11. Katniss Is Blamed For The Uprisings In The Districts
On the eve of the Hunger Games' Victory Tour, President Snow unexpectedly turns up at Katniss' home to tell her he's still mighty sore about her defiance of the rules of the 74th tournament, and that her attempt to kill herself and Peeta (who seems not to even be a concern for Snow, which reinforces how pathetic we're encouraged to see him as) was deemed an act of rebellion that sparked revolution around the Districts. Under the threat of murder of pretty much everyone she knows, and the destruction of life as she knows it, Katniss agrees to keep up the pretence of her romance with Peeta to convince the population that the suicide pact was an act of love, instead of an act of defiance, and that she is still behind the Capitol and everything it stands for. This lasts about a day, when she defies instructions on the Tour and gives a speech to the District 11 community to eulogise their slain tributes (especially Rue) in the film's first heart-breaking scene. Her speech inspires an old man to salute her and whistle her Mockingjay call she used in the first film to tell Rue she was safe, and he is unceremoniously shot in front of her. Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) takes time out from brushing his curtains out of his eyes to tell her to toe the line and smile politely, reading from the pre-prepared speech cards and everything will be all right, which turns out to be a massive overstatement, as the Districts erupt in revolution (curiously and atypically with the comparatively more affluent Districts rebelling the most) anyway. Snow responds by sending in the most comically over-zealous police force in the history of cinema who "quash" a non-existent rebellion in District 12 by burning everything in sight, and actually inspiring the residents to rebel a bit.