#there's also something to be said about sejanus being played by a puerto rican actor and the added colonialism and racism against him

[mexicancat-girl]

It feels so weird to me that people's take-away after reading/watching The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is that Sejanus was a fool and deserved what happened to him.

Sejanus was a traumatized, suicidal teenager that was ostracized for most of his life. His father essentially moved his family to a rich place where everyone hates their guts, selling out their own people in the Districts. Sejanus wanted to kill himself in the Arena because of his great sense of justice and his grief over one of his FRIENDS from childhood dying so cruelly while televised to the nation. He wanted to make a statement and show that not everyone agreed with the cruelty of the government.

Sejanus being reckless makes perfect sense in that context, but because Coriolanus is the protagonist--who has little to no empathy for others and is a kiss-ass to the fascist government despite living in poverty himself--it makes it seem like Sejanus is a moron that deserved his death... He didn't.

He was a child who trusted the wrong person, considered Coriolanus his best friend and the only one who understood him, and Coriolanus' need for power and control had him ratting out Sejanus and getting the boy executed.

Sure, Sejanus could've tried to 'play the long game' and change the system from the inside... But everyone around Sejans despised him because they still saw him as District. They would constantly talk behind his back. The only reason people tolerated the Plinths was for their money.

Sejanus had no allies or friends, minus Coriolanus. How was he supposed to make any sort of true political change when he's a child of a family who most of the Capitol elite hate on principal?

That's partially why he went to District 12, because he couldn't stand being in the Capitol anymore and wanted to create real change in the districts themselves. He went there because Coriolanus was his best friend, who saved his life before, and was the only person he could trust.

He was 18 years old and he cared for people. And I'd much rather root for someone who was willing to stick up for his beliefs and help others, even if it got him killed, than someone that wholeheartedly supports the regime of a government that rules with an iron fist and regularly slaughters children.