There I was, a mere silhouette in the doorway of the Deece, staring down destiny. My hair blew back in an invisible wind, whipping in a glorious crescendo of light and color. My cheekbones gained another dimension, glistening with a sheen of sweat as I entered. I wasn’t exactly walking through the Deece, and my pace was far from a mere walk. I was trotting—if not galloping—past the packed booths. Before me, students—intimidating folk, standing haphazardly in line, necks craning towards the grilled cheeses before them. The roar of their stomachs’ churning rose up in a mob-like cry. The sound wafted like a sickening scent, but I was not deterred. I was a hungry, husky Anderson Cooper, moving boldly, Voice Memos app in hand, with a question on my tongue… Peeta or Gale?
Why this question? “The Hunger Games”—which is celebrating its 15th anniversary of initial publication circa 2008—has recently resurged in popularity online due to its month-long stint on Netflix in March. The series, adapted into four blockbuster movies starring Jennifer Lawrence, features Katniss, a teenager navigating a sadistic dystopian society, and the revolution of which she unexpectedly becomes the figurehead.
Katniss’ two love interests, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, captivated and divided a fanbase in both the books and screen adaptations. Students had a lot to say on the honest merits of both. “Gale is rude, he’s phony and all he cares about is like nothing that Katniss cares about,” Kieran McByrne ’25 shares. “I hate Gale. He literally has no good qualities.” Sam Shelly ’26 had a slightly different opinion: “I think Peeta is a punk-ass bitch who is only good for painting himself and throwing bread. Gale could hunt, could survive, Peeta was just like born into a fucking bakery.”
Many students quickly brought up that Gale was responsible for the death of Katniss’ sister, Prim, and that their choice of Peeta was more because they were “Anti-Gale.” This didn’t deter Leo Valenti ’26. “Team Gale,” he opened with. “I think he’s hotter than Peeta in the movie specifically.” Deece-goers often preferred Gale in their youth, only to mature and recant their support.
I had posed the same question to some late-night library goers, only for a different query to snowball. “Pita or naan?” Julia Colón ’25 repeated back to me when I prompted her with “Peeta or Gale?” An honest misunderstanding opened up a new and interesting deep dive into the world of flatbreads. Most students openly preferred naan, except one lone voice, Charlotte Sand ’26. “I really like pita chips!” No comment on her views towards naan.
Some souls sought to turn the dialogue away from the two main love interests. Erin Kaufman ’26 steered the conversation to District 4’s Finnick Odair: “I believe that I am actually team Finnick. He should have been the predominant male character that actually carried the series.” Once the topic of other characters in the franchise came up, people weren’t hesitant to pile on: “I also would like to add the tree bitch,” Ashley Hunt ’26 proposed. “What’s her name… Joanna.” Henryk Kessel ’25 singled out the actress who played Katniss as the center of his affection. “I think Jennifer Lawrence did a wonderful job.”
After successful trips to both the Deece and Library, I believed my work to be done. I closed my Voice Memos app and slipped off the extroverted mask that had been leeching on my face. The Pulitzer would be arriving momentarily. It was so entertaining to revisit what I had been so passionately invested in during my early teen years.
But little did I know the truth of what was to come. I would be shocked to find that the vast majority of my recordings would actually be garbled background noise, a direct result of my inability to use the Voice Memos app successfully. Student stories, anecdotes, a full-on friend group brawl had failed to be recorded as it happened. I took this loss in stride, however, because what better way to end the semester than with the promise to return in August, app in hand once again, to ask an even more pressing fandom question: Edward or Jacob? We surely will win the Pulitzer then.
