him around.
They also camp out and make a fire by the tree that Katniss is hiding in, yet they do not set her tree on fire. Instead, they wait for her to come down and fall asleep, which isn't the greatest idea.
Peeta’s Camouflage Skill
Peeta Mellark, like Katniss, grew up in District 12. While Katniss grew up in the Seam, Peeta grew up in the merchant section of the district. This part of the district is supposed to be somewhat better off than the Seam, but Peeta still lived a rough life.
His mother was cruel to Peeta and his brothers as can be seen in the first Hunger Games movie. Mrs. Mellark was seen in the flashback hitting Peeta when he throws the burnt loaf of bread to Katniss.
Working at his father’s bakery, Peeta no doubt had multiple jobs, one of which was decorating cakes. Peeta is seen throughout the movie having incredible camouflage skills which he apparently learned from decorating cakes.
Peeta first showed his unique ability during the training period when he was shown camouflaging his arm to blend in with a tree at the camouflage station. He again used this specialty inside the arena after he was wounded to blend in with a rock.
Decorating cakes is no doubt a cool skill, but it would in no way give Peeta this level of artistic ability. It would take years and years of practice to become this good of a makeup artist and Peeta also did not have the necessary equipment to pull off this type of disguise.
Sorry Peeta, but berries, mud, and crushed plants just would not cut it.
The Wolf Mutts
The mutant dogs, which are commonly called wolf mutts, were an element near the end of both the book and the movie. Even though they were included in both mediums, they were arguably much more frightening in the book.
The book version of the dogs were made to resemble the tributes who had previously passed on in the arena. This meant that the wolves were not only physically dangerous but that they presented a mental threat to the living tributes-- especially since one of them looked like Rue.
While the movie version of The Hunger Games did not make the wolves look like the deceased tributes, they were still frightening. Despite being scary, the idea of having these wolves in the games did not make a lot of sense.
First of all, the creatures are seen being made in the control room and can then be dropped into the arena at the will of the gamemakers. This technology alone is baffling and never explained, but why did they even put the creatures into the game in the first place?
The dogs could have easily mangled all of the tributes and then President Snow would not have had a victor. Clearly, this is important to them since it is tradition and because they stopped Katniss and Peeta from eating the poisonous berries when they were at the Capricornia.
The Hunger Games and Politics
While there are a number of things that do not make sense about The Hunger Games series, one of the biggest head-scratchers is the politics behind the Hunger Games.
There have been a lot of crazy and downright despicable things that have happened during war. Sometimes, even the sickest of things do not get released to the public until years after the fact, if not at all.
Many times, wars are ended with treaties that will stop the fighting but still allow both sides to come out with some type of a benefit. In the case of The Hunger Games, the citizens of the districts got the short end of the stick.
Whatever treaty they signed after the rebellion screwed them over and gave all of their power to the Capitol. One has to wonder whether or not the Capitol has a system of checks and balances in place, because it seems like a televised event that focuses on children perishing is something that not a lot of people would agree on.
The explanation and politics behind the Hunger Games may not be crucial to the overall story but it would have been nice for the writers to try and explain the origin of the games since the idea is so far fetched.
The Districts’ Living Conditions
The living conditions within the districts are described as a rough place to try to raise a family, let alone survive. Certain districts are wealthier compared to other districts but the Capitol seems like the ideal place to live since their citizens get treated far better than everyone else.
While Districts 1, 2, and 4 are considered the best districts, District 12 is seen as the poorest of them all. The districts are treated poorly and two children from each district are forced to participate in the Hunger Games each year.
It is explained that the districts are being punished for their defiance during the first rebellion, but wouldn’t it make more sense to give them somewhat decent living conditions?
The Capitol needs the districts almost as much as the districts need the Capitol. The Capitol provides them with food and oil, but the districts provide everything for the Capitol.
If the Capitol needs the districts’ resources so badly, why would they let the people living there starve? If people are literally starving, then they are not going to be able to effectively do their job, which in turn, negatively affects the Capitol.
Panem also has a lot of advanced technology. Did President Snow not consider the fact that sharing this technology with the districts could increase productivity?
No Other Countries Have An Issue With Panem?
The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic setting, yet it is never fully explained when or where Panem is set. The first book explained that the Capitol is set in a region formally known as the Rocky Mountains, but this is all we get for the geographical location.
