Entertainment

In the book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, tributes fight to the death in an arena as a reminder to the twelve districts never to rebel again. But in the capitol, the Hunger Games is advertised as a television show. The capitol views it as entertainment. A tribute's likelihood to get sponsors increases the more people like the show they put on, and sponsors can mean the difference between life and death in the arena. More often than not, tributes have personality choice or story that they stick to throughout the games even if it really isn't them.

After Peeta announced he had a crush on Katniss, she retaliated physically, shoving him onto a broken vase. Their mentor Haymitch said:

"Who cares? It's all a big show. It's how you're perceived."

I thought this was a very intelligent thing to say at the time. He was right. The whole "lovers" act bought them many sponsors and probably saved their lives. Haymitch seems to know a lot about the Hunger Games and how they work. This is probably what helped him to win when he was a tribute. 

On page 354, Katniss's beauty team recount the events of the Hunger Games, but relate all these events back to themselves. They talk about the deaths of tributes in relation to getting their eyebrows dyed, or still being in bed. Katniss makes the observation that

"Everything is about them, not the dying boys and girls in the arena."

The truth is, it really is all about the capitol in the Hunger Games. They are the ones that decide to punish the districts, they decide how, and they are the ones that watch it on live television. The other twelve districts only play the role of animals to be slaughtered in the Hunger Games. Even the stylists subconsciously recognize that.

In conclusion,  the Hunger Games is viewed as entertainment to the capitol, so playing a different character or storyline can mean the difference between sponsors, or no sponsors; life, or death.