lucky leftie & the importance of media analysis
how one tiktoker encourages individuals to engage with their media, rather than merely consume it
**originally written in April 2024**
“The Hunger Games were for Gen Z what Harry Potter was for the Millennials,” Laura Rowe – who writes for TrillMac magazine – explains,1 so when Netflix added the four-part film franchise to its streaming platform in March 2023, a new era of Hunger Games admirers arose. Initially released as novels by Suzanne Collins, with the first book-to-movie adaption premiering in 2012, Gen Z has grown up on Panem–the fictional world where the Hunger Games is set. The series contained all the ingredients for a successful dystopian series: a love triangle, a revolution against the government, a rebellious female hero, and an abundance of jaw-dropping moments – giving watchers the ability to escape reality and live in Panem.
Before diving into the decade-later phenomenon, it is crucial to uncover the impacts of the Hunger Games from the past. The early 2010s was an era for dystopian stories, with the eagerly awaited Twilight finale being released, and the beginnings of book-to-movie adaptions for beloved YA series Divergent and The Maze Runner. Despite these installments, The Hunger Games series earned the greatest acclaim from the pact, selling over a million copies of the books and bringing in $690 million from the box office. Katniss’ signature braid, the Mockingjay symbol, and “may the odds be ever in your favor”2 were staples in the world of North American tweens, creating a renaissance of tributes.
3 The Hunger Games’ resurgence of 2023 brought insight into the film because the tributes of the past have grown up. Popular among Gen Z folk, fans of the series were tweens in 2012, making them young adults now. After these films were ‘re-released,’ Gen Z became re-obsessed, flooding TikTok’s ‘For You’ pages with fan edits, new ideas for the series, and more. Most importantly, these matured fans began to recognize the nuance of Panem. As Giuliana Islas writes on SX Student Media, “Watching it for the first time, I did not take much away from the films except that there was a lot of action, and Katniss Everdeen was stuck in a love triangle, [whereas] now, ten years later, I know that I missed the most important points of the film.”4 Fans uploaded in-depth analyses on the characters, story, and symbolism of the series, with Tik Toker Loretta Loera leading this revival.
Known by the username @luckyleftie, or by my friends as ‘The Hunger Games girl’, Loera posts in-depth examinations of The Hunger Games on her TikTok profile. In February 2024, I was able to interview Loera via Zoom, diving into her Tik Tok journey. Even through the screen, Loera has an endearing aura – smiling, joking, and engaged throughout our conversation. She explains how she rewatched the series during the March 2023 renaissance because her little sister had never seen them before. “I was pausing every five to ten minutes to ramble,” Loera explains, realizing the content jackpot she had discovered. Closely after this epiphany, Loera re-watched the entire film series, re-read the book series, and began posting her literary analyses.
Loera’s TikTok page has a whopping ninety-two Hunger Games-related videos that cover just about everything in the world of Panem. In one video, she details the tool of fashion in Panem, noting how the extravagant fashion of the Capitol citizens show “…how out-of-touch the average Capitol citizen is, [because] the[ir] need to constantly [and] excessively consume distract[s] them from the horrors that fuel that consumption” whereas “…the drab, gray jumpsuit,” of District 13, “are used to convey a shared sense of identity, but do so at the expense of stripping individuals’ self-expression.”5 Noticing these symbols, Loera illustrates the critiques on current US culture that Collins’ intended in her writing.
