#and no im not a career apologist (fully) because they do appear to take pleasure and pride in killing.

[moonmoonthecrabking]

i think a bit of a loss from a deleted scene in the first hunger games film is in the tribute interviews where marvel says to caesar "if you apply yourself and you focus then all your dreams can come true". like that boy was really on the alpha male grindset culture and it's a shame that wasn't included because it's real. because, especially 11 years down the track, it is a valid critique of hustle culture. marvel was from district 1, he had privileges that kids from the outlying districts didn't have. so when he says "just apply yourself", it won't just happen in that way for the people he's talking to across panem, because even their dreams of surviving the day may not come true, no matter how hard they work. that said, he's still perpetuating this ideal when he's under the oppressive thumb of the capitol. not only is he a district pleb, but his entire life has been in service of being a sacrifice for the capitol's entertainment. sure, he could win, but he's seen the games. he's seen the victors. he would know, even if it's just on the smallest and most hidden level, that a victor's riches pale in comparison to the trauma they must cope with for the rest of their life. even in this interview, where he's playing up that 'he always dreamed of killing people', even if he won his games, the ideal of being treated as an equal, or simply seen as human, cannot come true, no matter how much he focusses on that goal. sure he says he's always wanted to volunteer for these games (which may be true in part, but he's almost definitely putting on an act for the camera. most of the tributes probably are. we talk about the physical training careers must have gone through but in katniss' narration it's made clear that the hunger games is a reality show, first and foremost), but even if you take that at face value, even if you go "this kid just really liked torturing other kids", there's no guarantee of winning. just a promise that you'll come back in a box or riddled with mental scars. he could work as hard as he wanted to, try as hard as he could, but there are so many variables that would block him from winning. i don't know if he would know this or not; the careers are all children, some arrogant, some fearful, many both. but he spreads this rhetoric, as though it were true, as though it were true for him, just like "alpha male" commentators do today, just like mlm promoters. he very partially benefits from this system, yes, but it costs his life. and not just from the moment he entered the arena. people today say "get up your ass and work" or "it's not that hard, Just Do It" or "elongated muskrat did it, so i'll be able to too", ignorant of or unwilling to mention the privilege of those who succeeded, not discussing those who applied themselves and focussed and came up short because the odds weren't in their favour.