Is it a man’s world at the movies? Let’s run through some of summer’s family-friendly offerings (and stop me if you sense a pattern): Guardians of the Galaxy, TMNT, Dolphin Tale, The Giver, The Maze Runner, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Million Dollar Arm, The Amazing Spider-Man. 

Though Hollywood has made strides to feature more strong leading ladies in young-adult films, this year's book-to-screen adaptations (The Fault in Our Stars, If I Stay) and a reimagined fairy tale (Maleficent) have been the only star-studded offerings. That’s why now, a week before Thanksgiving no less, it's the perfect time to share five reasons I’m thankful that a fierce warrior like Katniss Everdeen – who inspires girls around the globe -- is getting the silver-screen praise she deserves in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 1.

She’s a movement: Yes, the whole young-adult sci-fi, dystopian-society thing is incredibly popular right now. So it has that going for it. But Katniss, as played by Jennifer Lawrence, is more than a character; she’s a force — in the films (by unintentionally starting a revolution) and in real life (just how many Katniss costume did you spot this past Halloween?). She’s a staple in American pop culture, one who women and girls alike can and should admire. Case in point: actress Kristen Bell threw a Hunger Games-themed party for her 30th birthday. True story.

She’s an ideal: Heroic. Brave. Strong. But she’s also vulnerable and emotional. With all of the “questionable” fodder readily available to today’s teen girls — like Urban Outfitters peddling graphic tees that read Eat Less and Kim Kardashian posting a severely corseted selfie with the caption obsessed with waist training — thank God there’s someone — fictional or not — like Katniss to prove that imperfection is perfection.

She’s unyielding: Sassy and prickly, Katniss has attitude. But more than that, she is confident and sticks to her guns bows. And even though she never meant to start a revolution — she just wanted to save her sister — she’s in it until the bittersweet, albeit dramatic, end. And that’s a quality every teenager – male or female – can get behind.

She’s complex: Is she a relentless hunter with a bow and arrow? Yes. Does she have a soft spot for a cat named Buttercup and a goat named Lady? Yes. She is compassionate and empathetic; a passionate but reluctant hero. She’s brave (President Snow has nothing on her) yet vulnerable (she spends a good amount of time sobbing in a closet due to PTSD).

She’s a woman of action: The Bechdel Test been around since the ’80s, but last year, film writers couldn’t get enough of it. What’s the Bechdel Test, you ask? It’s a simple, three-part questionnaire that measures gender bias in films: Does the film have two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man? Last year about this time, Katniss’ film was one of about three films that passed the test. This year, it’s pretty much the only one. And as we’ve come to learn, Katniss not only has way more to talk about than men, she has opinions, she asserts them, and she backs up her words with action.

So, yeah, it may be a man’s world. But we all know how the song ends.

DeAnna Janes is the former entertainment editor of DailyCandy and lives in New York City with her husband and two cats -- who still watch Frozen on a loop (yes, the cats). She has been published on a variety of entertainment sites. When she's not screening a film or writing about one, she's running to a film's soundtrack.