The books are better if you imagine Katniss as Indigenous.

Peeta’s character would be better if he gave Katniss the bread because he’s a good person, not because he’s had a crush on this girl since he was five. I think it cheapens the moment from something that could have been borne out of kindness (which is literally Peeta’s main character trait) to something done out of romantic interest.

Gale receives too much hate. He’s a complex character with strengths and weaknesses. So many people hate him just because they love Peeta (and this is coming from a Peeta lover).

Especially if, like Katniss, we imagine Gale as Indigenous. He’s a young man, willing to use violence to finally obtain freedom for himself and his people, after his whole life, violence was used to exploit him. In my opinion, a lot of non-Peeta-related critique of Gale stinks of the same vibe as “but why can’t you protest peacefully after police killed your unarmed family members because they were Black?”

Suzanne Collins’ writing is proof that you could create an incredibly effective critique of sexual exploitation without being graphic or explicit. My general opinion is that good writing does not need graphic sexual exploitation to make us feel uncomfortable about it. And Suzanne Collins manages to make me feel nauseous and unsettled without a single explicit scene.