Now like him or not, I tend to think that Peeta Mellark is one of the more underrated characters in the Hunger Games trilogy. Yes, wilderness survival skills aren’t his strong suit as you see when he’s in the Hunger Games. Yet, you can say the same for the Careers and some of the other tributes like Foxface and a girl from District 3. Nevertheless, while Peeta might be seen as helpless when he’s with Katniss during the Games, we should know that he fought out the Cornucopia bloodbath (where a significant number of tributes get killed), allied with the Careers to keep them from Katniss’s back, and telling the tracker jacker stung Katniss to run for it as he fights Cato (who’s Katniss’s biggest competition), which resulted in him getting stabbed in the leg. However, he’s not as worthless as he looks. Yes, you might think that his crush on Katniss since they were 5 might be a bit obsessive. Still, we have to understand that Peeta spent most of the first book in an utterly hopeless situation. I mean he’s basically forced to take part in an event he’s mentally unsuited for and knows it. And to make matters worse, he’s being forced to kill the girl he loves and took a beating from his mom for just to give her two loaves of burned bread. He knows he can’t kill her to save himself as well as that she stands a better chance to survive than he does. So Peeta decides to accept his fate so he can die on his own terms and make the most of his time left to help Katniss. Thus, Peeta confessed his love for Katniss on national television since it will appeal to the audience and get her sponsors to survive as well as get it out in the open because he figures that he doesn’t have long to live anyway. Let’s just say, he got more than he bargained for from that.

Now for a parody song for him, I took from “Everything’s Alright” from Jesus Christ Superstar. It’s the one where Mary Magdalene is telling Jesus to take some time off and get some rest. Yes, she might seem to fill a love interest role for Jesus but in the world of musical theater, it’s highly unusual for a male protagonist under 40 to not have a love interest or at least someone who’s romantically interested in him. Oh, and you can’t have a musical without a leading lady either. So if you’re doing a musical about Jesus, Mary Magdalene is probably your best bet even if the Lamb of God has too many pressing issues on his mind to even think about romance. For the Hunger Games version, I have it take place in Catching Fire around some time after the Victory Tour. Here Peeta is trying to calm Katniss down since she’s been waking up screaming from nightmares by holding her while she sleeps (though to keep it PG-13, there’s no sex). This soon becomes a nightly routine up until the Quarter Quell. As the book goes on, it becomes rather apparent that Katniss develops feelings for him. However, it’s closer to the end when she realizes it.

 

“Everything’s Alright” (Hunger Games Edition)

Mostly sung by Peeta Mellark (with some verses by Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne)

 

[Peeta Mellark:]

Try not to get worried

Try not to turn on to

Problems that upset you

(oh) Don’t you know

Everything’s alright

Yes everything’s fine

And I want you to sleep well tonight

Let Panem go without you tonight

If we try

We’ll get by

So forget all about us tonight

 

[Prep Team:]

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s all right yes

 

[Peeta Mellark:]

Sleep and I shall soothe you

Calm you and be with you

Hold you within my arms

(oh) Then you’ll feel

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s fine

My bread is warm and my buns are sweet

For the fire in your head and feet

Close your eyes

Close your eyes

And relax

Think of nothing tonight

 

[Prep Team:]

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s all right yes

 

[Gale Hawthorne:]

Down with those rich snobs

Decadent and so heartless

Forcing our peers to fight to the death

Now that you’ve won

They think they now own you

And threaten us if you don’t conform

Everyone’s so hungry

Everyone’s all starving

We matter more

Than their feet and hair

 

[Peeta Mellark:]

Try not to get worried

Try not to turn on to

Problems that upset you

(oh) Don’t you know

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s fine

And I want you to sleep well tonight

Let Panem go without you tonight

If we try

We’ll get by

So forget all about us tonight

 

[Prep Team:]

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s all right yes

 

[Katniss Everdeen:]

For years I’ve been poaching

To get some wild critters

To save my folks from their lot

Now there are uprisings

Erupting all over

And Snow wants me to tie the knot!

Why

Does he blame me?

What

Does he want from me?

Quell dissent

I can no longer do that

Now I’m screwed

 

[Peeta Mellark:]

Sleep and I shall soothe you

Calm you and be with you

Hold you within my arms

(oh) then you’ll feel

Everything’s alright

Yes everything’s fine

My bread is warm and my buns are sweet

For the fire in your head and feet

Close your eyes

Close your eyes

And relax

Think of nothing tonight

 

[Prep Team & Peeta Mellark:]

Close your eyes

Close your eyes

And relax

Think of nothing tonight

 

[Gale Hawthorne and Katniss Everdeen:]

Everything’s all right

Yes everything’s all right yes