How ‘Real or Not Real’ Rebuilt Peeta’s Mind—A Deep Dive

brb crying about Peeta 🫠 every real or not real in mockingjay matters!!!!!

[scahearn]

I have heard people say proof Katniss settled for Peeta and never really loved him is that she never said I love you to him but for Katniss and Peeta after the games, propaganda and hijacking the confirmation that something is real was more important than any other words. He knew she loved him and she confirmed it was real means more to them then if she said I love you.

[dianah]

I don't remember where, but I saw someone point out something very significant when it comes to Peeta and Katniss's relationship vs Katniss and Gale. Katniss and Gale vow to kill each other if one or the other gets captured by the capital, while Peeta and Katniss protect each other "because that's you and I do, protect each other". This is one of the many ways Gale is a symbol to Katniss for destruction while Peeta is a symbol of hope and healing. There are many moments that reference this in the book and many that are intertwined, Suzanne truly is a mastermind. One very significant one is after Katniss kills coin, when she reaches for the nightlock pill, Peeta stops her from taking it and when she's being dragged away, she calls for Gale in hopes that he would kill her.

[guyjackson]

Katniss has a strong sense of self-preservation. I don't think she'd let herself fall asleep in Peeta's arms if there was any chance of him going mad and trying to strangle her again.

[HolaMindy]

I am convinced that Suzanne Collins is a genius, the way that she's able to layer all these elements together and to choose just exactly the right moments to highlight so that they have a deeper meaning to the story.

[DannyViTaylor]

screaming about calling peeta "the bright yellow" from an artist's perspective. mixing peeta's yellow with the red of katniss's fire makes orange, like a sunset. mixing gale's fire and katniss's fire just makes more red, and red is the opposite of green.

[iomartinez]

Something i love about the "love triangle" is that its never about Gale vs Peeta, its about why we fight, why we rebel. Do you rebel out of hatred for "the other"? Do you rebel to have vengeance? Or do you rebel for love, rebel because it doesn't have to be like this, because things can be better.

[HoppyGoLitely]

I was so disappointed the movie downplayed this aspect. Even the relationship Katniss and Joanna developed in District 13 wasn’t really there. They had 2 movies to get it all in and really missed an opportunity for character development that the first 2 movies had.

[agriope]

I also think Peeta recovered from the highjacking since there's a whole period of time after Coin's death where he's receiving care in the Capitol with state of the art doctors and medicine before he's cleared to come back. And I damn sure know Peeta would not be having kids if there was ANY chance he would be a danger to them

[jploel]

This game was a GREAT in-universe excuse to force Katniss to articulate and verbalize her feelings to the reader

[Unionite]

First of all, I love your videos! It's interesting that Katniss has another "Real or not real?" moment while she is on fire. It furthers my suspicions that Peeta is the one who saves her from burning alive in Mockingjay. There are so many clues even though the book never says it outright:
1) Peeta had been trailing Katniss and Gale in case a diversion was needed and was likely the only person who realistically knew Katniss' exact whereabouts when the bombs went off. (Gale was captured by this point.)
2) Katniss was in disguise, and there were a lot of dead and injured in the City Circle. It's unlikely that someone would have singled her out for saving unless they knew her identity and her disguise.
3) Despite having trailed behind Katniss and theoretically being further from the flames, Peeta is nevertheless in the burn unit longer than Katniss. (This leads Katniss to conclude that he must have made it to the City Circle after all.) He may have sustained at least some of those burns by trying to put her out.
4) During their first tribute parade, Peeta quipped, "I'll rip off your [burning] cape if you rip off mine." Notably, the tribute parade takes place at the City Circle, the same place where the bombs are dropped in Mockingjay. Also, Katniss is wearing a cape as part of her disguise.
The story begins with Peeta deliberately dropping bread into a fire to save Katniss' life. Here, Peeta (whose name is a homophone for bread) likely rushed into the flames to save Katniss yet again, getting burned in the process, just like those original loaves.

[BrittanyWagner-bg]

First off, I love your sweater! THat is so beautiful!
Second, my reason for loving "Real or Not Real". While Katniss is helping Peeta putting his memories together, she is realizing she actually truly loves Peeta. She realizes there are different ways of putting someone else first. She finds herself discovering why Peeta's memories about small things are so important to him. Thos small things point out major characteristics about him. Peeta's mental health & stability were much more important than her desire for anger and hate. That also pointed out to us that while she was doing that, Gale became petty, jealous and angry. She also realized the famous old saying about love. "Love is patience, love is kindness. "

[cynthiagerard]

A friend gave me these books after I had a career ending stroke. I didn't know if I would be able to understand it. When I got to Peeta under the influence of tracker jacker venom, I gasped. It was exactly what I was experiencing. I couldn't tell what was real or not. It helped me immensely even though it was fiction.

