Some Hunger Games Fans Still Can't Stand Gale After All These Years

"The Hunger Games" – both the novel series and the adapted films — was a phenomenon from 2008, when the first book was published, to 2015, when the last film premiered. The dystopian story, with themes of survival and power, proved compelling to many — as did its love triangle between Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth).

While reading the books and watching the movies, fans made their choices as to who they preferred Katniss to end up with: her best friend from home, Gale, or her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta (both of whom have had feelings for Katniss for a while). The matter only became more complicated when Katniss and Peeta pretend to be in love as a survival tactic, which Gale was forced to watch on television.

For some, however, it's an easy choice, as there is a whole slew of fans who are vehemently not fans of Gale — even after all these years.

A recent post on Reddit started up a discussion about Gale from "The Hunger Games," with the poster blatantly stating that they are not his fan. Others flooded the comments in agreement, with u/nightridingribbits3, for example, writing, "It was cringe af that he was constantly asking her, 'what are we?????' Bruh, theres an entire war going on."

Plus, fans have pointed out that Katniss wasn't exactly in the right state of mind to be thinking about her romantic prospects. In another Reddit thread on the same topic, u/ap12334 wrote, "I think the most infuriating part about Gale is that he expects Katniss to tell him her feelings for him while Katniss is dealing with much bigger problems like PTSD, protecting her family and the rest of the districts ... He gives off a lot of pick me vibes." Further, u/omgThisIsNotMyName added that Gale didn't have any romantic interest in Katniss until she and Peeta started fake dating for the sake of survival. Either way, many fans think that he had no right to be angry with her for pretending to be in love with Peeta.

However, Gale also has his defenders. Some users have pointed out that Gale's behavior was often a product of his circumstance as well as his young age. Redditor u/RavenNevermore1313 explained: "The games, fighting every day to feed his family, seeing the horrors of everyday life made him a resentful person ... But we have to remember that he was only 18 years old. He still needed to grow up emotionally."

Reddit is not the only place that "Hunger Games" fans have taken to in order to rant about Gale — Twitter is also full of fans who dislike the character. One user, @NickDangerKj2 wrote, "watching the hunger games bc i realized i never finished the last few movies and i need to get this off my chest: i hate gale." The comments on her tweet include others expressing agreement and claiming themselves as Team Peeta.

Another fan named @kookiebunz wrote, "reading the hunger games is fun until a scene with gale comes up and all of a sudden i'm cringing and getting the ick, god that man is so insufferable." And @kyeleise also has the same thought about Gale; they wrote, "even after all these years, gale from the hunger games still gives me the ick."

Meanwhile, those who are rewatching the films are experiencing the same distaste for Gale as those revisiting the books. One user, @dojasharley, admitted that they hadn't realized Gale had terrible qualities until watching the films this time around. Further, @box_dmacncheese wrote, "im rewatching the hunger games trilogy like nearly everyone is since it got back on netflix but bro gale is so embarrassing im a hater always have been since i read the books in 5th grade."

However, Twitter is also not without the rare fan who favors Gale. One fan, @Divionaaa, wrote, "Hunger games is on Netflix and I still can't believe Katniss picked [Peeta] over Gale." All in all, though, these fans are definitely few and far between.