Think of Doja Cat’s Swarovski outfit6, where the singer donned thirty thousand diamonds on her head and arms, versus a US prison jumpsuit, a “drab, [orange] jumpsuit.”7 In both Panem and US society, fashion is a way to display someone’s wealth, or lack thereof. As Emily St. James. from Vox explains, Collins’ use of symbolism “gave us a way to talk about something people could feel intuitively but struggled to put into words — namely, a growing income gap between the haves and have-nots.”8
9 In other videos, Loera thoroughly explores the characters of the series. In one video, Loera unpacks the relationship between Peeta and Katniss. Peeta, the innocent bakery-boy, and Katniss, the independent breadwinner, both find themselves in the Games after briefly meeting in District 12-the poorest town of Panem. Contrary from most YA novels, the pair do not ‘fall in love’, but rather act that they are in love to gain sponsors and stay alive. Loera examines this phenomenon, noting how Peeta knows “…he is not entitled to hold her to the promises she made to save her life,” but rather understands that “their first priorities [are] to ensure the survival of themselves and their families.”10 Katniss stands apart as a female lead because she is motivated by her family, not by love. As Isadora Lambert from Video Librarian analyzes, watchers “were not used to seeing a young woman take on the role of fierce protector that is typically held by men,” and compared to the lovestruck, leading woman in Twilight, “in 2012, many young women [wanted] to think of themselves as brave Katnisses.”11 From investigating the implications of Panem’s food rationing system to the symbolism of President Snow’s roses, Loera untangles the web that Collins created whilst illustrating the immense nuance (and real-life elements) in this series.
“It really enriches the overall experience of consuming media…taking the time to stop, reflect, see what I manage to take away, and see what others can take away from it as well.”
Loretta Loera
Before becoming 2023’s own leading-Katniss, Loera created her TikTok page, beginning in 2020. She explains that she “…originally started posting out of boredom during quarantine,” laughing at the fact that she “was rotting in the same set of pyjamas every day for two weeks, so [Tik Tok] was an excuse to get dressed in the morning and talk.” Her first viral video, an analysis of Andy Weir’s short story “The Egg”, brought encouraging audience reactions, prompting Loera to answer comments and continue posting. “I just sort of fell into this natural pattern,” Loera explains. “Whenever I watched a new movie, tv show or video game I really liked, I would talk about it.”
Despite studying sciences in university–specifically biology, neuroscience, and environmental science— Loera creates almost all her analyses on her own observations and opinions. “I was very much into English [and] I’ve always been a big reader,” Loera notes, but her passion to become a veterinarian trumped her commitment to study English in university. Loera also drew inspiration from other creators that detail the nuance in media, such as a now-deactivated TikToker @everyframeofpainting. “It really enriches the overall experience of consuming media,” Loera explains, “Taking the time to stop, reflect, see what I manage to take away, and see what others can take away from it as well.”
Loera gains a lot of support and insight from her followers, gaining approximately 933,000 followers and millions of views on her videos. She takes a “community-based approach to content,” explaining how she regularly engages with comments and questions from her followers. “Every now and then, usually in my comments actually, someone will say ‘hey, did you notice this very specific thing?’” Loera giggles, motivating her to research the detail and make an analysis based on the comment. Followers have shown their adoration for Loera’s examinations, with one commenter stating that Loera is “single-handedly behind the Hunger Games revival,” and another noting that they are rereading the Hunger Games because of Loera.12
“I very often see when anything remotely serious happens or whenever a serious issue is presented, people’s first impulse is to make a meme with it or make it a trend to talk about, without actually engaging with the material itself or what it’s trying to say”
Loretta Loera
Given US society’s state of economic and societal disparity, Loera demonstrates the need to question the deeper significances of the media we consume. Loera explains how individuals in US culture often “desensitize ourselves to horrifying things through entertainment,” much like the purpose of The Hunger Games themselves. “I very often see when anything remotely serious happens or whenever a serious issue is presented, people’s first impulse is to make a meme with it or make it a trend to talk about, without actually engaging with the material itself or what it’s trying to say,” Loera states. While this mechanism is a way to distance ourselves from harsh issues, it also numbs us to the events happening around us . Let’s think about The Games—kids ages twelve to eighteen enter an arena to kill each other and entertain the citizens of Panem. While this ‘challenge’ is extreme, US media already desensitizes watchers from violence. With reality shows promoting individuals suffering – such as Survivor and Naked & Afraid – and video games to kill people – like Fortnite and Call of Duty – our society endorses the elements of the Hunger Games, which makes me wonder if we could start our own. When I asked Loera her opinion on a future US Hunger Games, she thinks our society will advance money-winning reality shows, like Stephen King’s novel, The Running Man—a game show where individuals win money if they survive a team of hitmen sent to kill them. “…I don’t think it would start off [as] extreme” as The Hunger Games, Loera describes, “…but I do think that games like The Running Man…are already prevalent to a certain degree and may become more prevalent in the future.” Loera does not wish for a future Hunger Games, explaining that “…maybe one day, a situation with that level of organized violence could happen, but” crossing her fingers, “I have some hope.”