That being said, are there not any other civilizations in the entire world? It is never revealed how society fell into a dystopian type future, but are we supposed to believe that whatever happened knocked out the rest of humanity besides the people living in Panem?
It seems hard to believe that this is the case. It is almost as naive as saying that with the universe being as big as it is, humans are the only form of sentient life.
Anything is possible since the books and movies never really talk about other countries and governments. However, if there were to be other governments in the world, it is pretty hard to believe that they would approve of how the Capitol is treating their people.
Countries have gotten into wars over smaller issues and not many people would be okay with the idea of children going into an arena for a massacre.
The Gamemakers Can Control Fire
The gamemakers in The Hunger Games movies are in charge of creating the arena and the traps that will potentially end the tributes.
There are many instances of them creating obstacles and challenges for the contestants that are life-threatening, including the tracker jacker nest which Katniss uses to harm the career tributes. They also create the wolf mutts that attack the surviving tributes at the Cornucopia.
At one point in the movie, the gamemakers start a forest fire since Katniss is straying too far away from the rest of the tributes.
Katniss was trying to play it safe by hiding rather than getting into battles but the gamemakers did not like her plan. They set the fire and let it run wild until Katniss was closer to the other tributes. Then they just turned off the fire.
If the arena is actually real and has living plants, they would not be able to control the fire once they started it. In reality, the fire would have run rampant and they probably would have had to send some type of fire crew to put out the flames.
Alas, this is only a movie, so stopping a forest fire is as easy as flipping a switch. If only it was this easy in real life.
Plutarch's Plan
As sick as the idea of the Hunger Games truly is, at least the victors get to live a happily ever after once they win the games. Nope, guess again. The Quarter Quell is a special edition of the Hunger Games that takes place every 25 years.
What makes the Quarter Quell special is that it not only marks the anniversary of the districts’ downfall, but it also allows the Capitol to put a new twist on the games.
For example, the first Quarter Quell made the citizens vote on who went into the arena, and four tributes rather than the usual two had to compete in the second Quarter Quell.
The third Quarter Quell saw another unique change, which made victors from previous Hunger Games compete a second time. The decision was made to show that even the most powerful district citizens are under the boot of the Capitol and also to show Katniss Everdeen competing again.
While it was not a bad idea on President Snow’s part to try to assassinate Everdeen, it is later revealed that Plutarch Heavensbee was always planning on getting Katniss out of the arena to lead the revolution.
If his plan was to use her as a symbol for the revolution, why did he even let her go into the arena a second time in the first place?
Katniss could have easily been eliminated in the Quarter Quell and people already saw her as a symbol of rebellion. Why risk her life if she was so important?
The Placement of the Cameras
Part of what drives the Hunger Games is the fear that President Snow has cameras basically everywhere. There are cameras in the arena since the Hunger Games are basically a sport that is televised.
The cameras are not only expensive high-tech equipment, but they are also everywhere so that they can capture every little thing that happens in the games.
While it makes sense for the cameras to be in the games, the placement of the cameras outside of the arena get a little more confusing. Basically, the cameras are conveniently placed wherever the movie needs them to be placed.
There are several instances throughout the movies where there would be nowhere for Snow’s cameras to be hiding, yet Snow will have video recordings to view and watch the scenes later on. Plus, if Snow was this concerned about another uprising or rebellion, why did he not put a camera in every house within the districts?
The Capitol certainly had enough money to do this and the technology is also present for something like this to take place, yet it never happens. The cameras are not everywhere but the way the plot relies on them you would think they would be.
Katniss And Peeta’s Forced Relationship
Love triangles are often depicted in movies and books. Many times these love triangles can become quite awkward for the characters and viewers alike. The love triangle between Gale, Katniss, and Peeta dragged on for four movies and got incredibly awkward in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
One of the main reasons for this is because Snow forced Katniss to pretend that she was in a relationship with Peeta. In a scene early on in the movie, President Snow visits Katniss to tell her that since she got away with her berry stunt, people in the districts may start to think that the Capitol is weak.
He was worried that since Katniss was never punished for breaking the rules of the Hunger Games, people might try to start another rebellion, which could likely lead to a war. Snow tells Katniss that while they are on tour, she needs to pretend to be in love with Peeta to prevent a war between the districts and the Capitol.
