“What happened to Buzzsaw?” “He had to split.”

I’m a little concerned. Part of the appeal of gladiator movies is that they are violent and bloody and so they let people engage in the same sort of bloodlust that the ancient Romans experienced, though through a “safe” veneer of artificiality (which may even make it all the more disturbing: we’re engaging in that bloodlust not because it’s a part of some real experience in our lives, it’s something we actively go out of our way to simulate and experience instead of just leaving it alone).

My question to you as an insightful reviewer is how exploitive is the violence? Are tween audiences going to be able to morally distinguish that THIS IS WRONG or are they going to find themselves participating in it? At least with “The Running Man” we knew where we, as the audience, stood and what our motives were in watching it.

Hmm, it sounds rather similar to the Japanese novel and movie, “Battle Royale” which predated it by 12 years.

@Arnobius: NO! SUZANNE COLLINS’ BOOKS ARE 100% ORIGINAL!!! SHE ABSOLUTELY DID NOT RIP OFF “BATTLE ROYALE” OR “THE RUNNING MAN” AND TRY TO REPACKAGE IT FOR A BUNCH OF TWEENS WHO WERE FAMILIAR WITH NEITHER MOVIE!!!1!!

Your reaction to the book seems to be much the same as mine. Personally, I was strongly pleased with the first few chapters in District Twelve. And I really enjoyed the references to Roman history; I wonder how many of the book’s target audience recognized them? Probably Caesar, but Cinna? Plutarch?) I read the books and my younger sister and my mother are waiting in the theater as I write, for the midnight premiere. I am not with them, largely for the very reason you suggest (not that I’m trying to say that I’m better than my mom and sister… just that my feelings about the books are more ambiguous than theirs). I may eventually see it in the dollar theater or something… oh well, I’m happy to save my first midnight premiere experience for ‘The Hobbit’ this December. =)

I did enjoy the first book a great deal, but I warn those who are interested in reading the series that they end on cliffhangers that force you to read on, and unfortunately, the second book is less good and the third book just falls apart. The plot falls apart, the characters fall apart, and the morality falls apart.

***SPOILERS*** In one scene, the ‘good guys’ shoot an unarmed civilian woman. The book does kind of make a point that the good guys did some bad things and that it wasn’t ‘just okay’ because of what they were trying to accomplish, but I found this action in the third book repulsive. Not to mention that Katniss, a very sympathetic character in the original book, progressively loses personality until she totally loses interest for the reader.

I haven’t seen the movie but I would guess if you have any reservations about the violence than it’s better to wait until it’s on DVD and preview it before letting any teens or tweens see it.  There are some (at least in the book) who are against the violence but seemingly have their hands tied so I’m sure there is the potential for confusion as to if the violence is acceptable or not. I haven’t seen the movie yet and will not see it on the big screen as I think the violence would be too overwhelming for me, but I do look forward to seeing it on DVD.

****SPOILER ALERT*****

When I read the books I didn’t catch any suicide pact…it was more of a desperate impulsive act to try to keep both her and Peeta alive and save them from needing to try to kill each other as there could only be one champion. I would be saddened if the movie messed with what little morals actually stand in the book. It would also mess with the story line of the next two books if in the movie there was a suicide pact or if the movie made it seem as that Katniss was very interested in Peeta as a love interest. For at least the first book she is more of a unwilling participant in everything going on around her.

@Victor
Actually I had no idea that there was a dispute until after i posted the comment.  I just read the review and said, “Wait a minute…”

If I had known there was an ongoing conflict, I probably wouldn’t have bothered to post.

I like your review, Steven. It is worth noting that the violence in the second and third books becomes more graphic than that of the first, and the main characters become ever more morally compromised. Whether Collins ups the ante because she thinks it will provide good drama, or whether this is simply a case of a “mythology-bound” trilogy that feels the need to go “bigger and badder”, is hard for me to decide.

I wish you would have talked about Rue’s death, I wonder how that came out. I do agree that the books were very violent.

@Arnobius I don’t know if there’s a dispute or not, but the comparisons are pretty obvious to anyone. I was just being the prototypical Internet Collins fanboy :-). That said, I’ve never read Collins’ books, nor will I ever read them, nor will I let my kids read them.

The idea of wealthy tributes regularly volunteering, not for an evenly matched contest, but for a 1-in-24 chance of survival, is hard to square with human nature.

 
I could believe it. In the Aztec empire, for example, as I understand it, human sacrifice was sometimes a coveted honor, and those denied it were sometimes indignant. I haven’t read or seen The Hunger Games, but it sounds to me like the form human sacrifice might take in a secular state.

SDG,
I am going to be “that guy” and call you on this one point.  You fell for the secular definition of “postapocolyptic” by defining it as a post-nucleur, world war, famine, environmental (pick one or make up your own) wasteland.  The Biblical sense (and the originial sense) dealt with God’s “unvieling” of His grand plan for mankind—most expressed in the liturgy.  Revelation is the latin translation of the Greek apocolypse (literally: “unvieling”).  But I still love you, man!

I’ve been checking your site all week for this review. :) And you don’t disappoint. While I liked the Hunger Games book, I am very aware of its moral shortcomings. It would have disappointed me if you had awarded it an “A”. As other users have also said, I’m concerned that this was marketed as young adult fiction. I’m not sure that younger teens will be able to sift out the good morals from the bad ones. (MAJOR spoilers) The suicide pact didn’t bother me that much because Katniss only threatened but didn’t actually commit suicide. Collins never told us whether she would have done it or not, if the Capitol had not given in. The “mercy killing,” however, was disturbing. Not even nice-guy Peeta said a single word of opposition to it. And just in general, the violence was disturbing. I was hoping the movie would be somewhat better, without Katniss’ angry inner monologue, but after seeing the reviews, I don’t know. Katniss’ character development in the second and third books was just poor writing. I really hope all those Hunger Games fans are not looking up to her. 

In the second and third books, you see more of the Capitol citizens’ opposition to the Games. You don’t see it in the first book because it is narrated by Katniss, who sees only what the Games officials allow her to see.

