Spoilers

Turn back now if you haven't seen both movies.

I'd like to discuss this movie I enjoyed over the holidays.

Character analysis:

Katniss is the ultimate female hero, she inspires a revolution, is deadly in combat, and self-sacrifices with the best of them. She thinks she is in love with her alpha, and initially rejects Peeta (her beta admirer). She is in control of her emotions and does what must be done to protect her family and those close to her.

Peeta is a classic beta. Even though he is relatively good looking, he is quite feminine in appearance. His name is even feminine. He also appears to be shorter than Katniss' alpha. In action he does what anyone in a good support role needs to do, he is there to comfort, boost Katniss when she has self-doubt, and even cuddles with her when she's having PTSD of some kind. And katniss is there to save his life with her superior skills and self-sacrificing nature.

So what's the problem with this feminist vision of reversed gender roles that women seem to be in love with?

Firstly, peeta is a classic nice guy, but in the real world guys such as him tend to finish last. For women to truly flip gender roles and have it become routine and accepted, they essentially must betray their own attractive preferences. And we see this movie sending this message to women. Not likely to happen imo.

The message to men is much the same except reversed, that it's ok if a woman is better, smarter, more qualified, etc, she will still genuinely be attracted to you for your beta support qualities. These qualities are no doubt important, especially monetary support capacity, but that doesn't produce tingles on it's own in the same way alpha traits do for women.

This movie is a dream, a fairy tale. I'ved asked women what they think of peeta, and there was universal agreement that he's great, but when pressed further, they would not actually date him over katniss' attractive, manly alpha.

At the end of this movie Katniss fires an arrow at the dome of the hunger games, shattering it as symbolic of women breaking the glass ceiling. This is all well and good to me in theory. When put into practice, alpha women such as this need a good beta, just as alpha men need a good beta or RP woman to reach their full potential.