Liberal or Not, Jennifer Lawrence Is the Face of a Conservative Franchise

By JORDAN ECARMA

Jennifer Lawrence, America’s sweetheart beloved for her unfiltered mouth and habit of tripping on Oscar steps, is not a fan of the GOP.

“I was raised a Republican,” she told Vogue in a recent interview, “but I just can’t imagine supporting a party that doesn’t support women’s basic rights. It’s 2015 and gay people can get married and we think that we’ve come so far, so, yay! But have we? I don’t want to stay quiet about that stuff.”

Lawrence calls Kim Davis the “lady who makes me embarrassed to be from Kentucky” and hopes Donald Trump’s cringe-worthy presidential run is just a long con masterminded by Hillary Clinton.

But I have bad news for Jennifer Lawrence, would-be advocate for liberalism. She’s already become the face of conservatism to every household in America by playing Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, a symbol of rebellion against big government that helped make box office history when “The Hunger Games” came to theaters in 2012.

The Democratic presidential race has been a (rather one-sided) contest between Clinton and rival Bernie Sanders to see who can promise bigger, better government—the most free stuff, the least amount of freedom. Clinton hit Sanders in the first Democratic debate over not being tough enough on gun control, while both candidates want to take the healthcare mandate as far as it can go.

A giant government run by faulty humans who wield unadulterated power. What could possibly go wrong?

We know … because we saw it in “The Hunger Games.”

(Spoilers if you live under a rock.)

Ultimate government is the ultimate nightmare. 

“The Hunger Games” takes place in a world of total government control. Each person’s vocation and status in life is decided, and Panem is divided into social classes that make it easy to curtail freedom. Does big government mean an idyllic existence where everyone is happy and violence never happens? Of course not.

Katniss only ensures that her family survives in District 12 by breaking the law and using her bow and arrow to hunt game. Her freedom is completely taken away when big government—arguably the villain in “The Hunger Games”—makes its annual power move by selecting two young people as “tributes” from each district in Panem.

President Snow initially signifies big government, but as audiences will see in the final film, the point of the book and film series is not simply that Snow was evil. The point is that anyone can become corrupted with too much power, making an all-powerful government a terrible idea.

Nonconformity is dangerous in the best way.

Katniss saves herself and Peeta from a horrifying showdown in the first games by thinking completely out of the box. “Poisonous berries will save us!” is not a typical reaction. Katniss and her nonconformist thinking are incredibly dangerous to a government regime that depends on people always doing what they’re told.

In a world where politically correct culture aims to homogenize thinking and eliminate anyone with a different opinion, Katniss reminds us that unique perspectives are important. 

Free speech is our most treasured possession and valuable weapon.

A haunting song. A young woman’s voice. A tiny spark personified in the Mockingjay. Are these the tools of revolution? In the world of “The Hunger Games,” the videos featuring Katniss as the Mockingjay are to Panem what Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was to the Thirteen Colonies. Big government has crushed out the right to free speech in Panem, but the rebels who exercise it anyway find that it is an incredibly powerful weapon. A song, a four-note whistle, the right word at the right time—free expression unites us and gives us power that no government should ever be able to take away.  

Sorry, J-Law (I still love you).

Lawrence can spout liberal opinions all she wants. With each “Hunger Games” film and the release of “Mockingjay Part 2” this weekend, her performance as Katniss represents in a unique, enduring way the precious conservative tenets that define America and protect our freedoms.  

To play off her conspiracy theory about Clinton and Trump—if anything, maybe Lawrence’s liberal opinions distracting from her stance as a conservative emblem are the long con. 

Jordan Ecarma is a former journalist now living the millennial dream: getting paid for writing Facebook statuses (that is, digital PR). She watches her use of the f-word (“feminism”) around conservatives and the c-word (“conservatism”) around feminists. Find her under @JordanEcarma.