Hello all.

First of all, SGD: I’ve been waiting for this review for the better part for two weeks.  Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness and insight.  It was exactly what I was looking for.

General discussion: When I read the books, I found it very interesting because the author never inserts herself into the book and brings judgment on her character’s actions.  The reader just follows Katniss through all of the horrors she faces and her actions in response to what she comes up against, almost identical to a documentary.  Now I say this, certainly not to agree with all she does, but because that is simply I think the book is written.  ***SPOILER***  For instance, with the civilian woman that is killed (if it’s whom I think you’re referring to), that is just the main (“cold”-hearted) back guy’s last manipulation.  Katniss has experienced so much horror and evil, been so manipulated and controlled on every side, and become so detached from what is real and good and true that it is understandable that she responds in such a way.  Not right in any sense at all, but plausible.  ***END SPOILER***

But this darkness and evil, apart from the great actual violence and human brutality of the story, is why I think this book should be torn off the teen shelves and placed in under adult reading.  The reader needs a solid moral anchor before descending into the horrors and evil (both overwhelming and subtle) of the story.  A teen who doesn’t have that could be easily swayed by the actions of the heroes into agreeing with their immoral decisions (which I think is essentially what happens to our heroes).

I thought that one of the book’s shortcomings was that it didn’t explain to the reader how Panem became a completely de-Christianized, pagan empire.  Since it’s written in the first person, I guess it couldn’t have, since the narrator probably wouldn’t have that knowledge.  We know, though, that she knows that her country was once the United States, so it would have been interesting to see a Christian underground, made possible by people passing their faith along to their children and grandchildren.  I’m interested to see the movie.

One of the aspects of Katniss’s character that greatly annoyed me in the books (not sure how this could come out in the movie as it was inner thoughts) was how utterly stupid she seemed about understanding people’s motivations and their impressions of her.  She was a physical genius but an interpersonal dolt.

Thanks, Mr. Greydanus! being in the films target audience (i’m 14), i was getting sick and tired of having this movie shoved down my throat. Glad you reviewed it. The Mercy killing does bother me a bit, but i’m glad the heroine dosen’t do anything beyond self-defence. That’s what was worrying me the most. Again, Thanks.

Is no one else bothered by a movie about kids killing kids?  I mean Jesus told us to be in the world but not of it.  We run to these movies and glamorize them, what message are we sending to our kids?  Why would someone want to make a movie about kids that have to kill other kids? W need to really start thinking more as Christians and see what demonic things are right in front of us and avoid them, not partake in them because everyone else is.  And I really don’t want to hear one more person tell me that th books and movies are about so much more.  I don’t need to take any lesson from a story about kids killing one another, the only lesson I need is to avoid watching it.

I’m reminded of another classical allusion:  the yearly tribute of young men and women sent by Athens to Crete to feed the Minotaur…

Thank you Joe for finally stating the OBVIOUS.  This is a movie ultimately about children killing children.  Makes me want to wretch.  When I went to see a movie recently (the first time in a couple of years) and saw the trailer for the Hunger Games I was shocked.  Dismayed.  Angered! I stay away from most popular media these days and hadn’t heard about the books either. SHAME on any parent that allows their children to read this stuff and SHAME on any parent that allows their children to view it. 
Consider this quote from St. John Bosco:
“No poison is more fatal to youth than bad literature. More than ever today, [bad] books are to be feared because of their abundance and disguise. If you value your soul, do not read them unless you have your confessor’s approval or the advice of other learned, pious persons. I repeat – learned and pious.”

Your time, and money, will be better spent going to see October Baby.

@ Joe and Amie,

Your point is reductionist and presupposes that the book/movie are simply about “children killing children” when the book/movie plainly do not support this reading.  That children kill children in the book/movie cannot be denied, but the premise that nothing else happens, or that the killings don’t take place in any larger context does violence to the works and common sense.  Were I to say that I won’t read or see Conrad’s Lord Jim because it is just a book/movie about a sailor leaving passengers to die, people would rightly point out that while that happens in the book, the book is not attempting to glamorize or heroicize that event.  Similarly, here Katniss is a victim of an unjust society forced by circumstances beyond her control to fight.  As SGD says, the violence is not glamorized.  The question thus becomes who is the appropriate audience for the book/movie, not to conclude that there is no appropriate audience.

REPLY ON SPOILERS:
The mercy killing here strikes me as less problematic than another “friendly” kill in another major teen series, which was premediated and orchestrated. But on the other hand, it seems like there’s nothing in the world as presented by the novel from which to criticize the action. (I’ve only read the first novel). I imagine that Collins left Christianity out of the world of Panem because she didn’t know what to do with it. A Xity in favor of the Games would have been disgusting, while a Xity from District 12 would be considered less “universal.” Somehow I find a de-Christianized Appalachia here harder to believe than in other “dystopias.”
The intent of the suicidal action, on the other hand, was always to save the lives of the participants (makes sense if you know the story), but it doesn’t seem to me that there was any expectation that it would not have been carried through if the bluff had been called.
So I don’t know.

I’m glad to see several here noticing how similar The Hunger Games is to not one, but several, stories that have been published over the years.  Including some we read as teenagers.  This is not to fault or accuse its author, just relief that people can still remember what they’ve read.  Modern culture thoroughly discourages that, to our peril.

Steven, SPOILERS, the suicide pact is just as much of a ploy n the movie as it sounds like in the book.  Remember earlier in the movie when Katniss tells Peeta to throw the ball, and then she says “trust me?” It demonstrated a certain grasp of the social situation.  The situation with the suicide pact is similar, again, she says “trust me,“heartening back to that similar scene earlier in the movie in the training room.

Arne, St John Bosco was talking more about sexual pornographic material, I’m pretty sure, than literature filled with violence.

