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marytk
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wordonfire.org/WOF-TV/Commentaries-New/Fr-Barron-comments-on-The-Hunger-Games-SPOILERS.aspx This is interesting . It isn’t completely about this movie
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iHeartThe60s
Guest
To say that the book and the movie have stolen my heart would be an understatement 
I only read the first book for the first time this past February, but I loved it so much that I broke down and got an IMAX ticket. And it was well worth it 
Now on to books 2 and 3! 
Makes District 12 respect sign
I only read the first book for the first time this past February, but I loved it so much that I broke down and got an IMAX ticket. And it was well worth it Now on to books 2 and 3! Makes District 12 respect sign
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Crystalgeezer
Guest
Hi there! Found this message board when I googled advice to keep a housecat from wanting to eat a canary and stumbled on this discussion. 
I read the book and saw the movie and can see why this would be confusing. The Tributes from District 1 and 2, districts which were closer to The Capitol in location, where trained just for the Hunger Games and took great pride in participating, they were trained to kill their whole lives in the hope of having the honor to play in the Hunger Games, whereas the other Disterict Tributes feared the Hunger Games. So the four from those distericts had a huge advantage over the others. And they were generally bloodthirsty and usually won the Games. The blonde boy at the end was one of those tributes and was telling Katniss and Peeta that life didn’t matter to him since it was his job to kill, it’s all he had been trained for his whole life. I hope this makes sense.
I like the way you think.
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Pug
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Hi Crystalgeezer, welcome to Catholic Answers Forums! I’m not surprised cats led you here, since I know we’ve got some cat lovers on the boards.Hi there! Found this message board when I googled advice to keep a housecat from wanting to eat a canary and stumbled on this discussion.
I read the book and saw the movie and can see why this would be confusing. The Tributes from District 1 and 2, districts which were closer to The Capitol in location, where trained just for the Hunger Games and took great pride in participating, they were trained to kill their whole lives in the hope of having the honor to play in the Hunger Games, whereas the other Disterict Tributes feared the Hunger Games. So the four from those distericts had a huge advantage over the others. And they were generally bloodthirsty and usually won the Games. The blonde boy at the end was one of those tributes and was telling Katniss and Peeta that life didn’t matter to him since it was his job to kill, it’s all he had been trained for his whole life. I hope this makes sense.
Thanks for answering me. What an empty life that boy must have led, to not care at all.
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Dawnia
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I saw the movie, but haven’t read the book…yet. I kinda felt sorry for the blond kid at the end. He said if he couldn’t win he could at least die with honor. The whole movie was sad. 
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4Squarebaby
Guest
And in the movie she does not beat the boys up. She survives against a female gladiator long enough for an older boy/man, who I think was a lottery loser and not a pro fighter, picks up the professional volunteer tribute who specializes in knife fighting and makes short work of her.
The movie was not very good, the movie stands alone and without hearing stuff about the book I am left wondering why there are pro tributes, what possible gain do they, their families or districts get out of the slight chance of winning? How does an entire society evolve to the point of killing the children of a vanquished foe for 75 years and they do it with glee as we see on the audience and TV producers faces as they go about forcing the fighting.
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Yvonnemary
Guest
I have not posted a reply for a long time because we are actively seeking to know God’s plan for us more deeply and I find a lot of posts on this forum only deal with topics in a shallow way. What I cannot believe is that people cannot see the evil behind such books and films that bring the story to those not inclined to read. There is a hint of truth in all of these stories.It is this hidden truth that we should recognise and ask the Archangel Michael to guard us against. Those who have eyes to see let them see.
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Fone_Bone_2001
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It’s just hyperbole. She kills, but not by literally beating them up; she’s too small to do so. In hand-to-hand combat many of the boy tributes like Cato or Thresh would have killed her easily.Weird then, because the headline of the blog article I read says: “Why Katniss is a Feminist Character (And It’s Not Because She Wields a Bow and Beats Boys Up)”
A story portraying evil unblinkingly, and a story being evil or advocating evil things, are not the same things.
This series does not have evil behind it but in front of it - it presents what it depicts as evil. There is no grey area here morally.
