Hunger Games in my Head: My Little Opinion on a Big Issue

I tend to resist fads and crazes until they've lost their steam. I like to sit back, watch, and listen to all of the lip flappin' and peacocking that goes back and forth. I'm a people watcher. With that said I've heard a lot of opinions about Hunger Games. My roommate had PTSD for about a week or more after watching and believed one of us would kill her in her sleep. My mother was so concerned that she paid the $12 (a marvel in itself) to observe and protect. FacebookBoppers started to pick sides, team Peeta vs. team Gale. 

After living through the Harry Potter, Focus on the Family debacle I shook my head and went palm to forehead. Now that the dust has settled I have watched and the rest of this will be my two cents. You should know that I am most definitely not a movie critic. I am a counselor and I am heavily concerned about social injustice. I write from these lens.

Since I'm less than 24 hours from my experience of watching this movie, I hesitate in committing to the following statement. However, I will say I consider Hunger Games to be an important movie.

My Soapbox Disclaimer: 

I do think that it is unsuitable for anyone that is unable to process abstractly (i.e children younger than 13ish) and that after 13 parents should talk about the message with their teens, hence the rating PG-13. In my opinion not doing so is negligent and watching violence becomes purposeless, if not entertaining. To balance this, I've heard from too many Christians saying the violence in Hunger Games is too much. I would agree and ask if they remember watching the Passion of the Christ? I recognize the difference to most of these critics is that the violence in Passion is purposeful, necessary to get the message across, and not about children. What about "Schindler's List" or other eye-opening movies about the Holocaust?

Reasons I Consider Hunger Games to be Important: 

In college I took a psychology class on mass movements where we studied the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement.  These two mass movements come from polar ends of the spectrum. One is a travesty and a window into the disease of hate, the other a triumph and a celebration of human resiliency.  We read a book by Eric Hoffer that I consider one of the most important books I have ever read.  It is a hard, small, and true book.    I walked away from this class with the slap-you-in-the-face reality that I am no different from all others who stood silent during the holocaust and have the capacity to participate.  

I also realized that I am capable of speaking out and being a part of something like the Civil Rights movement. When watching movies like Hunger Games we must not immediately align ourselves with the heroine of the story.  In our history we've watched gladiators fight until death and cheered in joy.  We've owned people and killed because of skin color.  Upstanding citizens have participated and stood silent.   Instead, we have to look at how we are capable of participating in the cruelty as did all of the spectators in this movie.  The hardest question that most of us cannot stand to ask ourselves is not how am I capable, but how do I participate today. 

I know that the following will offend both "conservative" and "liberal" parties.  That is not my intention.  I want to spur us to thinking... to action. 

1) In Hunger Games I was disgusted by the society's obsession with clothes and material things.  So much so that they were blind to what was going on around them.  Killing us Softly is a series of documentaries that explain the impact of this on our society.  Here is a trailer 

2) "African American baby is three times more likely to be aborted and more African American babies have been killed by abortions since 1973 than the total number of African American deaths from AIDS, violent crimes, accidents, cancer and heart disease combined.” As a society we become okay with this because we are told there are not enough resources to support these children at the lifestyle we would like to live as Americans. 

3) What about the way we target Hispanic groups based on the immigration laws in Alabama, Texas and other border states?  (Although this one backfired a bit in the Heart of Dixie).  Children were one of the main targets and culprits of this.  I wrote this paper on the topic a couple of semesters ago while at Denver Seminary.  You'll find typos and errors but hopefully it's insight. 

This post may seem harsh by the end of it all.  I'm even feeling a bit Debbie Downer at this point. My concern is that the opposition to Hunger Games is because we're afraid to see ourselves negatively. That history will repeat. That we'll continue to turn our heads. 

Considering the "Peace Keepers" of the movie. Unity and self-sacrifice, of themselves, even when fostered by the most noble means, produce a facility for hating. Even when men league themselves mightily together to promote tolerance and peace on earth, they are likely to be violently intolerant toward those not of a like mind. - Eric Hoffer