I have 3 teenagers, all of whom have read the trilogy, as have I but only recently.  Therefore, I think it is imperative to warn other Christian parents away from the trilogy, or at the very least, to read them in advance so that you can have serious discussions about them

My take on the books as a Catholic mother:  I enjoyed the first and second book and the third book is horrible.  Yes,  I agree with Steven that the story is troubling and that the complete lack of a Christian culture is troublesome.  Where is the natural law in these stories?  there really isn’t, and what little morality gets greyer and greyer as the stories progress.  I read them, assuming that the third book (final book of the trilogy) would pay off in Right prevailing, morals being discovered and imposed, and justice being delivered, in equal parts with mercy.  I WAS WRONG.  I’ll say again, the third book is a literary and moral mess.  Suzanne Collins wrote a nihilistic, relativistic grey cesspool and that’s how she ends the trilogy.  Those looking for a happy ending, or for some redemption will be thoroughly disappointed as it does not happen.  The Good is stamped out, or lost and when she ends it, there is no real indication that the characters involved are going to rediscover goodness.  On top of that, the third book is badly written.

There are literally hundreds of places on the web that have articles on what went wrong with Mockingjay (the 3rd book), but to my Christian mother’s mind, it was irresponsible of Collins to foist such a black, post-modern emptiness on impressionable teenagers.  Irresponsible and dangerous.

Sorry, I know this isn’t about the movie per se, but please allow me the opportunity to give my fellow Catholic parents a word to the wise.

Teenagers buthchering one another could be FINE to see?  No thank you…....I don’t care how cinematically wonderful this film is…perhaps its time to boycott such films instead.  This is horrifying…not entertainment.

I am deeply troubled by this review in that it doesn’t address the FACT that the books and movie are aimed at 11-13 year olds.  I hardly find the premise of this movie appropriate for most adults let alone young teens. Is it just me or have we completely become desensitized to gratuitous violence.  I cannot believe a Catholic publication would praise a movie like this.  Should we not spend our precious time enjoying works of beauty and things that bring us closer to God?

I thought the books were very good, insofar as they provide frighteningly believable insight into a world which has wholeheartedly rejected God, annihilated itself with nuclear war, and tried to build a new civilization according to the values of its own bankrupt intellect. Of course the teens kill each other. Never mind the fact that they are “forced” to do so. They have been raised in a psychological nightmare. What do you suppose real children would do, brainwashed from birth in the way these children have been? I think they would act in just this way. Every time I mentally protested a part of the story and wanted a “good” character to act according to right conscience or natural law, I remembered that this was the point of the story: they live in a world strategically built to try and eliminate such moral resources. I found it to be a psychological drama much more than an action story. It reminds me forcefully of how much power adults have in the formation of children. I think Panem provides a picture of what might happen if original sin and the intelligent agents of the underworld were given unprecedented assistance by a huge majority of humans.

This write-up is awful. I have never seen worse, save for the comments, which are pathetic beyond reason. Thank goodness you people stay in your corner of the internet.

These entertainments are useless and even godless, and in many cases produced by people who hate the Church and make billions off of us, which they then spend in God only knows what ways. Very often they are part of the elite Hollywood crowd that supports the culture of death and every kind of other perversion we could think of. I cannot imagine why Christian people waste time and money on these things. Skip the Hollywood bunk and give the money to the poor. You could write a more edifying play and put it on in your living room!

Not too much different from what passes for nightly news where blood and lunacy are the normal fare of the day. A four time deployed solider looses it on the battlefield and kills 16 innocent(?) civilians and we scream for his blood. Or a moslem American Officer screams Alla and kills 11 soldiers on a military base in the U.S.A. and 28 months later is has yet to be charges with a crime.. Go figure, I’ll take fantasy violence any day.
Mike

In response to Corinn, and some others:
“Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul or the most unsettling aspects of evil, artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption.”
-Pope John Paul II Letter to Artists
I did want to hurl MOCKINGJAY across the room after I finished it though; the character derailment was awful.
@Everyone who saw the movie: Did anyone else feel like the pacing was kind of uniform and slow-ish throughout the film? It worked fine in the beginning, but I didn’t really feel the same kind of visceral concern for the character’s well being once the Game started, apart from the Cornucopia rush at the beginning, that I experienced reading the books. It was more a detached, intellectual “Oh no, hope Katniss makes it out of this one…” They need a new director for CATCHING FIRE.

Since these movies were so new,I checked Mr. G’s review. I was disappointed in the review in that he seems to accept everything as okay. Really? Should we Catholics like everything the culture throws at us? Why do we buy into the gratuitous violence? Is this really good for teen-agers? At some point we all need to discern right from wrong and say-NO I won’t spend my time and money on the God-less cultural drivel. We should concentrate on whatever is good, true, and beautiful. Does anyone know of a serious Christian reviewer?

A review from a fourteen year-old girl, to give you an idea of what younger children are saying on this subject.

http://faithfulbookaholic.blogspot.com/2012/03/hunger-gameswhy-should-you-see-it.html

Thanks Moi. I though it was an interesting role reversal that Katniss was the survive at all costs type and Peeta was the more morally sensitive one.

Children butchering children, with grown-ups approval, aid, applause and facilitation-more than an analogy for abortion today

As a Catholic mother of teenagers, I am disappointed in this review. I thought this one provided much more ‘meat’ as to the ethical issues involved in a product targeted to such a young audience (the written review, linked, is more comprehensive than the video):

http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/10493

I have been reading Steven’s reviews for awhile now and I can attest that he is a serious Christian reviewer. All of his reviews come from his Catholic Point of view. Just becasue a book touches on violent themes does not make it a film for Christians to avoid. If that was the case we should avoid the bible and shakesphere. It’s the overall scope of the story that makes it good or bad. And Stephen did voice some reservations about the film if you read carefully. It was not lavish praise or nor harsh criticism. In art you must look at the overall scope of a work. Stephen does that. Christian screenwriter asks the question ‘Why are the Millinils flocking to this film?” What is it about the Hunger Games that makes young people want to see it? If we can answer that we can use the book and movie as a point of evangelization. Move over Harry, someone has finaly come to take your place as the story to protest. Mind you this film is not menat for the younins. It’s a mature story with a serious messege that is proably best told to those who take in the serious messege.

