[spoddersedpn]

Dropped the kids off with the grandparents and went out with the wife for a lovely evening. Saw "The Hunger Games," of which she has read the books. In talking about the books with her, the topic disturbed me; bloodsport involving children. When I saw it on the big screen, I was disturbed even further. I had a visceral reaction to the notion of children being forced to do such a thing. In movies like "Gladiator" and "The Running Man" where it was grown men being forced to fight for life in a game, I never gave it a second thought. Action movies, good times. But to see kids, between the ages of 12 and 18 put into death matches, it was discomforting.

The worst part was seeing the much older "tributes" killing the younger ones. 24 kids go in, 1 is supposed to come out. In a story twist, 2 get to come out. Still not good odds. The younger children never had a chance. Such pure savagery, the strong killing the weak because that is the game they are forced to play, with the rest of the country watching on television and the upper class cheering on the "games." Most people probably saw this movie and said "It was a pretty good movie, lots of action, a little slow before the games." Others probably said "Not as good as the book, but a good movie." To me, this movie will haunt me. The deeper metaphors and relations to bad times in human history, and the thought of this happening under a fictional authoritarian dictatorship with absolute power over the people, gives me a thousands things to sort out, define, and explain in my own head. It will be a while before my free thoughts are occupied by anything else.

There were shades of ancient Rome (set in the future), with a Caesar figure, an authoritarian government, a region with citizens more privileged than all other subjects of the empire, with all of the other subjects seen as less than human. There was even a forced suicide at the end where the head of the games was given no choice but to kill himself because of dishonor. There were shades of the Soviet Union where the workers out in the provinces lived like peasants, while the capital city dwellers had all the trappings of modern life and their favored status allowed them luxuries unknown by the people who toiled day after day to provide them with the raw materials needed to keep their cities going. They were real fucking proud of their bullet train. If you are familiar with the short story "The Lottery," that was how the "tributes" were chosen for the games. The games themselves were held to continue to punish the 12 districts for an attempted revolt against the government 74 years earlier. If you are familiar with "Lord of the Flies," you can relate to the animal savagery that children can be reduced to when the guiding hand of responsible adults are taken away.

The lives of these kids were cheap. Their deaths were cheered. The game was a reality show, watched by everybody. It showed what a government with absolute power could get away with, and what a people could allow a government to get away with. It was all about the continued punishment of vanquished enemies. It brought to mind the many rumblings of many on the left who would like to re-educate people who disagree with them and "make them pay for their crimes."

Like I said, this will haunt me for some time to come. If you saw it and didn't get all of that out of it, and it did not take your mind to a dark place, good for you. If you have been wavering on whether or not to see it, I recommend it. I'm sure this comes across as incoherent rambling, but I felt I needed to put something down in words to help clear out my head. It made me worry about a future where one class is nothing more than chattel, where its only value to the upper class is in the aggregate, and individuals do not matter. Keynesianism has the aggregate at its root, which is why people like Paul Krugman can dismiss out of control government debt because "we owe it to ourselves," despite the fact that "ourselves" are money being given to people now only to be paid back by future tax payers. But they see us all as the same, so what's it matter if we move our change from one pocket to another? It's not far from there to become "the collective," where we have to put the needs of others above our own, but without enough to ever really meet anybody's needs. I see a dark future for humankind if this trend is allowed to continue.

I have many things to think about. I've got to sort all of this out before I'll be able to let this go. God damn that movie for forcing my mind into this dark corner.

[newspetty]

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...andchildren-/1

Does Roomey even have a dark place in his soul? Could anything haunt this guy?? Seems so empty....really.....

[feAilei1]

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...andchildren-/1

Does Roomey even have a dark place in his soul? Could anything haunt this guy?? Seems so empty....really.....

What makes you think he was even watching the movie while in that theater? He was probably glued to a phone with some aid talking in his ear the whole time.

[JewJoleSole]

.............

[Thomaswhitee]

Dropped the kids off with the grandparents and went out with the wife for a lovely evening. Saw "The Hunger Games," of which she has read the books. In talking about the books with her, the topic disturbed me; bloodsport involving children. When I saw it on the big screen, I was disturbed even further. I had a visceral reaction to the notion of children being forced to do such a thing. In movies like "Gladiator" and "The Running Man" where it was grown men being forced to fight for life in a game, I never gave it a second thought. Action movies, good times. But to see kids, between the ages of 12 and 18 put into death matches, it was discomforting.

The worst part was seeing the much older "tributes" killing the younger ones. 24 kids go in, 1 is supposed to come out. In a story twist, 2 get to come out. Still not good odds. The younger children never had a chance. Such pure savagery, the strong killing the weak because that is the game they are forced to play, with the rest of the country watching on television and the upper class cheering on the "games." Most people probably saw this movie and said "It was a pretty good movie, lots of action, a little slow before the games." Others probably said "Not as good as the book, but a good movie." To me, this movie will haunt me. The deeper metaphors and relations to bad times in human history, and the thought of this happening under a fictional authoritarian dictatorship with absolute power over the people, gives me a thousands things to sort out, define, and explain in my own head. It will be a while before my free thoughts are occupied by anything else.

