Warning! Spoilers for Netflix’s Uglies and Scott Westerfeld’s continued book series ahead!
An interesting theory suggests that Netflix’s new sci-fi movie, Uglies, is secretly a prequel to Katniss Everdeen’s story in The Hunger Games. The 2024 dystopian movie is based on the book of the same name by author Scott Westerfeld, which was first released in 2005. Since The Hunger Games was written by Suzanne Collins, and the first book was released in 2008, these two stories can’t actually be directly related. However, it’s interesting to consider how they might fit together.
Like Netflix’s adaptation, the Uglies book series follows a 15-year-old girl, Tally, who lives in a future centuries after the near collapse of human civilization. To combat humanity’s destruction of the planet and itself, those who survived the apocalypse devised a plan to turn everyone into docile and compliant citizens, therefore allowing for a utopia. They achieved this through lesions placed in everyone’s brains at the age of 16, under the guise of making everyone “pretty” through mandatory cosmetic surgeries. It’s a unique idea, so what could it have to do with The Hunger Games?
A Theory Suggests Tally’s City In Uglies Is An Earlier Version Of The Hunger Games Capitol
The Pretty Cure In Uglies Led To The Hunger Games’ Dystopia
Some years after the Uglies book series concluded, and once The Hunger Games dominated popular media, a theory developed that these two dystopian stories exist on the same timeline. Like Uglies, The Hunger Games is set an unknown number of years following the collapse of modern civilization. During this time, a central, wealthy Capital is served by the surrounding Districts, and the terrible Hunger Games are used to keep these lesser citizens in line. The idea of the Uglies/Hunger Games theory is that Tally’s story ultimately led to the events of Katniss’.
In Westerfeld’s Uglies sequels, Pretties, and Specials, Tally and the Smoke successfully reveal to the world what the Pretty operation actually does. Humans everywhere get the cure and wake up—which is good—but crime and war returned, just as Tally’s government feared. It makes sense that a totalitarian government like the Capitol would eventually arise as the world slowly returned to its messy ways and resources again grew scarce. After all, Tally’s city was all about controlling the ugliness of humanity’s worst impulses, just like the Hunger Games Capitol.
Scott Westerfelf’s
Uglies
series, including the spinoff
Imposters
books, covers over 20 years of story. The
Uglies
/
Hunger Games
theory suggests that Katniss’s story would have been set a couple of centuries later.
The Capitol’s Style & Luxury In The Hunger Games Mirrors The City In Uglies
The Styles In Tally’s World Just Got Weirder & Weirder
This theory is reinforced by the aesthetic similarities between Tally’s city and the Capitol in The Hunger Games. Cosmetic surgery is not just standard but a requirement in Uglies. However, after Tally freed the world from the Pretty lesions, the operation became elective again. Some people chose to become Pretty, while others kept their natural faces. Then, some got bizarre operations, like replacing their pinky finger with a tiny gold snake. Style exploded, and trends got weirder—just as styles in The Hunger Games Capitol were over-the-top and strange.
Similarly, Tally’s city was essentially a utopia in Uglies. All citizens wanted for nothing. The technology and gadgets in Uglies ensured that resources were recyclable, food and champagne were plentiful, and the “holes in the wall” printed out all the clothes or furniture anyone could want. However, this only worked when everyone had brain damage that kept them from being greedy or ambitious. Once the cure was released at the end of the Uglies series, people returned to hoarding wealth, and only a select few could live this way. Perhaps this is how society became divided into the wealthy Capitol and poor Districts in The Hunger Games.
Uglies & The Hunger Games Touch On A Lot Of The Same Themes
The Themes of Both Make This Theory Interesting To Consider (Even If It Doesn’t Fully Work)
Of course, this Uglies and Hunger Games theory isn’t claiming that these two stories were intentionally placed within the same universe. They are two separate dystopian book series written by two separate authors. The similarities between them stem from the fact that both Westerfeld’s and Collins’ books explore similar themes and concepts. Both look at the damage humanity can do and the extreme efforts people of power will make to keep control.
Tally’s story ends with the implication that the world would get very ugly again, even though she had done the right thing.
Throughout the Uglies series, Tally frequently worries that she is doing the wrong thing by freeing the minds of the world. She knows that the government is wrong to force people into compliance, but she is also aware that, like Dr. Cable claimed, humanity is like a cancer. Tally’s story ends with the implication that the world would get very ugly again, even though she had done the right thing. If, at some point in Uglies‘ future, a new oppressive government rose and forced children to fight to the death to keep control (rather than operate on their minds), it would further that same impactful theme.
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The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a multi-movie franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. The films are based on the young adult dystopian book series by author Suzanne Collins. The first film was released in 2012, followed by Catching Fire in 2013, Mockingjay Part 1 in 2014, and Mockingjay Part 2 in 2015. In 2023, the fifth film in the series was released, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