I’m somewhat confused by your observation that such barbarism could scarcely be imagined in a world where Christian morals still linger, since it was followed shortly by this -
“Consider the unifying rhetoric accompanying bipartisan support for ever greater expansions of unchecked executive power over the lives of citizens, up to and including power to indefinitely detain or even assassinate American citizens on American soil, secretly, with no judicial review or accountability of any kind, without convicting or even charging them with a crime, let alone entertaining any defense of innocence.”
Yet you seem to be referring to the actions and agenda of the Christianist GOP, who openly advocate what you describe. Toss in extraordinary rendition, state sponsored torture, warrantless surveillance and you’ve got a pretty apt analogy. Except for the bipartisan support, that is.

Mark: Here, friend, educate yourself.

Mark W.,

I’m not sure if your response was addressing my comment above yours, but I do not disagree with the substance of your comment. But if you read the review at Meractornet (the written one, especially), you will understand the reservations I have. It is not about the violence per se (we are great fans of Lord of the Rings) but of the situational ethics in the story. Most of the target audience (tween/young teen) will, unless well catechized, be incapable of the moral reasoning required to evaluate the story objectively, rather than subjectively. What attitudes and ethics is the story promoting and is that a good thing for these young people - and our society? That’s what has to be asked.

A- YES!  It’s nice to see other people who actually read the books comment.  I feel like the whole trilogy is loaded with with moral situations and dilemnas and you see how these people would react while living in a god-less, oppressive society.  There are many different learning moments and topics to address with teens.
Loved this review and reading discussions topics:
http://catholiclane.com/book-review-and-parents’-guide-the-hunger-games-trilogy/

Steven: Touche. Not trying to derail the thread here, merely meant to observe that the GOP candidates and supporters seem to effortlessly square these acts with religious values.
I’m not sure if Collins’ intent was to write an allegorical story or not. It doesn’t seem that The Hunger Games is a parable of what happens when there’s no religion, but I suppose that undertone is present. Regardless, it’s somewhat dismaying that many of the commenters would deny their children exposure to any media that doesn’t promote strict Catholic values. The lack of religion in Panem may even send a positive message here.

Mark: To clarify, it was not my intent to imply that Collins’ story was a cautionary tale about what happens when religion is gone. Rather, removing religion as we know it was a plot-level requirement for the kind of story Collins wanted to tell.
 
Please note my careful language: “No culture with any lingering Christian influence could something quite as barbaric as the Hunger Games exist.” The “quite” is significant. This is a long way from saying that a lingering Christian influence is a panacea against any and all barbarity or evil.
 
A debased and corrupted Christian ethic can rationalize torture and other violations of human dignity, but the specific barbarity depicted here, of forcing innocent adolescents (adult enough that even Peter Singer would have to admit they’re almost people, but still young enough to be presumptively innocent, especially because they are selected randomly) to fight to the death as a form of spectacle, is unimaginable in any culture in which the core Christian value of the sanctity of human life retains any foothold whatsoever.
 
FWIW, the ethic of the sanctity of human life was one of the most notable sociological differentia between the early Christian movement and the pagan culture they lived in: The Christians were unusually opposed to destroying innocent human life, from infanticide (then common) and abortion to the gladiator games.

Nice review! I LOVE the books, but i agree with most of your points in the movie. Peeta is(for the record) not willing to kill people in cold blood, just to save Katniss. The romance needed a little more though. There was more in the book.

Regarding the violence, I felt that the film actually handled that very well.  Unlike the flashy kung-fu moves and fancy gunplay of most action movies nowadays, this film seems to go out of its way to depict the action sequences as ugly, tense and disturbing.  Personally, I found myself comparing the violence in “The Hunger Games” to other action and sci-fi films and was forced to confront just how glamorized violence is in our society.  Both book and film urge the viewer to acknowledge the similarities between our society and Panem regarding issues like voyeurism and “reality TV” as well as the theme of keeping the populace happy enough to ignore the government’s actions.  Regarding the lack of “core Christian morality”, I actually noticed that when reading the trilogy.  There is no religion of any sort; in fact, no one even casually uses the Lord’s name in vain in any of the books.  I interpreted this as a major factor in the general dystopia.

I am part of the target audience for Mrs. Collin’s “The Hunger Games” trilogy and I wanted to share my perspective with you all. I did read the books, as did my mother. Both of us read it from a very Catholic perspective.
The book is not just mindless violence. The very purpose of the series was to explore the effects of war and violence - and that it does. The series in no way glorifies violence, rather it exposes the horror and pyschological trauma of it. The tributes that do enjoy killing show the complete depravity of people who live in such a godless dystopia.
In addition, the book provides political food for thought, by means of the “panem et circuses” theory of governing, as explained in the third book (hence “Panem”). The theory states that as long as people (in the book, Capitol citizens) are given food (“Panem” means bread in Latin) and entertainment (“circuses”) they can be controlled. This plays out in the Capitol as it did in ancient Rome.
In conclusion, I would like to state that just because the movie does contain much violence does not make it any less a masterpiece. Katniss in particular, shines as a model for young girls. Her dedication to her sister is unparalleled, and her pure love for Peeta is nothing short of beautiful. She is more than a “piece in their Games.” She is a girl of substance.

Lindsey: Excellently stated! I completely agree, though I differ a bit in my opinion of Katniss… ^_^

Steven: appreciate the effort you make to reply to comments on your articles and reviews, and to defend your positions. Keep up the good work. I’ll keep reading to keep you honest :)

I haven’t seen the film or read the books yet but I plan to do both soon.

