25 "The Hunger Games" Book Plotlines And Details People Are Sad We Lost In The Movie Adaptations

    I wish Catching Fire took the time to tell us what happened during Haymitch's Hunger Games, like the book.

    Nora Dominick
    by Nora Dominick

    BuzzFeed Staff

    We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which storylines from The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay books they were sad didn't make it into the movies. Here are some of the best responses:

    There are obviously MASSIVE book and movies spoilers ahead!

    1. First, when Katniss becomes permanently deaf in one ear after blowing up the Careers' supplies, even though it's repaired in the Capitol afterward, she still suffers hearing loss.

    Katniss with the explosion in front of her
    Lionsgate

    Suggested by: saraa4a00f7b8f

    2. Also, when Peeta's leg is amputated and he has a prosthetic leg for the rest of the series, which is important when he goes back into the Games in Catching Fire.

    Peeta and Katniss holding hands
    Lionsgate

    "The disability erasure still gets me. Peeta has his leg amputated following the events in the first games, and he has a prosthetic leg for the rest of the series. This is completely ignored. Katniss is rendered deaf in one ear after she blows up the Careers' supplies, and she doesn't regain any hearing on her left side until afterwards when the Capitol gives her a hearing aid. Both of these points are completely ignored in the movies, and as a disabled person it's frustrating to know we had two canonically disabled protagonists in the books, and they still led a rebellion and did everything their abled counterparts did. Erasing that for the movies didn't surprise me, but it did sting."

    —ghcstxbcy

    3. When Madge is the person who gives Katniss the mockingjay pin before she leaves for the Hunger Games.

    Madge handing the pin and saying, you keep it. it's yours
    Lionsgate

    "I was most upset about leaving Madge out, and the true way Katniss received the mockingjay pin. It really bummed me out."

    —rellisdean26

    4. Everything that happened with Haymitch during his Hunger Games and how he became a victor.

    closeups of haymitch
    Lionsgate

    "I wish they gave us more of Haymitch's backstory. We learned about his backstory in Catching Fire, but the movie doesn't show it. In my opinion, it was very important. We learned more about him, such as how he survived the quarter quell and why afterwards, he became so traumatized that he became an alcoholic."

    —xy8lu

    5. The importance of Katniss's dad and how he was the one who taught her how to hunt, sing, gave her the bow, and more.

    framed photo of her dad and then katniss saying, you can't tune out again. not like when dad died, i won't be there anymore
    Lionsgate

    "The only real 'mention' of Katniss's dad is the photo seen in every movie and her telling her mom she 'can’t lose it like she did when Dad died' while they’re saying their goodbyes in the first movie. He taught Katniss everything about survival and is the reason she can even get through the games. He also taught her the 'Hanging Tree' song, which is a major plot device."

    —lessahd

    6. When it was made clear that the Mutts that come after Katniss, Peeta, and Cato resemble the fallen tributes from their games.

    AI construction of the mutts and then the real mutts going after someone
    Lionsgate

    "It's a basic one, but I thought it was interesting in the first book when they were attacked by the mutts at the end of the first Hunger Games, but the mutts were genetically modified monsters using the DNA and eyes of all of the fallen contestants. It would have been a simple change for the movie that would have amplified the horror of the situation."

    —enigmaticbloke

    7. Also, how the Mutts in the sewer in Mockingjay were given the ability to say, "Katniss," in order to terrify the group even more.

    Katniss yelling down at a fallen Finnick
    Lionsgate

    Suggested by: wendys20

    8. The prominence (and importance) of the social commentary about the Capitol and its citizens.

    citizens in a group outside and then people from the capitol sitting on a stage
    Lionsgate

    "Some of the more damning social commentary around the Capitol. For example, there was this one poignant scene where Katniss is at a party and she sees people throwing up food just to go back for more. She has this thought-provoking inner monologue about how backward it is that people strive to be skinny there, when in her world, everyone is starving, and not being thin is a sign of success. I think the movie missed out on a lot of that type of commentary, which is what made the books such a relevant critique of our world as it is now."

    —chicha3maddy

    "This is so important to the entire dystopia of Panem. The disparity is what makes it the HUNGER Games!"

    —nynbarnes

    9. Katniss's fake pregnancy being an important commentary on how she's only cared about now because she's pregnant.

    and i wouldn't have any regrets  at all if it weren't for the baby
    Lionsgate

    "Obviously the movie adaptation of Catching Fire has the scene when Peeta lies and says that Katniss is pregnant, but in the book, it's a bigger plotline. Throughout the actual Games, Katniss has to pretend to be pregnant to keep up the lie and there are some great Johanna moments because of it. It's also another brilliant detail that adds to the rebellion as people now worried about Katniss in the Games again because she's pregnant — you know, not because it's literally an inhumane tradition. It's just one of the many great social commentary storylines from Suzanne Collins that she tucks within this YA dystopian series. She's a brilliant writer."

    —noradominick

    10. Katniss's important relationships with her entire styling team — Venia, Flavius, and Octavia — not just Cinna.

    Katniss greeting her stylist
    Lionsgate

    "Katniss's relationship with her entire style team, not just Cinna! In the books, she formed a deep emotional attachment with all three of Cinna's assistants, who each have their own personality and story. In the movies, they are barely featured other than a snide comment here or there, and Katniss has essentially no relationship with them."

    —strangerthanitseems

    11. And, when Katniss finds her entire styling team being held captive in District 13.

    someone saying, is it visiting hours again?
    Lionsgate

    "They definitely should have included when Katniss found her prep team chained up and tortured in District 13. She was horrified by the way they were treated, all because they simply didn’t know any better. All they knew was the ways of the Capitol. It was one of the many things that made her start to question if there was a difference between District 13 and the Capitol!"

