#since we'd mostly be getting into subjective territory there which is interesting! But not the point of the original post

[moreespressoformydepresso]

I'm back~

Totally agree that her dynamic with Treech is much more interesting in the movie because there is, in fact, a direct dynamic at all, but I guess this comes down to a difference in what we include in the term 'character'? When I talk about it I'm more talking about personality traits and stuff specific to that character, removed from the rest of the story/cast. When we're talking about relationships between characters and possible hints at their backstory, I'd classify that as story analysis because those things shaped the personality, but they're not part of the personality. The movie definitely gave me a lot of questions and ideas about what the tributes' lives and connections may have been like, but to me it didn't add anything new to Lamina as a character on its own. The character inference I can make is that Lamina was upset over someone she perceived as a possible ally leaving her. That... does not count as anything new to me. She was upset in the book too, because she's in a very upsetting situation.

Maybe this isn't fair, since people are at least partially defined by their relationships with the people around them, but I like to make the distinction between character and story because character inferences can be made through the story but not vice versa. Example: Snow has a jealousy problem (character) because of how hung up he is over Billy Taupe, even though Lucy Gray wants nothing to do with him (story). You can't turn that analysis around. The jealousy is a core flaw in Snow's personality, shown in the narrative through this example with Billy Taupe. It wasn't caused by Billy Taupe. Does that make sense? I have no idea if that makes sense.

And I probably wouldn't be so annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that the only fierce female character we have left is Coral, who outside of her dying words is undeniably portrayed as the main anatagonist of the story. The most interesting thing about her, to me, is that this girl who is incredibly emotional and 'soft' going into the games ends up being one of the tributes who handles it the best. That's what I loved about her: A girl can sob her eyes out while still knowing when it's time to get down to business. Tears doesn't mean incompetence or helplessness, expressing emotions does not make you powerless prey. That's a stereotype I've wanted to see broken for years now.

The movie definitely showed us more about the tributes than Snow's perspective ever could, which I love (even though it made me like his character a lot less because he comes off as a lot milder except for in the ending scene where his murder attempt is a lot more deliberate: a single shot rather than a spray of bullets). I'm just wondering if it would have killed them to include a few seconds of Lamina trading with Reaper, actually holding her own in that fight by injuring the other tributes, or Coral bandaging up Mizzen's leg. That last one especially bothered me, which is why I'm so iffy about all the changes they made. The only female character who still has the sharper edges is not only the main antagonist in the games, but also loses the softer side we got to see in such a small act. It's making all the girls one of two things: Helpless and crying or physically strong and cold. What I loved so much about Lamina is that she had aspects of both, just like Lucy Gray (who is the least egregious offender of this issue, but still loses a lot of the sharpness and now wins solely through Snow's cheating, rather than it being a mix of his cheating and her smart usage of her advantages).

I don't think book Lamina was cutthroat, necessarily, but she seemed more willing to 'do what it takes' and she's definitely more hardened. She hits Marcus three times before he dies, which takes a lot of mental fortitude to stomach. She waits to actually put him out of his misery in favor of picking a weapon and chooses to stand and fight against the pack despite Reaper's warnings instead of being cornered and having no way off the beams in time to outrun the pack, basically being forced to fight them. It's the balance between that and her undeniable kindness and softness that I miss, this show that yes, you can be both soft and strong. But again, I wouldn't be nearly this critical if this wasn't a pattern.

sometimes i see someone complain about something in the fandom and just sit there confused, because i must admit, that has never happened in the history of forever