Katniss, obviously wanting to protect her people, agrees to his terms but fails to make it convincing. Did people honestly believe that these two characters were in love? They made it painfully obvious more than once that it was a sham but they continued to try to keep up appearances.
Also, why would Snow think that a relationship would stop a war? The people in the districts just don’t like having their children taken away from them.
The Poisonous Fog
One of the many traps that the gamemakers set for the tributes is poisonous fog. The fog does not make any sense for a number of reasons.
First of all, the fog would have ended everyone in Katniss’ group if she would not have conveniently woken up when it was getting close to them. Secondly, why did Katniss not assume that the fog was going to be harmful to her?
She has seen all types of traps in the 74th Hunger Games, yet she did not think that a mysterious fog that appeared out of nowhere could potentially be harmful?
The group eventually outruns the fog except for Mags, who sacrifices herself so that Finnick can help Katniss save Peeta. They trip and tumble down a hill but eventually stop, and Katniss watches the fog approaching. It stops just before it can get to her because it is being contained by some type of force field.
What was the point of even using the fog in the first place if it was going to be stopped before it could fatally harm Katniss?
To top it off, Katniss finds a little pond that apparently heals everyone from whatever poison was in the fog. As Deadpool would say, “That’s just lazy writing.”
District 13’s Underground Bunker
Anybody who fights evil has to have some sort of a secret lair or base of operations. Batman has the Batcave, the Avengers have the Avengers facility, and the members of the rebellion in The Hunger Games movies have a giant underground facility.
The first rebellion against the Capitol took place 75 years before the events of the first Hunger Games. The first attempt at an uprising was led by District 13, which was in charge of nuclear weaponry and graphite mining.
It is never explained in detail why they tried to overthrow the Capitol, but it is thought to be because of the Capitol's oppressive rule over the districts.
The first rebellion proved to be unsuccessful, but 75 years later, District 13 succeeded in overthrowing President Snow. District 13 was thought to have been destroyed at the beginning of the Dark Days, but the heads of District 13 struck a deal with the Capitol so that they could secede.
Even though a deal was struck, you would still think that the Capitol would have been keeping a close eye on District 13 since they were in charge of making nuclear weapons, but apparently, this was not the case.
District 13 functioned from an underground facility and was able to build up enough supplies for a second uprising. However, for some reason, Snow had no idea.
With all of his cameras around the districts, are we really supposed to believe that he had no idea that people were planning a rebellion?
Why Katniss Thinks So Highly Of Peeta
The relationship between Katniss and Peeta is on the odd side for sure. Their relationship arc was one of the most complex storylines of the entire series and it is easy to see why.
It is never really stated in the movies whether Katniss truly loved Peeta or not. In the first film, Katniss seemed to get very close to Peeta but that could have just been so that she could survive.
Peeta, on the other hand, has always seemed to love Katniss ever since the first movie. Yes, he should have walked the bread over to her, but he was still thoughtful enough to give her food rather than feeding it to the pigs.
Peeta and Katniss are forced to pretend that they are in a relationship under the orders of President Snow during the events of Catching Fire. During the two Mockingjay movies, Peeta is brainwashed to despise Katniss but is eventually cured.
Throughout the movies, Katniss can often be heard saying that the rebels should have saved Peeta over her but why does she think this? Is due to survivors guilt or because she possibly just missed her friend?
It is never explained, yet Katniss repeats it several times during Mockingjay- Part 1.
The Bombers At The Hospital Can’t Take Out Katniss And Gale
Early on in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 members of the rebellion are sent to visit a hospital in District 8 with Katniss Everdeen. The team had previously tried to film Mockingjay promos in the comfort of a studio, but Katniss had trouble getting into character.
In order to make Katniss seem inspiring in the promos, they took her to see the sick people in District 8. All was going to plan and the people in the hospital were in awe of having the Mockingjay in their presence.
One of Snow’s magical cameras, of course, finds Katniss at this hospital and the feed is relayed back to Snow. Angry that the people would align themselves with the Mockingjay, Snow orders for the hospital to be targeted rather than Katniss and her team.
As the team is leaving the hospital, Katniss and Gale notice two bombers circling the area. They quickly run to find some higher ground to get a clear shot at the incoming planes.
The bombers shoot at Gale and Katniss but completely miss. Katniss is able to shoot one of her explosive arrows up in the sky to destroy one of the planes, which then conveniently slams into the other one, destroying both of the bombers.