    —loulou2182

    12. When Katniss recognizes the Avox girl working for them when they get to the Capitol before the Hunger Games.

    katniss at the dinning table and an arrow pointing to the avox girl standing in the back
    Lionsgate

    "In the first book, Gale and Katniss witness a girl and her brother trying to escape District 12 in the woods. They get caught by a hovercraft. The boy gets stabbed and the girl is lifted up. Katniss and Gale could have saved her, but they didn’t and the girl saw them. Fast forward to when Katniss gets to the Capitol after the Reaping, she finds out that the girl who she saw in the woods is now an Avox and she serves Katniss. This was such an important story to me. I was devastated when it wasn’t in the movie."

    —madamemalfoy

    13. And overall, just more inclusion of the Avox storylines and how their treatment is a big motivator for Katniss and her disdain for the Capitol.

    my brother knows these tunnels really well. he worked sanitation down here, right after they made him an avox
    Lionsgate

    "I wish they had included the Avox storyline overall! It added so much depth, not just to the world of Panem, but to Katniss and her motivations. Her experience with the redheaded Avox her first time in the capitol was one of Katniss’s first glimpses at the Capitol's cruelty."

    —strangerthanitseems

    14. The emphasis on Katniss's mental health after she kills President Coin and how Greasy Sae made sure Katniss hunted and was fed for months.

    katniss yelling at the cat, she's dead and she's not coming back, get out get out!
    Lionsgate

    "Her mental health in the third book and what happened after she killed Coin and Sae helping her when she went back to 12 was huge, and just glossed over in the movies."

    —amandakins

    15. More of Katniss and Finnick's friendship, especially when Peeta and Annie are both being held in the Capitol during Mockingjay.

    finnick saying, i wanted to go back for Peeta and johanna but i couldn't move. they have annie too they took her. she's in the capitol
    Lionsgate

    "I missed the depth of Finnick and Katniss’s relationship from the books. They lean on each other when Peeta and Annie are held in the Capitol and this doesn’t come across as much in the films."

    —hannahlrogers1993

    16. Johanna becoming addicted to morphling after she's hospitalized in District 13 following being held hostage in the Capitol.

    johanna in the hosptial visiting katniss
    Lionsgate

    "She used to take it from Katniss."

    —rachelg44ec195c4

    17. When Cato is being torn apart by the Mutts, and after a few hours, Katniss eventually kills him to put him out of his misery.

    katniss aiming with her arrow
    Lionsgate

    "Towards the end of the first book, Cato was essentially mercy killed by Katniss after he literally doesn't die for hours and hours. Maybe this was too harsh for a teen movie — she kills him pretty soon after he falls in the film — but it was a big moment in the book. He had been a powerful bully the whole time and in that moment he was a kid, bound to the same system of servitude as the protagonists, evoking pity from the reader and Katniss."

    —sdasda

    18. When Katniss is sent bread from District 11 after Rue's death.

    someone saying, you have to win to katniss
    Lionsgate

    "I didn't mind that in the movie we actually see the beginning of the rebellion in District 11 after Rue's death, however I would've loved to have seen this little touch. It would've allowed Katniss to actually KNOW while in the Games that District 11 saw what she did for Rue and supported her."

    —laurengarafano

    19. When Darius, a Peacekeeper in District 12, stops Gale's flogging, and is ultimately sent to the Capitol and becomes an Avox.

    the beating getting stopped outside
    Lionsgate

    Suggested by: rachelg44ec195c4

    20. Katniss secretly giving Peeta the sleep syrup so he would be unconscious and she could go to the Cornucopia and get the medicine to heal him.

    peeta saying there's no way he's letting katniss go before she gives him the sleep syrup
    Lionsgate

    "I wish the part were Katniss tricks Peeta with the sleeping syrup in the first book made it in."

    —hovanmolly

    21. When Cato showed up after Clove died and begged for her to stay alive.

    Cato says, you killed her, you said her name!
    Lionsgate

    "I was sad they didn’t include Cato coming to Clove when she was dying and begging for her to stay with him. It helped Katniss see that the Careers were also human and just as much a part of the games as she and Peeta were."

    —jeroy

    22. Finnick being used more for propaganda spots by President Coin and the rebellion. In particular, he uses his friendship with Mags to gain support.

    Finnick filming himself
    Lionsgate

    "Finnick was used for propo in Mockingjay. He talked about some tributes and Mags as a way to boost the rebels and remind them why they were fighting in the first place."

    —kryan42344

    23. When Katniss and Peeta are sent a special picnic basket filled with food during their Hunger Games.

    katniss opening the basket and finding a note readying, you call that a kiss?
    Lionsgate

    "I really missed this small moment."

    —sonyatebor

    24. When both Katniss and Peeta are injured after the bomb that kills Prim goes off.

    katniss engulfed in flames
    Lionsgate

    Suggested by: munozstephanie12

    25. And finally, the characters from District 12 speaking with a distinct Appalachian accent, and different accents being used across all of Panem.

    katniss and gale sitting in the field
    Lionsgate

    "The people of District 12 should have had an Appalachian accent. In the books it’s discussed that 12 is in a place once called the Appalachian mountains. The Capitol is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains. It’s safe to assume that west coast elite fled there, hence why people from the Capitol are described as always talking like they’re asking a question. What accent do we know resembles this? The valley girl accent. The Capitol is meant to represent the elite of today, they dress weird and act weird and talk weird. The disconnect of classes would’ve been so much more obvious if they had included the varying accents of Panem, it would be easier to understand why Katniss makes fun of their accent when we first meet her."

    —mirianflsnow

    We can't fit everything into one post, so what other The Hunger Games book plots, characters, details, and more are you sad didn't get adapted (or adapted properly)? Tell us in the comments below!