Before I watched the movie I had my doubts. I really thought this was going to be a silly movie with no substance whatsoever. (Another) One of my best friends is crazy about The Hunger Games series (to the point where you can't look anywhere in her room without seeing SOMETHING relating to HG), and I couldn't understand it. Now I do. (However, I'm not one of the HG series fawning fangirls, like my friend is. It wasn't THAT good)
I thought the movie was going to be all about Katniss, her (sort of?) love triangle between Gale, Peeta, and herself, and the killing, and blah blah blah. But I was so wrong. It was definitely something more than that.
Katniss lives in a dystopian North America, which is split into 14 areas: The Capitol (where all the rich people and tyrants live), and 13 poorer districts, which all specialize in in producing certain things for The Capitol. Once upon a time, the 13 districts rebelled. The Capitol defeated them, and as a punishment, obliterated district 13 and started the annual Hunger Games. Each district sends a girl and boy tribute between the ages of 12-18 to compete in an arena where the contestants fight to the death. Or if you don't like going out and killing people, you can just wait it out. That works, as long as you don't die of a bug bite, food poisoning, or hypothermia along the way. Katniss' little sister Primrose is chosen as the girl tribute (against unthinkable odds) and Katniss volunteers in her place.
Like I said, I really thought it would be all about the killing, and Katniss being a hero by volunteering for her little sister, etc. But as I watched the movie, I realized that the Games had a political influence as well. The Capitol is definitely a troubled place, and when you think about it, people are so desperate for entertainment that they are willing to watch people, and not just people, but KIDS kill each other. This makes me think of our society now. People watch a LOT of TV, and Youtube, and just videos in general. They are also always looking for the next best thing to entertain them. How long until we really ARE so desensitized that we are willing to kill people for entertainment? Actually, now that I think about it, The Hunger Games reminds me a lot of the Roman Coliseum....
The Hunger Games is not only about the danger of entertainment at any cost, but also about Human Dignity. A review of the books is actually what brought this point to light. The children sent to the arena are robbed of their dignity and made into objects for entertainment, and the viewers are also robbing themselves of their dignity and are made into objects. There's your philosophical bit for the day :)
I have to say, that I really liked the movie. Well, I'll say movies, I saw Catching Fire as well, but I don't think I'm going to write another review. I would recommend the movie, but only to certain people.
I'm going to give this a B-, it was a good movie, but it was VERY graphic. That's what I mean when I say certain people. I am a teen, and I almost had to leave at certain parts. I would also not let teenage boys watch it, just because of all the violence, and even you talked to them about how WRONG all this is, boys are easily desensitized to this stuff. I also really felt like the sort of love triangle between Gale, Katniss, and Peeta, wasn't that well played out. I kind of felt like Gale liked Katniss, but not that much, and then Peeta was just out of nowhere! Also, in the books* it explains more why Katniss is so EXPLOSIVE with her mother, but in this movie, all you really see is that Katniss' relationship with her mom is, not that great, to put it nicely.
*As a side note, I read the first few chapters of the book at said friend's house, and honestly, I really dislike Katniss in the book. Really. I like the movie better than the book, but maybe I'm not giving the book a fair chance?
Good points, all. I heard that some critics didn't like the movie because it had too many 'conservative' overtones, so I appreciate THG for that. Really, I just think that there's better literature out there though. :P
ReplyDeleteI agree, there are books that are definitely better than this.
DeleteMost of my friends have also read these books and seen the movies, and I... haven't. I'm not sure why. It's not that I find the idea of kids killing appalling, or that I don't like dystopian future stories, or that I dislike strong heroines -- nothing I have read or heard about them has made me go, "Whoa! I want to see/read those!" Just haven't appealed to me.
ReplyDelete(Just realized maybe that makes me one of those "real literary people." Then again, my penchant for mysteries probably negates that. I hope.)
I felt the same way before I saw the movie. The only reason that I watched it was because I was at a friend's house and she really wanted me to see it. After watching, I liked it a little bit more, but I'm still not fawning over the series (and probably never will). I would at least watch the first movie, just to give it a chance.
DeleteYes, I'll probably get it from the library sometime and at least give it a try. I read the first Twilight book just to see what all the fuss was about, so I should at least either watch the first movie or read the first book for The Hunger Games too...
Delete