Katniss is a good shot no doubt, but her ability to destroy both of the planes while also avoiding their bullets is no doubt pure luck.
The Capitol Sending Peeta To Eliminate Katniss
Initially, the Capitol’s idea to send Peeta to eliminate Katniss seemed like a good one. However, upon further speculation of the plan, it really was kind of dumb. Peeta was captured by the Capitol sometime after the 75th Hunger Games, probably after Katniss destroyed the arena with her electrified arrow.
Peeta is missing in action until he is seen on TV being interviewed by Caesar Flickerman. His appearance is quite unlike the Peeta who we are used to since he looks very frail and exhausted.
In order to try and convert Peeta, the Capitol had tortured and brainwashed him. If that was not enough, they convinced him that the woman he loved, Katniss, was actually the enemy and was also some sort of mutation.
Forcing Peeta to finish Katniss off could have restored balance and made it appear as if Snow had his power back again, but even that does not make sense. Peeta nearly took Katniss' life by strangling her in the underground bunker, but that would have been in no way a public display.
Apparently, the brainwashing can also be reversed, which President Snow and his minions did not think through. Also, why didn’t Snow put some sort of a tracker on Peeta so that the Capitol could discover their secret base? So many questions, so few answers.
Cutting Mockingjay Into Two Movies
Following the lead of popular series like Harry Potter, Lionsgate decided to split the final Hunger Games movie into two separate films. As big as The Hunger Games had become for Lionsgate, the decision to split the book into two movies was not a huge surprise to fans.
Even though the third book was 390 pages, which is actually a page shorter than Catching Fire, Mockingjay was the movie that they decided to cut into two films.
There was no real benefit of cutting the movie into two parts except for putting a little more money into the pockets of filmmakers and actors behind the project. Both movies had mixed reviews and many people just saw the extra film as a cash grab for all parties involved.
Cutting Mockingjay into two movies served no real purpose and actually made both films drag on, creating several boring unnecessary scenes.
After sitting patiently through not one, but two Mockingjay movies that are both over two hours, fans were probably expecting a big battle between the Peacekeepers. While there is a battle, it is cut short since Katniss gets knocked out and the following scene just has Haymitch explaining what happened.
It would have been much more interesting to have seen the downfall of the Capitol rather than having Haymitch describe it, but there is nothing that they can do about it now.
The Importance Of The Mockingjay Promos
Throughout the two Mockingjay movies, Katniss is seen filming several Mockingjay promos, or propos, for the rebellion, which are basically a form of propaganda.
The propos, much like the Mockingjay symbol itself, are supposed to raise morale for the uprising and turn citizens of Panem and the districts against the Capitol.
The Capitol itself put out a few propaganda pieces against the Mockingjay rebellion, but it was mostly the rebels who produced these propos. While filming these promos were surely helpful to their cause, they were not crucial to overthrowing President Snow.
People already saw Katniss Everdeen as a symbol of the rebellion and people were already rallying behind the rebels. The promos probably got more people involved in the fight, but they should not have been the team’s main concern.
Battle plans and strategies are crucial to winning a war, yet the rebellion seems to be more concerned with filming these promos than actually figuring out battle tactics. The rebellion ends up overthrowing their government in the end, but it surely was not as smooth as it could have been.
Thinking up better battle tactics could have not only let them win the war faster, but could also have spared many people’s lives.
Everything About The Oil
When Katniss and friends are traveling back towards the Capitol, President Snow has several booby-traps waiting for them. One of said traps is a huge wave of oil. At the point in the movie where they make it past the huge machine guns and lose Boggs, one of the team members steps on a tile that triggers the trap.
The team watches in horror as their only two exits are blocked by giant doors that trap them within this little area of the city. The crew begins to run as a huge wave of oil appears out of nowhere and quickly floods the town. Peeta attempts to put an end to Katniss but another member of the crew sacrifices himself to rescue her.
While the giant wave of oil was very cinematic, it does not make a ton of sense. Given that they are in the real world and not an arena, the oil would have needed to be stored somewhere, as it is unlikely that the gamemakers would be able to make it pop out of thin air.
The rebels escape by climbing a few sets of stairs in a building and, of course, the oil conveniently stops before it can reach everyone else.