From what I’ve heard so far, it seems like the violence should not be an issue, because it’s not the violence that is glorified. In a community where violence is put as a means of entertainment (see 300/Immortal/Fight Club/countless others) i believe that viewers are desensitized to violence. Death, violence, these should be shocking to us. Yet they aren’t always. So here violence has been re-presented in a very shocking way: with teens. I believe that would be a surprising, refreshing, and yet horrible breath of fresh air. This is the type of movie that should re-sensitize our take on violence. Do I want to watch movies like this non stop? Absolutely not! But the message is brought through a means of horrible realism that violence is not the pretty picture that hollywood has constantly painted it as.

My 2 cents.

I quess what bothers me about this movie (as well as the trilogy) is that there is little to no transcendent reason for hope! As a 70 plus yr old Christian I would want to include as some suggested here a semblance of that (maybe an “undergound” Christian community co-existing?)hope that Christ has promised us would exist, at least in some form, until the end of time. In other words this is a movie, like many others, without that necessary transcendent quality for me to “approve” as worthwhile for teen viewing.  It is no Lord of the Rings for sure!

War is the complete eradication of love (God) - no matter if the time is early Rome, the Holy Wars, Viet Nam, Afghanistan or Liberia - I don’t think the book paints a bleak picture of the future - we are living this now and have been on this path for a long time.  God doesn’t leave us, we leave God when we choose to wage war. The proof that God doesn’t leave us is when we witness the of acts of love and kindness by who find themselves at the mercy of those “in power.”  In this work of fiction, I saw God - when Katniss loved and protected Rue, when she sang to her while she was dying and when she prepared her body for its return to the earth.  God is love and can is found whenever and wherever we can express it and rise above our circumstances no matter how bleak they may be.

Steven, I’m a big fan and don’t want to sidetrack this discussion, but where did you get the part about assassinations being on American soil?

I’m deeply saddened by the abject failure of the reviewer,and most commentators to this review, who do not recognize that they are caught up in the frenzy of a pop fiction/movie craze that is completely contrary to our Catholic faith.  Have we all forgotten that there once was a time when the Catholic Church published a list of forbidden books and movies because the Church understood the need to protect our souls from the erosion of our moral sensibilities?  Have we all forgotten St. Paul’s admonition to the Philippians when he wrote “Finally, my brothers, your thoughts should be WHOLLY directed to all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, and worthy of praise.”  There is no redeeming value in reading about or watching garbage like this; it will only pollute your mind and blacken your soul.  In an age when teens and pre-teens are bombarded with stories about vampires and zombies and witches and warlocks, Catholic adults who should know better should declare its hazards, and warn our children to keep away.

While I appreciate your candor when you say you haven’t read “The Hunger Game” book series, I would expect a reviewer/critic to have done so.

Mary Jo: This is a movie review, not a book review. Reading the books isn’t necessary to evaluate the movie as a movie.

For another Catholic take on moral issues raised by The Hunger Games, see Father Robert Barron.
 
Jack Spring: In charity, you should give those who disagree with you more credit. Thoughtful Catholics are not necessarily being swept off their feet just because they disagree with you. In my case, I’ve been reviewing movies over a dozen years and I am more than ready to resist the appeal of a pop culture craze, as my coverage of Twilight, Dan Brown and His Dark Materials illustrates.
 
Mary Jo Scamperle: Any film critic will tell you that your expectation is unrealistic: There are just too many adaptations for critics to read them all. I did more than my due diligence here: I did read The Hunger Games, though I hadn’t finished it by the time I wrote this review, and I also read up on the overall story arc of the series as a whole.

Bear in mind, too, that I’m covering the film world while raising six homeschooled kids (soon to be seven!), holding down a 9 to 5 non-film job, volunteering at my parish, etc. I’m grateful that most of my readers seem to appreciate the level of research I put into my reviews, even when it doesn’t extend to reading an entire trilogy before reviewing the first film adaptation.

Just a thought for those who oppose Hunger Games based on its violence and amorality: how else should an author show what would happen if a society were to completely eradicate the mention and thought of God? If the cautionary value of the tale is to work, it MUST paint a world that is bleak, and horrible, and without hope. I would consider it an anti-Christian movie if that Godless society (Panem) were to produce goodness or virtue in its citizens. I have no idea if the author or director had any intention of promoting a Christian world view. But promote it they did. Any viewer with an ounce of sense would be deeply disturbed by the nature of the Games, and the bleak prospects of Katniss & Peeta even after they manage to outwit the authorities. But the dreadfulness is necessary in order to drive the lesson home. There is no happy ending. A world without God is a nightmare, and I hope this portrayal on the big screen will reach many teens who are unimpressed with a mere spoken message such as “We need God.”

Meryl Amland has a review:

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1236/the_serious_games_of_life_and_death.aspx

A: Thank you for your insightful reply. While we certainly cannot condone the world of the Capitol, it is important to keep in mind the dystopias that can result from our rejection of God.
Jack Spring: The purpose of the Hunger Games is not to glorify such an empty dystopia, but rather to reveal its flaws and depravity. Suzanne Collins’ purpose was to expose the effects of war and violence on youth. It is, by its nature and by the author’s expressly stated purpose, a cautionary tale, reminiscent of other works, such as Orwell’s “1984” and “Animal Farm.” War and violence are realities in our world, especially today. “The Hunger Games” is not a paranormal angsty romp, unlike “Twilight.” It is a story about overcoming violence and oppression.

Suzanne (I forget the last name) and Jack Spring are correct.  It is gratuitous violence and it has kids slaughtering kids.  Satan allows good aspects to calm our minds about unholy pleasures.  Even a book writer or movie director may be so lukewarm as to not notice the depravity of such a story.  We’re frogs in a slowly boiling kettle being encouraged to see the good in the situation (which would be OK if it were for martyrdom’s sake).  It’s sad when a celebrated Catholic movie reviewer doesn’t notice the depravity enough to call for what it is, but to make excuses for it, and so we just continue to stick our heads in the sand to avoid the uncomfortable truth.  What if they make a well-written film showing a no-holds-barred, full-nudity scene of a child getting raped and, well, the rapist repents later?  Why have the graphic depiction of it?  Well, I guess we’ll see how horrible it is for a child to experience that.  Wait a second!  Why is a child even virtually experiencing that?  Why are any virtually slaughtering each other?  Why pay money to encourage more of this mind and soul-raping of a child?  I say the same about horror films with kids being chased by psycho-killers and even sometimes killing one.  This is madness!  Steve, you should be ashamed of yourself, being fooled by one of Satan’s classic tricks!  I think you need a retreat to reconsider your values.  What’s more important, not being a religious extremist or not funding the spiritual diminishment of our children’s innocence?

