All The Colors of the Wind

I will admit that at first I was generally pleased with the poster Lionsgate released today, but I was not *WOWED*. There Katniss stands: strong, hunter, soon-to-be symbol of the rebellion. Though unsure if this poster would be able to catch someones eye as they are walking past it, I cannot deny it is beautiful and representative about Katniss' character and what she is about to become.

 I love that they have continued the theme of giving Katniss Mockingjay wings, and I'm even willing to forgive the non-Appalachia-looking rocks because HEY it's just a movie poster. You could even argue that the poster is more representative of Katniss' character and where she is headed rather than a specific location in Panem.

Peeta, can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Many fans threw around lot of amusing Pocahontas jokes today in reaction to the new poster, which actually made me start thinking and analyzing what Lionsgate was going for with this new look.

My very first reaction to the poster was that the way Katniss is posing, the added texture, and the colors immediately made me think this was something Peeta painted. I'm not saying we should expect to see something like this in the movie, but maybe they wanted to infer that it looked like something he would paint. At this point, it was as far as I could analyze.


A few hours later the super high resolution version of the poster came to us and that's what truly sold me.

Upon examining it further, the poster began to have a completely new meaning for me. I began to analyze what kind of tone they were trying to infer with this new poster release. I guess all the "Colors of the Wind" jokes should have been a clue for me, but the fandom was spot on. I have no doubts at all now that Lionsgate was trying to establish a Native American theme for this poster. Interesting really, to suddenly go in that direction, or perhaps we've been looking at so many Capitol themed posters this came as a surprise to us?

source

The zoomed in high res poster (seen above) is what made me appreciate this poster. It's a shame Katniss isn't bigger in it because she looks so beautiful. Not in a glamorous way, but natural beauty and a symbol of strength. It's not a stretch to say she looks like a Native American here with her longbow, arrows, braid, and even the hand woven scarf she wears. I would even venture to say Katniss is reminiscent of this painting of Sacagawea made around the 1800s. The coloring of the poster also stirred something in my memory concerning Native Americans. Yosemite National Park is a fixture of my past and have seen many paintings of the valley during the time Native Americans lived there. Many of these paintings (such as the one below, also made around 1800) have the same sort of color scheme, the same one the new Catching Fire poster shares. It was almost as if they had combined the two styles. We also know that this is not the first time that Catching Fire has integrated something from our world into Panem.

source (PSA: Visit Yosemite!)

Due to these discoveries, I have gone from feeling okay about the poster to being really impressed. Native American culture is as North American as you can possibly get, which just so happens to be the backdrop for The Hunger Games trilogy. Talk about going back to your roots.


The Unassuming Quote

Lastly, I couldn't have been the only one completely perplexed by the quote The Hunger Games Instagram had been leading up to. "The sun persists in rising, so I make myself stand". Such a normal unassuming quote in the context of the book. It's a tiny sentence in a book of great moments and quotes, so why would they focus on that one enough to put it on a Catching Fire poster? Well, when you put this quote next to the poster it seems to give it new meaning. Katniss must begin her long and difficult journey through even more hardship starting when that sun rises. The first day of the Victory Tour. Although she is unsure how to handle her situation at first, she soon takes a stand. Doing this begins the chain of events that will lead the country into much needed rebellion and sets her on the path to become The Mockingjay. One poster says so much.

Wingapo...