What is with the team Peeta and team Gale sides?

[Gretchen]

Now maybe I am just too old. However i do not get the whole need to pick a side as to who you think the character of Katniss should have ended up with. The fate of the relationship was decided by the author. You might have seen things differently but why are you hanging on to a side?

[Cathy Jane]

I always wanted Gale for Katniss since he had been Katniss' best friend. The power of friendship! they knew each other very well. But as the story unfolds, I realized that Peeta is meant for Katniss!I just love the ending. :)

[Charlotte]

I live both Gale and Peeta. It's not twilight, Peeta and Gale don't actually hate eachother. Unlike the whole twilight.

[La Toya]

Gretchen wrote: "Now maybe I am just too old. However i do not get the whole need to pick a side as to who you think the character of Katniss should have ended up with. The fate of the relationship was decided by t..."

Its human nature to pick sides even knowing that the fate does not lie with you.

[Katie]

Toya said it well, it is human nature. Besides why read if you are not passionate and opinionated about the literature.

[Sabzzy123]

It's like nobody understands it's not about them it's about katniss, I asked my friend who the main character was and she said gale, he was barley in the first book , even in twilight teams are stupid because you act like there a prize like I'd rather have him, here's a question for them when you have tell me what do u plan to with it, keep telling it's not responding body ur in love with it and they have better hair than it's oppent , honestly theses people need to grow up and relies this using on of those times when you de Kidd who like better cause no body cares. Those dimm- witted people for get the actual aspect of the book and what it represents. Wow that was longer than I expected

[Sabzzy123]

Cathy Jane wrote: "I always wanted Gale for Katniss since he had been Katniss' best friend. The power of friendship! they knew each other very well. But as the story unfolds, I realized that Peeta is meant for Katnis..."

U mean to tell me that u liked the way that her mom and gale both left, and that everyone else besides peeta that she loved died, that like saying you love hitler

[Katie]

wow Sabzzy, that's harsh and not very respectful of others opinions. Just because people don't see things your way does not mean they are like 'hitler' or are dimwitted. Don't be like the capital ;P

[Gretchen]

I understand having opinions. Absolutely. However, all the threads on THG are team this or team that. Who do you like better etc. These are very surface level reading perspectives. I want to see young people focus more on the story then just who is cuter and who they would want to date.

[Katie]

That's fair Gretchen. It is nice to talk about books on a more in depth level. This is why I don't normally read the threads, but yours caught my eye for some reason. I would love to see this series compared to 1984 and other past classics that addressed the same concepts. That would make for an interesting discussion.

[Gretchen]

Exactly Katie. My husband is having his 8th grade students read these and I guess that is why the topic is in my head and why I want to see young people dig deeper in the novels.
I know he is having them compare it to the short story "The most dangerous game." It has been a while since I read the "Princess Bride" but I seem to recall Humperdink having levels of fighting arenas as well. Historically THG are no different from the days of the gladiators same concept of keeping slaves oppressed and unwanted people under control. Is history linear or a circle doomed to repeat itself or constantly moving forward?

[Amy]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" a brilliant quote from George Santayana. I wasn't going to write that but that last line from Gretchen seemed to be an appropiate time to use it. Personally, I hate the whole Team Peeta and Team Gale thing because the books are so much more than that. I am a teenager and to me these books arn't about who I want Katniss to be with, in fact I couldn't care less cause the ending was beautiful. I recognise the message about control in society and how it so doesn't work (Arab Spring anyone?) and how people's obsession with reality TV is going too far. And as the books went on, the idea of revolution, changing a whole nation by the power of the people to make things better and Suzanne Collins is brilliant in showing that people do die when you risk your life doing something like take part in a revolution. What I am trying to say is, please don't lose complete faith in young readers. There is a minority of us who do look for real meaning in books. That is what I look for in YA novels. I would really love to see these books get read in schools here in the UK, so much can be learnt from them and there are so many discussion points. Sorry for the essay but I really love these books and I do enjoy talking about them.

[Gretchen]

Thanks Amy for your insightful comment. Don't worry I haven't lost faith I know that there are more readers out there like you!

[Jennifer]

I hate the whole "team" thing. Hunger Games is not a romance. That's not what it's about (a BIG difference from Twilight.) I personally like Peeta better but that's just my opinion and I'm not doing the whole team thing.

[Diane]

"Shipping" is fun sometimes.
It might not be what the books are about but shipping comes with the territory of being in fandoms.

[Amy]

But "Shipping" completely disregards what The Hunger Games is really about. The Hunger Games is not a love story, there is so much more to it. And because people are doing the annoying Team Peeta and Team Gale, people don't wanna read it because they think it's like Twilight when they are nothing alike. The territory of being in fandoms is actually getting the point of the book and regonising what it's not. Sorry if this seems a little harsh but I'm just tired of people turning The Hunger Games, a brilliant eye-opening novel, into something it's not.

[Diane]

Being in fandoms is so much more than getting the point of the book; it is a subculture, it is being a community, it deals with how people react to a certain medium.

Of all the obsessions in fandoms, shipping is by far the most prevalent. Since romance is one of the most popular themes in literature and art, I'm not surprised. It doesn’t neccesarily mean that shippers don’t care about the rest of the story, though it may mean that the relationships in story hold the most value to them.
And yes, it can be annoying at times, but you can't really control how people enjoy the story.

[Diane]

La Toya wrote: "Its human nature to pick sides eve n knowing that the fate does not lie with you. "
Well said.