[StingRaeSings]

I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get at least one last kiss in the movie before or maybe after the last “real or not real” question (my favorite btw). I don’t fault them for not giving us an explicit scene we didn’t even get in the books (I appreciate that it’s hinted at in a way that older/more mature readers will understand without being explicit about it for the sake of younger readers) but I feel like they owed us one last “genuine” kiss. I always imagined it that way after she admits that she loves him (in both the book and movie versions). I love the parallels and subtle hints that these seemingly benign questions are tied to core memories that Peeta is trying to straighten out in his head regarding Katniss and honestly, his love for her. Gale was always so self-centered while Peeta was just so genuine. He’s absolutely what/who she needed and I love how Collins rebuilds their broken yet beautiful relationship, staying true to who they are and loving one another through their pain.

[AA-vbci]

The way you identify the significance of these events and how they come full circle is awesome! It's been some time since i read the books, and to me these were just normal events, nothing special. But seeing how the events connect together is just so satisfying and mind-blowing. Thankyou!

[galaxytraveler]

I have a few thoughts on the protection thing. I think Katniss’ inner child is yearning for protection. After her dad died, she had to care for not only Prim but her mother too because of how detached his death left her. When Prim is called at the reaping, she has to protect her. To survive the games, she has to protect herself. She has to listen to Snow to protect District 12. For so many people, she feels as if she’s the only thing between them and destruction. And there’s an argument to be made that Gale protects Katniss, but he does so hoping for something (her affection) in return. It’s transactional like everything else in this corrupted world. And he’ll protect her but not what she values. And protecting her but not what she values is pointless in her mind. Why protect her if you ignore her when she says to keep Prim safe, to save Peeta instead, that she doesn’t want to be the mockingjay?

Peeta knows this and I think of the beach scene in CF when he tells Katniss that she has to survive because her family needs her. He’s not just thinking about her, but also what she values. He wants Katniss to win not because he’s pushing her to be the face of the rebellion like everyone else is, but because he really just wants her to live. Yes, he sees her all rosy because of his love, but he never made her larger than life. And i think that grounding is what Katniss was wanting. To Peeta, she wasnt a hero, a shield, a raging fire, a new world order. She was just a girl he liked. Nothing grandiose, but beautiful and untouchable to him. Like the warm, orange sunset. And that’s who he’s protecting. Not the mockingjay. Not a potential lover. Not some idealized image. For once, she was just a teenage girl. And one who Peeta saw softness in. Not unsociable, short-tempered, and fatal. But the girl whose favorite color is green. Who misses her dad. Who likes to sit among the trees. He’s protecting *Katniss*.

And when Gale protects Katniss, it’s because he doesn’t want to lose her. When Peeta does, it’s because he doesn’t want her to lose herself. That goodness that stays in her despite it all. (A goodness that put tension between her and Gale in MJ).

And then i think her love starts when she realizes she WANTS to protect Peeta too. Not for the cameras. Not because she feels she owes him something. Not because he’s expecting reciprocity. Not because she’s forced to by circumstance. She just wants to because she wants to protect his goodness and his happiness too. And I think that’s reinforced when she says that “we protect each other. It’s what we do.” Implying that it’s something shared just between them.

I love Peeta so much. Glad we’re still gushing over him in 2025! 😭😭🧡🧡

[andromeda]

The hijacking is like extreme trauma, there are plenty of people who go through extreme trauma and find themselves again. Peeta shows there is still hope after so much pain

[fj]

It's been so long since I have read the books that I don't remember if the scene happened in them or just the movie but it is by far my favorite. When they are running away from mutts and guards in the sews coming up to the surface with the floor that turns into razors and the lights that burn people on contact, Peeta falls to the floor over stimulated. He's rocking, holding his hands over his ears with his eyes closed. Katniss sees him, turns around and falls the her knees in front of him. She yells for him to look at her, which he does. She asks him "Stay with me?" and he responds "Always". It's just one of those moments that makes my heart skip a beat.

[Shian]

Loved this deep dive. Peeta and Katniss went through so much hell, and I loved how they were able to help each other gradually heal as much as they could. Also liked how these RNR conversations helped Katniss realise the real Peeta was still there, as after the incident in Thirteen’s hospital there was a while when Katniss tried to convince herself he was too far gone.

[lost]

Man I am REALLY enjoying these deep dives you've been doing, it's reminding me why I love The Hunger Games, why it's the series that encouraged me to read more dystopian YA books -- and, if I'm honest, it's also the reason none of those series really hold a candle to this one. 😂 There's actually this great fanfiction series on AO3, I thin k the collection is called From the Ashes of District 12, but I think I'm going to give it a re-read while I wait for the library to have the published books available.

Also I like your sweater muchly 👀

[LadyKittybug]

I'm going to preface this with I have not read the books, but I did see the movies and enjoy your content.

I feel like the chair gripping thing could just also be a sign of PTSD/trauma, cause the part you are quoting mentions him gripping the chair and her waking up screaming. Even without Peeta being literally brainwash, they both have plenty of reasons to be traumatized. If it has anything to do with the hijacking, I feel like the gripping would be from the memories of the experience or the aftermath. But again, both of them suffered massive massive trauma.