If you’ve been paying attention to Tumblr, Twitter, and everything else going on in The Hunger Games universe, people have gotten pretty caught up with Glimmer. Yes, she’s the sexy District 1 tribute played by Leven Rambin. Here’s an artistic version of her in the Games by actofmadness.tumblr.com:
Why so much fascination for an evil chick who can’t shoot arrows as well as Katniss and was raised her whole life to volunteer for the Games? Well, for one thing, Gary Ross encouraged her and Cato (Alexander Ludwig) to flirt during the movie — and we think that made her more human. Suddenly, she wasn’t just some blonde-haired bitch trying to kill people.
Then, throw in Cato’s monologue at the end of the film. It really drives home the point that these Careers may not be as innately bad as we all thought. In fact, they’ve been born and bred to be killers without ever having a chance to discover their true selves. Imagine if your entire life path was to become victor: You would turn into what they are, even if you were a nice person. That makes her even more human.
And then — and this is what’s so spellbinding — the way these Careers are trained to slip in and out of character. In the Games they are vicious, taunting murderers, but at the interviews with Caesar Flickerman, they seem like the most likable people in the world. Which game are they playing, and which one — if they had a real choice — would they really be?
Here’s Glimmer smiling for the audience, appearing in high fashion (image courtesy of may-the-odds-be-in-ur-favour.tumblr.com). She looks completely likable (which we know is NOT what she’s like otherwise). Beautiful, fun-loving. Maybe this could have been her entire life had she been born to more fortunate circumstances.
Adding to all this craze is the fact that Leven Rambin has been so engaging in interviews, and — to the delight of many in the fandom — secretly romancing Alexander Ludwig. It’s an on-screen off-screen ship, an OMG development that has cost the global economy several billion dollars of wasted work and school time (it’s true. We have stats to prove it!) And really, how can you hate a sweet girl who looks like this (image courtesy of p4.tumblr.com)?
So when you look at Glimmer, what do you see? Is she an evil District 1 tribute who you hate with every fiber of your being? Is she a damsel in a bizarre, Panem-style of distress desperately in need of saving? Our only regret is that she’s no longer going to be a part of the franchise, because she’s so freaking interesting!
To the rest of your career, Leven Rambin, we say this genuinely and earnestly: May the odds be ever in your favor.
(And your love life with Alexander Ludwig too.)