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JonathonofOhio
Guest
I saw it. There were a lot of teenagers at the show so expect it. It’s PG-13, and you can tell they had to cut down on the violence in order to get that rating. They use annoying cuts and camera shaking during fight scenes and most action sequences that involve violent behavior so most of it is left up to your imagination. The story line is great though and the acting is good. At first you might get a little annoyed by the zooming in on everything towards the beginning of the movie, like I did, but I realize they did that to cut costs since this is the first movie of the series and they probably weren’t sure it would do well.
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4Squarebaby
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It is refreshing in a TV and movie era where superwoman martial artist routinely take out equally proficient males who have 70lbs of muscle advantage in hand to hand combat. The only direct kill that I remember was a snap arrow shot at a spear throwing boy
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Pug
Guest
Oh, thanks for reminding me. I wish the reviews had warned about the liberal use of “jiggle cam”. If you hate those fake jiggling cameras to make things look “exiting”, don’t go. It tones down after awhile. For some people, this type of camera work is a deal-breaker.
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rosaryworkout
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4Squarebaby, the reward for wining the Huger Games is that you get to live in a special house, you and your family are showered with money and food, and your entire district gets extra food for a year, so there are some unselfish reasons for trying to win.
The books make a lot of sense if you know why the author wrote them-- as an allegory to help teens and young adults understand the horrors of war. Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer who served in Vietnam. She spent a year of so of her life agonizing every day whether or not her father would come home. Her father was a military history buff and took her to battlefields and monuments in the US and Europe.
In that light, here’s how I understand the books: (Spoiler alert! ) First, Katniss bravely volunteers to serve as a noble effort to save her sister, just as soldiers in the US are currently volunteers to fight for their nation. Then she’s thrust into combat where she has to survive and eventually kill others to do so. She’s victorious but then finds out she has to fight yet another battle, and another. She watches people she loves die horrible deaths, which give her nightmares. Eventually she becomes so immune to killing as part of combat that she actually guns down innocent civilians who are in the way of her mission (last book, in the final battle). Her best friend is so changed by the war that he actually engineers the bomb that kills the person she loves most (friendly fire). When the war is finally over, Katniss is forever changed. She is scarred both physically and emotionally. She goes on with her life but is forever haunted by the nightmares of the dead, both those she loved and those whom she killed herself. Watch almost any war movie and you’ll see pretty much the same thing. I think the author is brilliant to tell this story in a way that teens can understand.
The books make a lot of sense if you know why the author wrote them-- as an allegory to help teens and young adults understand the horrors of war. Suzanne Collins is the daughter of an Air Force officer who served in Vietnam. She spent a year of so of her life agonizing every day whether or not her father would come home. Her father was a military history buff and took her to battlefields and monuments in the US and Europe.
In that light, here’s how I understand the books: (Spoiler alert! ) First, Katniss bravely volunteers to serve as a noble effort to save her sister, just as soldiers in the US are currently volunteers to fight for their nation. Then she’s thrust into combat where she has to survive and eventually kill others to do so. She’s victorious but then finds out she has to fight yet another battle, and another. She watches people she loves die horrible deaths, which give her nightmares. Eventually she becomes so immune to killing as part of combat that she actually guns down innocent civilians who are in the way of her mission (last book, in the final battle). Her best friend is so changed by the war that he actually engineers the bomb that kills the person she loves most (friendly fire). When the war is finally over, Katniss is forever changed. She is scarred both physically and emotionally. She goes on with her life but is forever haunted by the nightmares of the dead, both those she loved and those whom she killed herself. Watch almost any war movie and you’ll see pretty much the same thing. I think the author is brilliant to tell this story in a way that teens can understand.
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Baelor
Guest
I do not think viewing the movie as a standalone even makes sense. Understanding the movie so obviously requires having read the book that although one could see the movie first, it simply does not make sense to do so. It serves almost as fanservice in my mind.
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JonathonofOhio
Guest
It’s one of the reasons I really started to hate the “Borne” series action scenes (though I love the story). I heard the reason they do it sometimes is because the actor can’t properly act out the action scenes so they add the shaking during the editing process to hide it. I’m hoping the actor in the next Borne movie (because Matt Daemon won’t be in it from what I hear) will not need that.
