Inspiration Drawn from Catching Fire

I saw Catching Fire last night, and I was absolutely blown away! The second movie in the Hunger Games series kept the momentum going from the last movie beautifully. For those who hadn't seen the first one in awhile, the second one reminded the viewer of the important main points so that we could jump right back into the story.

I felt the emotions of the characters throughout the movie. And I don't just mean I felt Katniss's PTSD-like symptoms or Peeta's undying love for Katniss, but I felt Johanna's concentrated anger and Finnick's panic when he heard the Jabber Jays mimic the sound of Annie being tortured. The actors and the filmmakers did a fantastic job of presenting relateable characters. 

One of the great storytelling ideas I saw in Catching Fire was the technology divide present between the capital and the other districts. When the audience sees scenes of the capital, the society appears to be a futuristic one. But when scenes of the other districts are shown, the world seems more antiquated. This combination of eras is an interesting concept.

Something else I noticed was that when the characters were in the Hunger Games arena, there was this overarching theme that literally any character could die at any second that really kept me on the edge of my seat. Even some tried and true storytelling rules of who can be killed and when can be broken in the arena.

Finally, I was amazed how much I could identify with Katniss's struggles to figure out her love triangle. It reminded me of the court cases shown on TV in that I always agree with whichever lawyer was just talking. My opinion is swayed that easily. Well in Catching Fire, I wanted Katniss to be with whichever man she was currently with in that scene. Prior to Katniss's story, I had never understood love triangles. I've only ever loved one person at a time. So the ideas of love triangles and cheaters are so foreign to me. But Suzanne Collins and the other people responsible for the Catching Fire movie did an excellent job of making Katniss's confusion understandable to the viewer. 

But the biggest thing I took away from the movie was the inspiration to keep writing. Catching Fire tells such a beautiful story of courage, revolt, love, and evil. Sometimes when I read stories or see movies that are that fantastic they make me want to stop being a writer because I think "I'll never be able to tell a story like that." But last night, Catching Fire helped remind me of the passion I have for writing. And when I write about real world issues that I am passionate about, that is when I'll write my own Catching Fire. 

So I've decided that when I'm trying to manage writer's block or a story I loved gets shot down by an editor, I'll watch one of the movies or read one of the books that made me want to be a writer in the first place! What could be a better reminder to tell great stories than a great story itself?