I've just seen The Hunger Games! While it was extremely well done, I'm not positive that children of 12 years will latch onto the politics insinuated in the film. It's all discussed in the special features; the allegory, the media, the celebrity world in which we live, our wastefulness as a country; but I do fear that, even though the filmmakers insist they did not want it to be an action-packed, ra-ra, victorious movie, this is what children will take it as. I just hope people seeing it will think about the implications, because the filmmakers are trying to warn us, not encourage the sort of behavior portrayed in the film.
I hope children will realise that the riots on screen are happening off-screen on a much, much larger scale, that the peacekeepers are practicing police brutality, which most certainly exists, and that the whole movie does not centre around a love triangle, but a struggle between the haves and the have-nots. In the special features, the filmmakers express that it is a film of our present world, exaggerated, and that there are clear parallels between what is going on today and what these characters are experiencing.
Some quotes from various people in the special features:
"The violence is there as a critique of violence."
"As we got deeper and deeper into the material, it was impossible not to analogize the world round us."
"They see a country of wealthy politicians and people who are well-off, who are willing to send other peoples' kids overseas to a war that is untenable for fifteen or twenty years."
I haven't delved much into researching opinions online (it seems to be very divisive), but here is one that I found interesting:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuagans/2012/03/26/the-hunger-games-is-a-great-movie-for-kids/
As usual, the thought that goes into making a film of this scale is mind-blowing. Something that you see for a fraction of a second has been hours in the making. Even though the violence is not glorified, the kids involved did learn some pretty impressive fighting skills (from the stunt coordinator of the Matrix, no less!). I'm also extremely appreciative of the fact that Suzanne Collins and Gary Ross worked together to adapt the book to film, thereby staying true to the author's visions.
Wiki states that Collins drew some inspiration from this myth (oh, those Greeks, eh?), as well as gaining knowledge of war, poverty, and hunger from her father's Air Force career.
There are so many people whining about how the actors aren't right (Peeta is too short, Katniss too old, etc. etc., the usual stuff). I think the actors did a brilliant job! I'm impressed. This was a well-handled film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zccITxJ8tY
This is exactly what I've been trying to say to people! Except I'm less coherent and more pissed off that they don't get it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it doesn't seem all that likely that younger and more conventional teens and kids will understand the references to real life and *not* think of it as just another love triangle story. I know we've talked about this (or more like, I've ranted to you) but it's something to discus further.
THANK YOU! See, you get all this! yay! I really believe that part of reading a book is understanding the author's intention-what they want in the world because of the book, how they want the characters to influence people. I know it's important to me, and it's a very difficult thing to convey. Early on when I was reading the Hunger Games, I watched an interview with Collins in which she said that she wanted kids to go home and think about how it applied to their lives, especially politically.
DeleteOf course if adolescents start reading things, their minds immediately turn them into Twilight. Just because the book is a success worldwide doesn't mean it's like Twilight. URG! Twilight became a success for entirely different reasons. Why do people read Twilight? For cheesy girlish pleasures, and because it reads easily and doesn't have big hard words. Why do people read the Hunger Games? They're an adrenaline rush, it's fast-paced writing, and, little do people realise it, but it's because the books relate to real world issues that affect us all daily.