Hunger Games Hipsters

This time in just two weeks I will be having the epic bestie weekend of a lifetime with three of my very favorite girls in Arizona. It'll be a weekend of fun, sun, and most importantly, multiple viewings of "The Hunger Games."

As Hunger Game mania sets into full swing, I find myself having a somewhat adverse reaction. This is both the culmination of a three year dream and a potential nightmare. Will they mess up these books that are so precious to me? Will they leave something essential (to me) out? And most perilous of all: will they turn Hunger Games into some sort of twisted Twilight with the focus being on shirtless men and screaming fangirls? Because that is NOT the Hunger Games.

I always hated when people loved something until it got popular and then they turned their nose up. If you love a band, why aren't you happy for them when they make it big? Why are you suddenly too good for them? That's stupid.

..And yet, admittedly, I find that I am having a similar reaction with the Hunger Games becoming big. NOT that I suddenly hate it (never!) but that I bristle a bit at all the hype and most of all the new fans. I think what it comes down to is that I feel the Hunger Games deserves fans who didn't need 8,000 magazine covers of actors, movie promos on every channel, and God forbid Miley Cyrus's boyfriend to make them come around to reading a book that is more than enough on its own, no movie necessary. Every time I see a Facebook status of "Just finished the Hunger Games!1111!!!! I AM THE NUMBER 1 FAN!" I cringe; every time I walk a guest to our waiting room only to have them pull out their book and ask me "have you heard of these Hungry Games books? They're pretty good, you should read them!" I have to suppress an ironic laugh.

Because the thing is, when I read the Hunger Games--no DEVOURED the Hunger Games--you could not PAY people to read them! I spent the best part of the past three years begging family, friends and even sometimes random strangers to read these amazing books. In 2009, when you tried to give a quick plot synopsis of the book after someone asked you "well, what's it about?" you quickly watched that look enter their eye; the look that said "oh goodness, this girl is crazy. A book about kids killing kids in some sort of weird televised competition? RIGHT, I want to read that. Not." And that was that. I could not get people to listen to me.

Recently, when discussing the pains of going for years with our recommendations being snubbed only now to have everyone act like they know what's up, my dear Marci coined us the Hunger Games Hipsters. We, the Hunger Games hipsters, suffered waiting the agonizing wait between books. We discussed, devoured, and dedicated ourselves to these books. We swooned over Peeta and googled "Hunger Games movie." Back then, you got maybe one hit, eight entries down...vague rumors that maybe it would be adapted. Maybe. Someday.

I still remember Lauren & I texting frantically in those early days. I was waiting to pick my parents up at the airport, and she was begging me to reassure her that I loved Peeta. I could barely respond because it was such an unnecessary question. Who is there besides precious Peeta? After an entire weekend where I could speak of nothing but the amazing book I had just finished, I was luckily able to convince my Mom & sister to read the books as well. They too are among the ranks of the Hunger Games Hipsters.

Reading these books before the cast was announced, before the promo photos arrived and the previews came out was and always will be a fundamentally different reading experience than any new fan can have. I wouldn't have it any other way. My friends and I discussed the nuances of a look, the meaning of one of Katniss' thoughts, the destiny of Peeta after "Catching Fire" when we waited a year in agony.

I am so glad that the world is now discovering this absolute treasure that has been a part of my life for three years...but I also wish they had listened to me sooner. That we could've analyzed and discussed the characters and the plot without "yeah but Josh doesn't have blonde hair!" being any part of the conversation. That it was still about who these people were and the fight they were fighting and not "yeah but Liam is hotter!" At midnight, if you're in my theater and you're wearing a shirt with an actor-portraying-a-character's face on it, I might feel a tiny bit judgy. If you refer to a character by the actor's name, I will flinch. These books meant the world to me before Jennifer Lawrence was even a name I knew.

So yeah, ok, I'm a Hunger Games Hipster and I can't help it.

Lauren, Marci, Abbi--I CANNOT wait to properly fangirl out with you ladies in T- 2 weeks!