Similarly, The Hunger Games explores the mass consumption in US society. Loera explains a scene in the series where the main characters are offered a pill to make them purge, so they can keep eating. “Even though a pill like that doesn’t exist in real life,” Loera explains, this scene illustrates “…this need to consume as much as possible, even at the expense of others.” US culture currently acts similarly to this scene – with the Kardashians posting their table-long charcuterie boards,13 while one in eight US households suffer from food insecurity.14 Even during the release of The Hunger Games’ films, companies like Subway, Cover Girl, and Hasbro created Panem-inspired products, with Aja Romano from Vox explaining that they are “…consciously miss[ing] the entire point of the series in a way the series itself anticipated.”15 Noreena Hertz from The Guardian coined the term “Generation K” for those who grew up with The Hunger Games series, explaining that “Generation K is coming of age in the shadow of economic decline, job insecurity, increasing inequality and a lack of financial optimism…[so] Like Katniss, they feel the world they inhabit is one of perpetual struggle – dystopian, unequal and harsh.”16
Despite her use of the Hunger Games for her content, Loera’s analyses are much greater than simply discussing a YA fiction series because she shows viewers ways to engage with media. With the positive audience reaction, Loera plans to create a Media Literacy series for her followers, including media literacy, critical thinking, and reading comprehension. “It’s a skill anyone can develop, and anyone can practice,” Loera states, and a way to “…give people the tools to learn how to build these skills on their own.”
Loera’s platform helps individuals learn to analyze media, critically think about the messages of the media we consume and builds a community of engaged watchers. After stumbling upon Loera’s page in 2023, I also re-watched and read the series with a whole new perspective. Similar to Loera, I find myself pausing a show I’m watching every ten minutes to babble about a minor detail to my boyfriend (ask him – he gets so irritated!). At the end of our interview, Loera explains how her platform has allowed her to “…engage with the media [she] consume[s] on a much deeper level,” and what she may not have realized–her videos teach watchers how to do the same.
Rowe, Laura. “‘The Hunger Games’ Is Having a TikTok Resurgence.” Trill Mag, 12 Apr. 2023, www.trillmag.com/life/social-media/the-hunger-games-is-having-a-tiktok-resurgence/.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.
Islas, Giuliana. “‘The Hunger Games’ Renaissance.” March 15, 2023. https://sxustudentmedia.com/the-hunger-games-renaissance/.
LuckyLeftie. “A Look at the Way Fashion Is Used in #Panem!” TikTok, 28 Mar. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@luckyleftie/video/7215701623610395946?lang=en.
Power, Shannon. “Doja Cat’s 30K Swarovski Crystal Look Puzzles Fans-“chicken Pox Gone Wild”.” Newsweek, January 23, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/doja-cat-swarovski-crystals-schiaparelli-paris-fashion-1775825.
LuckyLeftie. “A Look at the Way Fashion Is Used in #Panem!” TikTok.
Grady, Constance, Emily St. James, Eleanor Barkhorn, Alex Abad-Santos, and Aja Romano. “10 Years Later, Is The Hunger Games Still Shocking?” Vox, December 19, 2018. https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/19/18136112/hunger-games-10-year-anniversary.
LuckyLeftie. “A Look at the Way Fashion Is Used in #Panem!” TikTok.
LuckyLeftie. “A Closer Look at Why #KatnissEverdeen Gravitates Towards #PeetaMellark.” TikTok, March 11, 2023.
