The Hunger Games

I saw the movie, I did not read the books.  The books, according to the media, sold over twenty-six million books.  But I never heard of them until a week or so before the movie came out.  I assumed that was because it was a cult following or because it was a genera that I was not interested in; I was wrong.

The movie was great.  I liked it.  It is a post-apocalyptic dystopia where the elite  of the world reap the benefits of the many, where everyone is doled out just enough food to survive, except for the said elite who have more than enough of everything.  But every year each province of the world give up two of their youths for a game to represent the apocalypse everyone survived long ago.  The youths, aged 12 to 18, fight for their survival, the winner is lavished with food and wealth for the rest of their lives.  Except this is like the TV show Survival, for everything is caught on video and beamed to all parts of the nation live where they can watch the youths die. Oh did I mention that the elite rain their youth from birth to be the best fighters and the rest are trained from birth to be hungry.

The first objectionable feature of this film is that it is PG, Parental Guidance.  I object to violence every time; it unnerves me.  This is a movie where children are killing children, up close and personal, blood splatters, everything.  If you are 10 you can see this movie.  If you are 10, you have been encouraged to come see this movie because, the reason why I have not heard of this book is because most of the 26 million books were sold to children through the schools, sold to 10 and 11 year olds.  

OMG!!!  What is next?  See Jack.  See Jack Run.  See Jack rape and kill Jill. As a friend pointed out to me that Lord of the Flies was a book very disturbing book that was banned in many places, it was studied in grade 12 for years and the movie was only seen in High School.  And that was a book where kids go crazy and kill other kids.  In the Hunger Games, adults pit children against children to fight for their, the adult's, pleasure.  

Next year's hit movie is going to be about a specialty channel where adults can watch children aged 12 to 17 having sex in a high school situation.