…of “the hunger games”.

no kidding.  this is normally the last film i would weigh in on considering all of the hype around it.  i saw john carter thanks to a free screening by the visual effects society and although it was rockin’ good fun, i was utterly confused and completely detached from every character.  that was equally hyped and figuring there must be something more, i rushed right home and burned through edgar rice burrough’s “a princess of mars” on which the film was based.  aha, once again a screenplay has failed to capture the essence of an otherwise, perfectly well rounded serial novella.  the fact that it was originally published as a serial should be an indication of it’s suitability for the big screen…

“the hunger games” is yet another book adaptation which i had the pleasure of viewing, again, thanks to the vfx society.  (without whom, i’d never bother to see anything until it comes to cable.)  visually mediocre and passably acted, it fit right into the mold of made for tween media that sells so well.  relatable female lead, accessibly attractive males, futuristic society with minimal parental control all of which could have been shot for fx as a made for telly series.  but it wasn’t and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is justification for a big screen release.

my point here isn’t to actually review the film but to rebut the load of hypocritical trash i’ve been hearing from critics and parents my own age who are jumping into their bully pulpits and carrying on with regards to the “shocking spectacle” of kids killing kids.  i have to ask “have we all lost our collective minds?!”  where was all of this moralizing when we were kids and queuing up to see “the lost boys?”  remember them? good looking, young vampires leaving a trail of blood all over santa cruz? or greedily reading “lord of the flies” and comparing it to our own school pecking order? “the outsiders?” “carrie?” i know, i know, some of these had “R” ratings but my question is, how many of you had a parent with you when you saw them?

i did hear one critic jump up and say that he could have understood the violence if there was some kind of philosophical creed behind it but finding none, it wasn’t going to pass muster for his kids.  one suggestion, read the book.  i found more back story within the first two chapters of the book than in the film which explains the deep seated feelings of the oppressed and underlines the rebellion that is fomenting within the 12 districts in the face of “the games”.  the comments of the critic leads me to believe that he hadn’t read the books.  but guess what?  millions of tweens did and based on some of their commentary, available all over the web, a lot of them focused in on the humanity of the heroine’s unwillingness to kill and her handling of the deaths of her fellow participants.

the whole series is an ode to standing up for the rights of the weak, of rebelling against tyranny, of thinking for oneself, of sacrifice for others and retaining your humanity in the grimmest of circumstances.  aren’t those lessons worthy of the big screen and our kids especially when we are part of the discussion?