Lambert, Isadora. “Looking Back on The Hunger Games: 10 Years Later.” Video Librarian, March 23, 2022. https://videolibrarian.com/articles/essays/looking-back-on-the-hunger-games/#:~:text=Its%20effect%20on%20society%20is,take%20action%20and%20promote%20change.
LuckyLeftie. “The Hunger Games Has Very Purposeful Naming Methods and Its Always Been One of My Favorite Parts of the Series :).” TikTok, 21 Mar. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@luckyleftie/video/7213187804954643754?lang=en.
Broekema, Kasey. “Kardashians Ripped for ‘excessive Amount’ of Food during Lavish Thanksgiving.” The US Sun, November 25, 2022. https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/6762827/kardashians-thanksgiving-dinner-kim-kris-royal-portraits-desserts-food/.
“Hunger & Poverty in America.” Food Research & Action Center, October 25, 2023. https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america#:~:text=Hunger%20Quick%20Facts%20for%202022,to%20an%20affordable%2C%20nutritious%20diet.
Grady, Constance, Emily St. James, Eleanor Barkhorn, Alex Abad-Santos, and Aja Romano. “10 Years Later, Is The Hunger Games Still Shocking?” Vox.
Hertz, Noreena. “Think the Millennials Have It Tough? For Generation K Life’s Even Harsher.” The Guardian, March 19, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/think-millennials-have-it-tough-for-generation-k-life-is-even-harsher.
References
Broekema, Kasey. “Kardashians Ripped for ‘excessive Amount’ of Food during Lavish Thanksgiving.” The US Sun, November 25, 2022. https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/6762827/kardashians-thanksgiving-dinner-kim-kris-royal-portraits-desserts-food/.
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.
Grady, Constance, Emily St. James, Eleanor Barkhorn, Alex Abad-Santos, and Aja Romano. “10 Years Later, Is The Hunger Games Still Shocking?” Vox, December 19, 2018. https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/19/18136112/hunger-games-10-year-anniversary.
Hertz, Noreena. “Think the Millennials Have It Tough? For Generation K Life’s Even Harsher.” The Guardian, March 19, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/19/think-millennials-have-it-tough-for-generation-k-life-is-even-harsher.
“Hunger & Poverty in America.” Food Research & Action Center, October 25, 2023. https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america#:~:text=Hunger%20Quick%20Facts%20for%202022,to%20an%20affordable%2C%20nutritious%20diet.
Islas, Giuliana. “‘The Hunger Games’ Renaissance.” March 15, 2023. https://sxustudentmedia.com/the-hunger-games-renaissance/.
Lambert, Isadora. “Looking Back on The Hunger Games: 10 Years Later.” Video Librarian, March 23, 2022. https://videolibrarian.com/articles/essays/looking-back-on-the-hunger-games/#:~:text=Its%20effect%20on%20society%20is,take%20action%20and%20promote%20change.
LuckyLeftie. “A Closer Look at Why #KatnissEverdeen Gravitates Towards #PeetaMellark.” TikTok, March 11, 2023.
LuckyLeftie. “A Look at the Way Fashion Is Used in #Panem!” TikTok, 28 Mar. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@luckyleftie/video/7215701623610395946?lang=en.
LuckyLeftie. “The Hunger Games Has Very Purposeful Naming Methods and Its Always Been One of My Favorite Parts of the Series :).” TikTok, 21 Mar. 2023, www.tiktok.com/@luckyleftie/video/7213187804954643754?lang=en.
Power, Shannon. “Doja Cat’s 30K Swarovski Crystal Look Puzzles Fans-“chicken Pox Gone Wild”.” Newsweek, January 23, 2023. https://www.newsweek.com/doja-cat-swarovski-crystals-schiaparelli-paris-fashion-1775825.
Rowe, Laura. “‘The Hunger Games’ Is Having a TikTok Resurgence.” Trill Mag, 12 Apr. 2023, www.trillmag.com/life/social-media/the-hunger-games-is-having-a-tiktok-resurgence/.