Steven says: “...removing religion as we know it was a plot-level requirement…” Indeed. That describes basically all Hollywood films. And we, sigh, keep supporting them.

Jack Spring!

Your statements defy the tradition, little t, of the Church, and the Church’s stance on “garbage.”. I encourage you first to read St. Basil’s Address to young men on the right Use of Greek literature, found here: http://m.ccel.org/ccel/pearse/morefathers/files/basil_litterature01.htm

Next, please consider that the index of forbidden books was not an absolute banishment of those books from every Catholics’ hands.  When a boom was put on th index, it was meant that only those of sufficient education and strength in their understanding and love of the Faith could read the books, otherwise the literature would be dangerous and influential against the Faith in the individual.

Phil,

What’s more important, the speck in SDG’s eye, or the plank in our own?  Did you seriously just tell him he needs to go on retreat? 

Seriously, who does that? 

If you aren’t a troll, then you are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity.

“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.”
-G.K. Chesterton
see also, “A Defence of Penny Dreadfuls”: http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/~mward/gkc/books/penny-dreadfuls.html

Phil: Are you aware that bad things happen in this world? That many human beings live in dire circumstances in which some are deceived into embracing evil while others have to try to live in evil circumstances as best as they can?
 
Is it reasonable for art to recognize and confront this fact, to depict human beings living in dire circumstances and depicting the full spectrum of how people live in dire circumstances?
 
You are not the first person to misuse the word “gratuitous” in this combox. Do you know what it means? I don’t hesitate to call the violence in this film disturbing and problematic. But gratuitous it is not. It is essential to the story’s treatment of its central premise and themes.

Incidentally, can I say how mystified I am by critical commenters saying things like “I was disappointed in the review in that he seems to accept everything as okay” and “Is no one else bothered by a movie about kids killing kids?” As C. S. Lewis once complained, how emphatically does one have to say a thing before one is safe from the charge of having said the exact opposite?

Pierce Oka: Fantastic quotation. Thanks.

This was a wonderful review, but I wanted to give you a different perspective. Before reading this book, my daughter and I prayed that we would be able to understand the book - both the good and the bad and take from it the good. I read this book and went to watch the movie with my 14-year old daughter.  It was a difficult book to read, and I cried quite a bit.  But what I got out of it was that the Hunger Games was a yearly exercise in control by those in power to contain the population in each district.  The Capitol took in “tribute” what was most valuable to the districts:  their children.  The difference lies in how that tribute was viewed:  By the wealthier districts, it was viewed as an honor and children were prepared and trained to win.  In the poorer districts, tribute was considered almost martyrdom.  It was those characters, Katniss and Peeta, who stayed most true to their values and didn’t “win at all costs”.  This book (and movie) could have so many meanings to many different people.  How the tributes from the wealthier districts “use” the poorer tributes to get what they want.  How they bully and how they taunt Katniss.  That for all their learned aggression and training, they lack humanity and a sense of inner dignity.  In this competitive world where sometimes parents push their children to achieve at high levels and do so at any means possible, this book and movie exemplify through the characters of Katniss and Peeta, two young people who will succeed through trying to work their way around the system and not lose their identities.  I think many of our young people have to “sell out” to be popular or get ahead in life.  Some learn to “play the game” and fit in, but still retain the values taught at home and by their faith. Additionally, Suzanne Collins was also trying to show the brutal nature of sending our young men to war…18-year olds who go to dangerous situations and fight against enemies that have no respect for life.  With all the fluff and silly books out there for teens and young adults, at least this book has a message.  This is NOT a book for tweens or children. I wouldn’t let a 12-year old or younger read the book or see the movie.

As a 16 year old Anglican, I’m different from many of you commenting. I like Stephen’s review a lot, and think it is very well researched and thought out. In my opinion of the movie, the character Stanley Tucci played, the blue haired announcer was very well done, and was what really sold on how wrong the Hunger Games were and viewed in Panem. The film also helped magnify what I felt was a strong message against violence in the books. In the books, Katniss has nightmares and can’t take her mind off the first person he kills, and whenever someone dies, she thinks about their families who are grieving. The first fighting sequence really showed that the violence is wrong, by focusing on the dead and dying and not the victors. Another scene that brought out what happened was when SPOILERS Rue died. I cried for the first time at a movie during that scene.

MORE SPOILERS There has been several complaints about Mockingjay, including the lack of a upbeat ending and an innocent women being killed. I thought that Mockingjay was good because those happened and many others. Having an upbeat ending would go against the war is a terrible thing theme. The scene with the innocent being killed further reflects on that theme, as war often causes people to do wrong things.

Finally, lots of people are talking about the problem of kids killing kids. My problem with that is that Jesus said in scripture that all sins are equal in the eyes of the Lord (if I’m wrong, please let me know), and that killing kids is as great a sin as regular killing. So how does kids killing kids cross a line when men killing men does not? If you have a problem with the violence in the Hunger Games, you might also want to ban City of God while your at it, a film with a lot more violence, including 6 year olds killing and being killed. We all sin, and reading or viewing the Hunger Games won’t change that or that persons faith in Jesus Christ. I do think parents should discuss with their kids violence in popular culture when they are about 10-15 (and kids shouldn’t see this movie until right before or after that). Also, someone mentioned that the books were intended for 11-13 year-olds, and I think that the young adult fiction term implies 13-18.

SDG wrote: Where is the ambivalence in the Capitol? Well, I guess there’s Katniss’ stylist Cinna. That’s something.]]

