The Hunger Games teaches us some lessons about the significant role that mentorship can play in our success. Katniss’ mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, is not what one would perceive as the ideal mentor. He’s hardened and a drunk. Yet, throughout the trilogy and as we see on screen in the first movie, Haymitch draws on his experience as a previous Hunger Games winner to coach her and uses his contacts to find her sponsors (a vitally important part of the games). Mentors work the same for us; they share their networks and allow their hindsight to be our foresight.
Mentorship does not mean having someone follow in one’s exact steps in a precise dance. When the games begin, Katniss runs for an orange backpack, sure to be full of important supplies, when Haymitch’s advice was to turn and find cover in the forest. There are times when we may do things differently than our mentor suggests. In this case, it worked for Katniss. Other times, disregarding a mentor’s advice may cause us harm. It’s key to remember that, within a mentorship relationship, we have to still be ourselves and make our own decisions.
Even the relationship with sponsors is addressed in The Hunger Games. Haymitch, as a mentor, can help Katniss find sponsors and, in turn, receive much needed aid but it’s the spirit of Katniss, her personality and skill that must secure the sponsorship.
Haymitch’s mentoring helped prepare Katniss for the Hunger Games, yet once she was inside the venue, it was up to her to interpret his advice. When she is parched and in danger of dehydration, Katniss turns to the camera and requests water (hopeful that Haymitch will secure a sponsorship and supply). However, Haymitch doesn’t respond. Katniss concludes that he is sending a message that water is close and sets about to find some. Many of us would conclude we are being ignored and fall into despair. Katniss, instead, is resourceful and finds the water herself.
The Hunger Games moves us another step closer to gender equality but it also demonstrates that we aren’t there yet. Katniss is a reluctant hero. She’s awkward and unsure of herself, which makes audiences root for her. If she had willingly and confidently stepped up and proclaimed that she wanted to be a leader, I suspect that audiences would not support her with the same passion. Men can do that but we’re not ready for women to do the same. That’s why mentors and sponsors are so important to us.
Still, we’ve moved a good distance along the continuum – when we have both little boys and grown men going to a movie and relating to the female hero, it shows we’ve progressed beyond that princess in the castle and learned a lot.
I am confident that we will continue to see more female heroes possessing more masculine characteristics like our Katniss Everdeen. We yearn for someone like her to show our girls that strength and compassion are equal qualities. This is just the beginning of a shift in what our vision of a female hero can be.
As the eccentric Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games loves to say, “May the odds be ever in your favour!”
{ 0 comments }
The Hunger Games, a story set in the future after a global disaster, brings with it a look at our current day society’s changing views around gender. The story itself has garnered worldwide attention. The basic core of The Hunger Games is that 24 youth are selected to enter an arena and, ultimately, fight to the death while the rest of the world watches on a screen.
The highly charged trial of Anders Breivik, the gunman who massacred 77 innocent Norwegian children at summer camp, is underway. The stress of the trial brings to the forefront the polarization of masculine and feminine energy cultures.
In my last installment, I discussed the Mentorship Spectrum, focusing on the two extremes of mentorship – formalized programs and brief moments of mentorship.
