I finally got to watch the Ballad of the Song Birds over Thanksgiving break, and although I usually read the books before I watch the movie adaptation, I switched the order for this time. (Still undetermined on if that was the right thing to do because I have not read the book yet.) From what I know, I loved the movie a lot. It provides a perspective of Snow that audiences did not get to see in the original series, but the thing that fascinated me the most is the similarities between Coriolanus Snow and Katniss Everdeen.

Snow did not start out as the dictator most know him to be through Katniss’s perspective. Only a few years after the war, we see that he is more poor than he appears to be to the outer world. This is shown through Tigress making his shirts using tiles from the bathroom, Snow skipping meals so his grandmother can eat, the constant threat of eviction from their home, and even through the poorly tailored clothes Snow wears compared to his counterparts. This, in some ways is similar to Katniss, who also grew up in poverty. The differences are vast, of course, but before Snow had the power he had, he was desperate to make life better for himself and his family. Which is similar to Katniss’s strong desire of keeping her family safe.

The parallels between the two continue with their love interests. Snow went into the games with the plan of landing on top in his mentorship position and was given the “worst” pick–Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. This is similar to Katniss because her sister Prim was considered unlucky because her name was picked after only being put into the reaping one time, and it got passed to Katniss after she took her sister’s place. She went into her games with only one goal, which was to survive. They both had strict goals that they went into the games with, but ultimately, their priority goal shifted to trying to protect the people they fell in love with in the games.

I think the parallels between the two really reveal the influence of power and how it reveals a person’s true desires and character. Snow wanted control, and he had love for Lucy Gray until he realized she was something that he could not control. She got in the way of his plan to be in power, so he let her and Sejanus go. He lost everything to keep his power, even his cousin. When Katniss began to have power and influence, she still prioritized the wellbeing of the people around her and trying her best to do the right thing. Even when she was about to execute Snow, she chose to kill Coin because she knew that would be best for everyone. Coin was just like Snow, and Katniss could see it when most couldn’t.