In the book its made clearer that there is resistance to the games in the capital by the presence of the Avox, the capital slaves. The other districts, if they rebel are just killed,..but the Avox are citizens or peace keepers who rebelled the system and who are then enslaved and have their tongues cut out. they don’t really emphasize that so much in the movie. I hope they do explain more in the future movies, because Cinna is a very heroic figure.

Also in the books its also made clearer that brainwashing and propaganda of a very sophisticated kind is used in the people and tributes from the higher districts, starting with the constant dehumanizing of the lower districts…and higher districts (1 and 2) are also where the peacekeepers come from. The higher districts won the games the most often, but in the books its shown that even with strict brainwashing, the tributes from higher districts pay a heavy mental price.

The problem with Katniss is that she and Peeta humanized the tributes from the lower districts like no other tribute in the past..and caused unrest not just in the districts…but in the Capital as well.

There were quite a few things they left out in the movie in the interest of time I am sure…it was a very long movie in any case…but the genetic engineering they performed on the cadavers of the fallen tributes turning them into the wild wolf hounds in the end, and Katniss’s song…they didn’t really show that except a little…though they really did Rue’s death perfectly…and the little girl who played Rue was absolutely adorable and perfect…I cried.

mary

SDG wrote: Where is the ambivalence in the Capitol? Well, I guess there’s Katniss’ stylist Cinna. That’s something.]]

In the book its made clearer that there is resistance to the games in the capital by the presence of the Avox, the capital slaves. The other districts, if they rebel are just killed,..but the Avox are citizens or peace keepers who rebelled the system and who are then enslaved and have their tongues cut out. they don’t really emphasize that so much in the movie. I hope they do explain more in the future movies, because Cinna is a very heroic figure.

Also in the books its also made clearer that brainwashing and propaganda of a very sophisticated kind is used in the people and tributes from the higher districts, starting with the constant dehumanizing of the lower districts…and higher districts (1 and 2) are also where the peacekeepers come from. The higher districts won the games the most often, but in the books its shown that even with strict brainwashing, the tributes from higher districts pay a heavy mental price.

The problem with Katniss is that she and Peeta humanized the tributes from the lower districts like no other tribute in the past..and caused unrest not just in the districts…but in the Capital as well.

There were quite a few things they left out in the movie in the interest of time I am sure…it was a very long movie in any case…but the genetic engineering they performed on the cadavers of the fallen tributes turning them into the wild wolf hounds in the end, and Katniss’s song…they didn’t really show that except a little…though they really did Rue’s death perfectly…and the little girl who played Rue was absolutely adorable and perfect…I cried.

Mary

So sorry for the double posting.
M~

Steven—

Thanks for the thoughtful review. I just finished the first book, as my daughter is bugging me about reading it, & I wanted to see what it’s all about. As Fr. Barron noted in his review, the work of Rene Girard on the scapegoating mechanism societies continue to use to justify “redemptive” violence and ease social tensions comes to mind. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” and Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” also come to mind, as both are similar literary treatments of the price we are willing to pay for social harmony and prosperity. I guess I’m less sanguine than you about the bloodlust shown by participants in the games. The first time I saw a MMA match advertised, I wondered how long it would be before this new sport developed in more violent directions, and how much reticent promoters,crowds, and participants would have in upping the ante. And while there were critical voices in Rome regarding their version of the games (and, I suspect, in Mesoamerica etc.), I’m not sure that the culture of death we are developing today, with such powerful legal and social sanction, doesn’t have the kind on intoxicating effect that can make some among us quite willing to engage in such violence. If NFL players can get riled up by defensive coordinators promising glory and payoffs for targeting opposing player’s injuries and knocking them unconscious, and the very governing body that fines such behavior in the name of player safety can at the same time use the violent images to promote the league, all to support the bottom line, is it too much to extend the logic? No, I’m not saying mixed martial arts or pro football lead down a slippery slope to the Hunger Games, but place these in the broader context of a society that engages in video game warfare against real people, whose officials sanction the torture of its enemies, and whose elected leaders speak blithely about freedom of choice and lionize people like Margaret Sanger while ignoring that lives and consciences are being destroyed, and I have to wonder about what is and isn’t likely or possible.

The violence in the book did make me squirm, and I felt the anger of Katniss at the level of manipulation. She is forced into an impossible situation, as so many young men and women in the military are. While we have at least the vestiges of a Christian counter-culture available that allow us to articulate more clearly our difficulties with such horrors, she seems to have little to draw upon from her upbringing. Asking where natural law is in all this, as some of your responders do, seems to miss its presence. Does Katniss have to cite St. Thomas Aquinas to satisfy them? Her wrestling with the implications of what she is doing, and willingness to sacrifice herself for others, seems to me to be a clear sign of a moral sense that can’t be covered over. I can’t speak to the other books, but I think it better to see the stories less as predictive than cautionary, much as Le Guin’s moral fable is regarding a crass utilitarian ethic and what is justifies. “What might we become, and how might we respond?” are the better questions here. Just as with books like The Giver, by Lois Lowry, films like “Gattaca”, or filmsadapted from books like “Never Let Me Go” and “Children of Men.” Dystopian stories come in a range of colors and flavors, and some are more clever and provocative than others. This one caught my attention, and I look forward to comparing my reaction to the film to yours. And reading the remaining books, as I puzzle over how to deal with my daughter. Thanks again,

Tony

I think that the violence in this movie was very well put, to say it in that way… I don’t think that anyone ( to the commenter below me) would have any trouble distinguishing wether or not the violence in this movie was morally acceptable or not. I mean, what the heck?! I don’t think that anyone is gonna see the hunger games and suddenly decide to go around killing each other. Now there are exceptions for the hysterical josh hutcherson lovers who would do any thing to get him… But that’s another thing. I thought the movie was very touching, the violence disturbing, the sad parts tearful, and the romantic pieces… Romantic. As it should. I personally liked the fact that the romance was toned down a bit because I was so sick of all my friends screaming and telling me how excited they were for peeta and katniss to kiss. I don’t understand why people are telling me that i shouldn’t see the hunger games because they kill each other. I think that that isn’t what made the movie… It was the setting for greater events… For something good to rise up out of the flames of evil.

