Everyone seems to be inspired by The Hunger Games. There are Hunger Game inspired cocktails, clothing, music, games and everything else in between. The most surprising however was The Hunger Games inspired wedding board by Preston Bailey. Seriously? Did they read the book and see the movie? Who in their right mind would have a wedding inspired by what The Hunger Games stands for?
Various people have written reviews about The Hunger Games. Some are in favor of it such as Mormon Media Reviews and others are very much against it such as Slowing The Racing Mind. Some have judged by the film only and others by the book and some have laid out their reviews based on both. I strongly suggest that when there is a massive population pull to something; arm yourself with as many facts as possible, but that is just me.
Then of course many, many people had opinions about The Hunger Games. The Last Phyciatrist ranted that The Hunger Games are anti-feminist. She was upset that Katniss did not kill enough people or as violently as would appease the feminist appetite therefore making Katniss a weak character that little girls should not look up to. Amy Simpson saw a new light and realized that all men are not to be feared. I think it was an epiphany for her, and I did enjoy her post. I identified most with Annie Tichenors. She believes that The Hunger Games are not all fiction, neither do I. Please read the post on her blog, MyCadence to understand it. Her opinion I think most sides along the authors ideas.
My husband wanted to see the movie so that was our date night for an evening last month. The film left far too many questions for me and so I had to read the book. In response to the burning question so many people seem to have, yes,the story bothers me. Will I finish the series? Yes. There is more to the story and I want to finish it and then write my thoughts about the whole idea. What I will say now is this, I believe there is far more non-fiction to this story than at first meets the eye. For discerning people, I believe that Suzanne Collins is wanting people to open their eyes to a much larger problem than people think is actually out there right now.
The Hunger Games would not be the first book written that dealt with real issues. Charles Dickens was a champion for social causes in his novels and helped to shed the light for people about what really happened in the slums, the legal system and how it affected peoples attitudes and thoughts. Sinclair Lewis works contributed to the awareness of fascism in America and the civil rights issues. Louisa May Alcott candidly brought out her feelings about slavery and Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell brought the real world of women to light in their eras, while Edith Wharton was an astute critic of the upper-class in which she was a part.
After discussing the story with my sons, our youngest chose not to read the book or see the film (which is very responsible of him as he is very sensitive), but our eldest had chosen to read the book. He finished it and we had some amazing discussions about what is happening globally and how it related to the story. How our choices effect so many more people than we think and that we need to be very conscience of our words and actions. Soon I will be taking him to go and see the movie before it leaves the theaters. I know there are people that would argue with this decision saying that I am advocating my child seeing children kill children. They are welcome to their opinions, but what they may not understand is that their daily life choices may be advocating real live children killing other real live children. It is incredibly important to see the perspective and realize that my son is more aware of his choices than most adults are of theirs.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any favorite fiction authors that have brought to life real issues for you, who are they and what are those issues?
Update: You can read our thoughts on the tilogy here.