Oh, I like to call it the ‘epileptic puppy cam’.
At one point in the Hunger Games when the girl falls down a hill, I turned to my friend and said, “Well this is truly a low-budget film, because they couldn’t afford a rig to put the camera on. Instead they just tossed the camera man down the hill with her.”
Don’t worry about talking during the movie either. There will be plenty of teenagers talking, and if you have to go to the restroom you will be able to see the exits clearly because of all the light from the cell phones lol
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Pug
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I was so disappointed, like you, concerning the Bourne series! The first one was good, but then I think it was the second that went into jiggle cam. I notice they don’t use that cam when Tom Cruise is doing his own stunts hanging off a building. I like to see the stunts.
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JonathonofOhio
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Yeah, I loved the first Bourne movie…I was so mad when they made the second one with the jiggly cam (different director I believe)…they did use some cutting techniques in the first one though, but I find that more tolerable than the jiggle. I actually have to just close my eyes sometimes because it gives me a headache.
I was so disappointed, like you, concerning the Bourne series! The first one was good, but then I think it was the second that went into jiggle cam. I notice they don’t use that cam when Tom Cruise is doing his own stunts hanging off a building. I like to see the stunts.
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remjsmom76
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I loved it…and so did my girls…ages 15-9. Yes they all watched it. I find that its a good platform for a talk as to how people of power…might want you to do things that go against your believes…and conscious, and how you would handle it. Its about standing your ground.
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Pug
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You mean those cutting techniques like they use in a movie preview. I’ve been closing my eyes on those for years now, they are so cut up and flash, flash, flash that they hurt to watch, at least in the second half of the previews before movies. I tell myself that my demographic must not spend enough money to matter to Hollywood, or they’d do something different.
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JonathonofOhio
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Count me in that demographic…I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s, and they didn’t have computers making all the special effects they can do now. I guess that’s why they didn’t need to jiggle the camera and fast-cut to make it look more ‘realistic’ so much back then. This is probably why I have higher expectations when it comes to paying $8+ to go watch a movie, and since most of them don’t meet this expectation I find myself not going to the theater much these days. I went and saw the Hunger Games on the discount night where they serve free popcorn
.Side note: Nothing is more disappointing than going to see a movie in the theater, and the entire thing looks like it was shot using a camcorder anyone can pick up at a local Walmart, and then hearing the younger people raving over how great a movie it was.
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Godfollower
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How does an entire society evolve to the point of enjoying “hard hits” in NFL football, given that the players suffer terrible health problems as a result (see here for an example)? How does an entire society accept something like professional boxing, in which 90 percent of boxers sustain brain injuries (see here for source)?
The Hunger Games is a story about a society that accepts the unacceptable as entertainment, using age-old tales of youths sacrificed for the common “good,” whatever that might be.
It is not a celebration of evil, though it directly addresses people who accept evil in their society. There are lessons we can draw from the story, but I don’t necessarily believe that they will have any effect in that regard.
On this very forum there’s a thread filled with faithful Catholics practically celebrating George Zimmerman as a hero for shooting a 17-year-old who was just walking to his father’s house from the store after buying Skittles and iced tea, even though Zimmerman had no official sanction for what he was doing (self-appointed neighborhood watcher), and even though any alleged attack by Martin on Zimmerman was obviously provoked by Zimmerman’s following him in the first place. Maybe the shooting was justified in self-defense; maybe not. But the death is still attributable to a wannabe cop’s overzealousness and intermeddling. We have a thread in which faithful Catholics argue that it’s somehow moral to drop an atomic bomb on a city, killing innocent civilian children, if fewer soldiers die as a result – an obvious use of the heretical utilitarianistic viewpoint that allows evil if good results.
Point is, society is clearly imperfect. These books are about refusing to accept an evil society just because “that’s the way it is,” and they criticize the violence. The emotional impact of The Hunger Games lies in the Panem society’s celebration of a youthful fight to the death, with the subject youth’s opposition to it.
Think about that the next time you hear a supposedly faithful Christian talk about sending someone to prison to be molested by other criminals (you know, the “Don’t drop the soap” jokes) – which, for some reason, is accepted in our society.
We are The Hunger Games. We just aren’t as blatant about it.
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