For those who say that the Hunger Games presents no hope in the last book, I will say that I think it does. It presents hope in the fact that the Hunger Games end, and their are future children who grow up without these Games.  That’s the hope.

Now is Katniss and the rest who experienced it forever changed? Yes. But that’s the reality of war.  Its like Holocaust survivors or anyone who goes through that kind of trauma, they are going to forever have issues even if they find some happiness, in life.

In that sense it ends like Lord of the Rings ends.  Everything is changed, but Frodo with his experiences is forever changed.  The author would do disservice to the points she’s tried to make if the book ended with Katniss totally a-okay after all she’s been through.

Saint John Don Bosco:

“Never read books you aren’t sure about . . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?”

The Hunger Games are not for tweens, teens, or adults. Do adults need that “thrill” that supposedly comes along from focusing on such nonsense. We are certainly moving away from the good, right, and true if we find this trilogy and movie anything but barbaric. Please don’t water it down and try to find the “good” in it. Don’t make me laugh. Registry, I am sorely disappointed in the movie review. My husband feels the Registry is a great source of solid, Catholic information. After he sees this, I am sure he will not feel that way any longer. It’s scary that even “Catholics” are pushed around and influenced by these ridiculous present day movies and books. Ok, so the violence was “disturbing”. Big deal. Try taking a true stand against what is NOT beneficial to expose our kids to. So many drink that poison because it is offered in a golden cup. Disappointing. Let’s shape the moral character of our kids, the right way.

I would like to retract my comments about the Registry itself. It is still a good solid source of Catholic information. The author of this particular review did make some good points but overall I thought the review would take a firmer position against the movie than it did. Other than that I still stand behind my previous comments.

As far as the tributes who eagerly embrace the games, the first people I thought of were the ancient Spartans.  Embracing such violence is something very troubling, but unfotunately it HAS happened.

I am surprised to see so many negative reactions to the book based simply upon the fact that there was “bad stuff” in it.  Obviously violence is something that should be handled with care, but I think Collins does a wonderful job of revealing the horror of the Games, in a way that neither pushes the reader to far into terror, nor glamorizes it.  Do the characters all behave with perfect morality? No, of course, not, because they are human beings.  If you want to read a story about people all behaving perfectly, well, good luck finding one.  And once you’ve found it, good luck staying awake past the first three pages.

What I really like about these books is the sense of reality.  Katniss is forced into an intolerable position from which there is no easy exit, and as we see her meet the challenges that come her way what seems most crucial is her need to preserve her humanity.  And Collins shows the many-dimensional nature of the characters.  There are no “good guys vs bad guys”...everyone has good and evil in them.

I certainly will let my kids read these books.

William S:

“Jesus said in scripture that all sins are equal in the eyes of the Lord (if I’m wrong, please let me know)”
It stands to reason that some sins are grave and others not, and that among grave sins there are degrees of gravity. See Mt 12,31-32, for example. God bless!

Back on topic, I saw the film two days ago and I don’t recall “an unarmed civilian woman” being killed. Who was this and who killed her?

I read the Hunger Games this week and also Catching Fire.In the book te level of violence is or can be limited to what your willing to imagine,however the horror of the absolute hopelessness of the situation the people in the 12 districts face is not watered down .My fear is the real issues in the book may go over the heads of the 12 year olds this film is apparently suitable for.
I can really see this book being part of school curriculum in years to come,I equate its moral warnings and thought provoking message to us all to that of Goerge Orwells Animal Farm.
Maybe im reading too much into it….....

I see, with the “Hunger Games” we have another “Harry Potter” controversy brewing replete with comdemnation for those parents who allow their kids to read the books and watch the movie.  Sigh.

Three of my five children have read the books along with myself (and I have encouraged my husband to do so when he has free time).  We approached each book as an opportunity to explore the moral issues presented.  Every night at dinner for about three weeks we held a book club and it was some of the most enjoyable time we’ve spent as a family.  We had similar discussions with Harry Potter.

The books are not perfect.  The characters are flawed.  There is violence.  But there is also goodness and selflessness and purity (especially in Peeta’s feelings for Katniss).  Katniss initially is a completely sacrificial character both in her role as caretaker for her sister (because her mother has “checked out” of raising her children after the death of her husband) and then when she volunteers in Prim’s stead as tribute.  If there is another heroine in current teen literature who is as noble, I don’t know about her.

As others have noted, the overarching story focuses on the long-lasting effects of war on people coupled with a debased culture that is entertained by children participating in a blood sport. Just think about that. I certainly can appreciate that parents might not want their children to read these books or watch the movie.  That is their right.  But I can’t imagine saying, as “Arne” did above:

“SHAME on any parent that allows their children to read this stuff and SHAME on any parent that allows their children to view it.”

And more importantly, “CONGRATULATIONS!” Steven to you and your family!

While I agree with many of you that this audience is waaay too young for this material, I also would like to say how thought provoking it is about society. We find ourselves currently in an environment where our government is seeking more and more power. Though this is a FAAAR cry from the Capitol of the “Hunger Games”, I find it to be a thoughtful discussion of what a world without Christianity can look like. Moral relativism and a strong central government bent on controlling the masses could concievably hold something close to this as we had seen in Ancient Rome. I read the book and found it to be a chilling warning about how important personal liberty and faith in God is for society. We are SUPPOSED to be horrified as an audience at what happens in the book. I would hope that parents would read this WITH their OLDER teenagers as a commentary on how important our freedom and religion are.

@Fr Brendan: The part that I referred to was in the last book, not the one they just made into a movie. Sorry that I didn’t make it clear.

@ Maggie: Thanks. I thought I surely couldn’t have missed something like that in the film!
@ Steven: You wondered where Peeta got his handle. Perhaps a survival of the Christian name “Peter,” spelled by people who, well, didn’t know how to spell it correctly. That happens with some names in real life!