Hi everyone,

I first want go back to Ethan's earlier post where he talks about the use of sound in Princes Mononoke.  I agree with Ethan that the use of sound was very clever and brilliant.  The lack of sound made the Deer God seem more powerful and mystical.  Most of the time in movies, the lack of sound is used for either anticipation or an intense serious moment.  In the Hunger Games, the producers use lack of sound at the coliseum when Katniss first enters the arena and people are being killed.  They use lack of sound to not only make the deaths more intense but also to not scare little children.

 Another things I appreciated about this movie was the strong female characters.  I learned today in class that a lot of Ghibli movies have strong women.  There were no damsels in distress or subservient characters.  The women in this film were sassy and able to take care of themselves.  In addition, they were trained to use guns.  That is why I found it kind of funny and ironic when the men of the village toward the end said that they had to go save the women.   Even though I am very happy that the directors did not have damsels in distress or subservient characters, I am also wondering why.  Throughout history women have been seen as weaker.  Therefore it would make sense and be historically correct to have weaker women characters.

Overall thought I really liked the design of the characters and the overall story.