There were shades of ancient Rome (set in the future), with a Caesar figure, an authoritarian government, a region with citizens more privileged than all other subjects of the empire, with all of the other subjects seen as less than human. There was even a forced suicide at the end where the head of the games was given no choice but to kill himself because of dishonor. There were shades of the Soviet Union where the workers out in the provinces lived like peasants, while the capital city dwellers had all the trappings of modern life and their favored status allowed them luxuries unknown by the people who toiled day after day to provide them with the raw materials needed to keep their cities going. They were real fucking proud of their bullet train. If you are familiar with the short story "The Lottery," that was how the "tributes" were chosen for the games. The games themselves were held to continue to punish the 12 districts for an attempted revolt against the government 74 years earlier. If you are familiar with "Lord of the Flies," you can relate to the animal savagery that children can be reduced to when the guiding hand of responsible adults are taken away.

The lives of these kids were cheap. Their deaths were cheered. The game was a reality show, watched by everybody. It showed what a government with absolute power could get away with, and what a people could allow a government to get away with. It was all about the continued punishment of vanquished enemies. It brought to mind the many rumblings of many on the left who would like to re-educate people who disagree with them and "make them pay for their crimes."

Like I said, this will haunt me for some time to come. If you saw it and didn't get all of that out of it, and it did not take your mind to a dark place, good for you. If you have been wavering on whether or not to see it, I recommend it. I'm sure this comes across as incoherent rambling, but I felt I needed to put something down in words to help clear out my head. It made me worry about a future where one class is nothing more than chattel, where its only value to the upper class is in the aggregate, and individuals do not matter. Keynesianism has the aggregate at its root, which is why people like Paul Krugman can dismiss out of control government debt because "we owe it to ourselves," despite the fact that "ourselves" are money being given to people now only to be paid back by future tax payers. But they see us all as the same, so what's it matter if we move our change from one pocket to another? It's not far from there to become "the collective," where we have to put the needs of others above our own, but without enough to ever really meet anybody's needs. I see a dark future for humankind if this trend is allowed to continue.

I have many things to think about. I've got to sort all of this out before I'll be able to let this go. God damn that movie for forcing my mind into this dark corner.

I'm not watching it. Period.

I agree with your views of it though.

And for the record.....we're sorta a fucked up world for this movie having any roots in reality.

There are sick twisted people out there these days......and a high percentage of them reside in Hollywood.

[iouiyyut]

I'm not watching it. Period.

I agree with your views of it though.

And for the record.....we're sorta a fucked up world for this movie having any roots in reality.

There are sick twisted people out there these days......and a high percentage of them reside in Hollywood.

To be fair, it's just a movie based on just a book. I'm not saying this particular scenario could or will happen. It just brought together a lot of things that have been in the back of my mind and really forced me to focus on a few subjects that are very uncomfortable. I'll consider that "personal growth." Most people would just watch the movie and move on. I've always been able to do that - ignore whatever allegory lies behind the surface story or whatever message is trying to be sent. I just wanted to be entertained. This time I was forced to think very hard about a deeper meaning and to shine a light on those dark places in my mind. Perhaps the movie was just a catalyst for a change that I needed to have. Maybe nobody else can even understand, and will have their own epiphanies at their own pace. Maybe I'm just full of shit and should keep my thoughts to myself. Who's to say?

[tomsmuidh]

I've gone to the theater about 5 times in the past 20+ years. Three of those were to entertain the kids with some cartoon of sorts. And they tended to just fall asleep anyway.

[pharmacologist30]

the books are worth a (quick) read.

the second and third books are even darker, in some ways.

[mikefertynnz]

I can barely stand putting up with a 22-minute show on the Jew Box, let alone a 90-minute film. Besides, it sounds too depressing and disgusting for my tastes.

[Necedofer]

It made me worry about a future where one class is nothing more than chattel, where its only value to the upper class is in the aggregate, and individuals do not matter. Keynesianism has the aggregate at its root, which is why people like Paul Krugman can dismiss out of control government debt because "we owe it to ourselves," despite the fact that "ourselves" are money being given to people now only to be paid back by future tax payers. But they see us all as the same, so what's it matter if we move our change from one pocket to another? It's not far from there to become "the collective," where we have to put the needs of others above our own, but without enough to ever really meet anybody's needs. I see a dark future for humankind if this trend is allowed to continue.

I have many things to think about. I've got to sort all of this out before I'll be able to let this go. God damn that movie for forcing my mind into this dark corner.

Welcome to the party pal...