#hillbilly

Already, the series is almost completely accurate to Appalachian culture and strays from the harmful "hillbilly" stereotypes presented in modern media. (I could rant on and on about how and why that stereotype came to be, the classist and racist implications behind it, etc.) Particularly, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes highlights the culture and way of life of Appalachia while placing it in a dystopian fantasy world.

Now, to my point, the mystery of Lucy Gray.

I understand the curiosity behind her completely, even the fan theories about her grave site in Sunrise on the Reaping (which I have yet to read, so no spoilers! I'm waiting on my local library to get a copy, lol.) I am vehemently against any confirmation of Lucy Gray's ending because she is an unsung symbol of resistance and the unyielding, never dying spirit of Appalachia.

In Appalachia, our history has been stolen and our people left intentionally uneducated and exploited. We do not know most of our history, but the culture is still there. With Lucy Gray, she represents the fact that we don't know where our way of life comes from but we are still resilient.

Lucy Gray is a coal miner singing as he gets crushed by a mine shaft and the greed filled companies erase his name to prevent liability. Lucy Gray is a quilt sewed by a MeeMaw, one day your babies and their babies wont remember her name, but that old quilt will still warm them. Lucy Gray is a loving mama who may not be educated herself but will get those babies on a school bus because they have to do better than her. Lucy Gray is a kid fresh out of school, scrubbing their accent from their vocal chords in an effort to sound more educated at their new university.

Lucy Gray has to be a forgotten and erased piece of history because SHE is the Appalachian spirit. She is everything that the United States has exploited and stolen from us and everything Panem stole from 12. Lucy Gray is the spirit of a mountain song, you don't know the artist or even where it came from, but you sing it. Just look at the music and lyrics in the film. "Nothing you can take was ever worth keeping," or You Can't Catch Me Now shows that you can take HER and she'll still slip out of your fingers.