Are you a songbird or a snake? We all have the capacity to be either, and the story of Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth) illuminates just how thin a line separates the two. If you know Katniss Everdeen then you probably know President Snow and the fate which awaits him. The movie adaptation of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the prequel to the original trilogy and follows the circumstances and decisions that began the tragic transformation of this man who might have been a songbird into a snake.
It is a villain origin that is especially tragic because we know exactly how it ends. At the conclusion of Mockingjay, President Snow appears to remain faithful to the path of destruction. At least in the film version, he laughs at the chaos which ensues as a result of the decision by Katniss to shoot President Coin rather than him. There is no (at least outward) repentance and Jesus is clear: “unless you repent, you will all perish” (Luke 13:3). Here we arrive again at the tragedy. That shouldn’t be the story.
There should be no such thing as villain origin stories or stories of the downfall of men. None of us were created to be the villain. People often say at least I’m not as bad as him. At least I’ve never killed anyone. I can assure you, no one ever starts out wanting to be “as bad as him” or wanting to be the villain. None of us intend to go down that path. And yet some do. There are people who kill people. There are people who succumb to the attack of darkness. Coriolanus Snow is one of those people, but that could also be my story. It could be yours. Therefore, we must come to the light.
As The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes clear, Coriolanus was surrounded by evil people and evil circumstances that are a traumatic part of his journey. But there was always light, and if he could have noticed it, he may have had a different fate. Ironically, one great source of light in his life is a woman by the name of Gray. Lucy Gray Baird (played by Rachel Zegler) is the District 12 tribute Coriolanus was assigned to mentor for the 10th annual Hunger Games. He helps to win her the games and she wins his heart in the process, or at least, she almost does. It turns out, the callouses covering his heart are too thick to penetrate. In a last ditch effort to break through, Lucy had this to say:
“People aren’t so bad, not really. It’s what the world does to them. I think there’s a natural goodness born into us all. You can either cross that line into evil or not. It’s our last work to make sure we stay on the right side.”
Over and over throughout the film she tries to convince Coriolanus that he doesn’t have to be evil. He can be good. Yet it seems he is determined to listen to a different voice, a voice which whispers to us too. Withhold the grace of God and any one of us could find ourselves on the wrong side of the line. Indeed, Coriolanus Snow could be me.
In the end, I walked away from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes disturbed, certainly, but also with clear direction as to where I must go to be saved. Yes, there is darkness all around, but the light has come into the world and the darkness has not overcome it. Jesus Christ is King, and if we entrust ourselves to Him, then in the end we will avoid the punishment of the snake and we will receive the flight of the songbird.