u/sarahwrites1234

I see a lot of people taking the behavior of characters like Plutarch, Effie, Drusilla, etc. and then extrapolating that out to all Capitol citizens, and I think that is not accurate at all, even if Katniss doesn’t fully realize it. The thing is, most of the Capitol characters we encounter at least during the first two books are part of the elite class. They are from old money families, ones that were at the Academy alongside Coriolanus. Judging what all Capitol citizens are like based on Plutarch and Effie would be like judging what all Americans are like based on the Kennedy family.

There is a lot of selection bias when most of the characters you meet are directly involved in the Games or otherwise visible on TV. First of all, most of the more visible roles (stylist, escort, gamemaker, etc) are considered prestigious, so they are usually given to people with a great deal of nepotism on their side. So these are elites who are well aware of the full evil and depravity of the Capitol and benefit from it. The less prestigious grunt work positions (e.g. preps) might not go to elites, but they are still naturally going to end up with social climbers who either lack the intellectual curiosity to question the games or lack the moral fiber to care. Because anyone who did care would get burned out of a job like that super quickly.

So what is the average Capitol citizen actually like? I suspect a lot closer to the Capitol rebels we see (Cressida, Messalla, Castor, and Pollux) than the crowd we see involved with the games. More privileged than district people, sure, but not grotesquely rich. Squad 451 even hides in a capitol apartment, and it seems very much like a standard, middle class sort of place. The sort of people who can afford to keep their pantry stocked with cans but aren’t regularly wearing designer clothes or attending parties where it is normal to make yourself sick so you can continue stuffing your face. That probably still seems like insane privilege to someone like Katniss who grew up in extreme poverty, but it’s really just ordinary middle class.

I also suspect that the average Capitol citizen might not be quite so comfortable with the games as Katniss assumes. Naturally, the people who attend the parties and parades are, but those may just be the vocal minority. Keep in mind that these people are living under an authoritarian regime where speaking out gets you killed and where all the media they consume is propaganda. So you can’t exactly go around openly saying so if you think the games are bad. You might feel like the only person in the room who has that opinion, even if 9 out of 10 people secretly agree with you. You stay silent because it’s dangerous, and you still watch the games because a) they are wildly entertaining no matter how awful you find it and b) it’s literally illegal not to.

So yeah, it’s not exactly admirable to do nothing, but it is very realistic. How many people throughout history have actively resisted evil regimes versus how many people just kept their heads down and lived another day? People like Cinna and Cressida aren’t the only ones who think the Games are bad; they are just the only ones brave enough to risk everything to stop them.

I see a lot of people taking the behavior of characters like Plutarch, Effie, Drusilla, etc. and then extrapolating that out to all Capitol citizens, and I think that is not accurate at all, even if Katniss doesn’t fully realize it. The thing is, most of the Capitol characters we encounter at least during the first two books are part of the elite class. They are from old money families, ones that were at the Academy alongside Coriolanus. Judging what all Capitol citizens are like based on Plutarch and Effie would be like judging what all Americans are like based on the Kennedy family.

There is a lot of selection bias when most of the characters you meet are directly involved in the Games or otherwise visible on TV. First of all, most of the more visible roles (stylist, escort, gamemaker, etc) are considered prestigious, so they are usually given to people with a great deal of nepotism on their side. So these are elites who are well aware of the full evil and depravity of the Capitol and benefit from it. The less prestigious grunt work positions (e.g. preps) might not go to elites, but they are still naturally going to end up with social climbers who either lack the intellectual curiosity to question the games or lack the moral fiber to care. Because anyone who did care would get burned out of a job like that super quickly.

So what is the average Capitol citizen actually like? I suspect a lot closer to the Capitol rebels we see (Cressida, Messalla, Castor, and Pollux) than the crowd we see involved with the games. More privileged than district people, sure, but not grotesquely rich. Squad 451 even hides in a capitol apartment, and it seems very much like a standard, middle class sort of place. The sort of people who can afford to keep their pantry stocked with cans but aren’t regularly wearing designer clothes or attending parties where it is normal to make yourself sick so you can continue stuffing your face. That probably still seems like insane privilege to someone like Katniss who grew up in extreme poverty, but it’s really just ordinary middle class.

I also suspect that the average Capitol citizen might not be quite so comfortable with the games as Katniss assumes. Naturally, the people who attend the parties and parades are, but those may just be the vocal minority. Keep in mind that these people are living under an authoritarian regime where speaking out gets you killed and where all the media they consume is propaganda. So you can’t exactly go around openly saying so if you think the games are bad. You might feel like the only person in the room who has that opinion, even if 9 out of 10 people secretly agree with you. You stay silent because it’s dangerous, and you still watch the games because a) they are wildly entertaining no matter how awful you find it and b) it’s literally illegal not to.

So yeah, it’s not exactly admirable to do nothing, but it is very realistic. How many people actually actively resisted the Nazis versus how many people just kept their heads down and lived another day? People like Cinna and Cressida aren’t the only ones who think the Games are bad; they are just the only ones brave enough to risk everything to stop them.