tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post3216445991623548076..comments2024-03-07T20:15:45.996-08:00Comments on The Bitter Script Reader: Is The Hunger Games manipulative in its morality?The Bitter Script Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16575166527272639709noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-3666782180689637072012-04-04T09:55:59.238-07:002012-04-04T09:55:59.238-07:00I also thought this should've been R-rated.I also thought this should've been R-rated.The Unknown Lyricisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02851649838865022855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-24257831873157509822012-04-04T09:12:23.855-07:002012-04-04T09:12:23.855-07:00Just saw this last night... did anybody think the ...Just saw this last night... did anybody think the movie was slow? Both the prep leading up to the games and then the games themselves... I often felt I was wandering lost in the forest.The Unknown Lyricisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02851649838865022855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-54044043376095344462012-03-26T18:15:51.503-07:002012-03-26T18:15:51.503-07:00I haven't read the books, but I enjoyed the mo...I haven't read the books, but I enjoyed the movie. You're right that all the kids are victims, but they did say that the kids from districts 1 & 2, who made up that evil posse, were trained as killers from a very young age, and were also <i>volunteers,</i>. The fact that they volunteered themselves up to play the game made it easier for me to root against them as being pure evil, even though they were all still kids.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05668422854191586225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-69207220368133226012012-03-26T12:39:17.627-07:002012-03-26T12:39:17.627-07:00I don't think the problem is that Katniss only...I don't think the problem is that Katniss only kills in self-defense, I think that's actually a natural reaction to such a gladiatorial event: establishing a set of morals that defines what you will and won't do to win.<br /><br />I think the story is decent enough, but its restrictions and focus make it little more than a Disney movie.<br /><br />I think THG would have been much better as a Lord of the Flies kind of societal case study, dealing with the horror and primality of children forced into an arena and told that only one will be allowed to leave alive. The cannibal nature of man revealed through the eyes of innocent and unjaded children.<br /><br />The problem with The Hunger Games is that the setting itself has potential to be primal and dangerous, but the story that Collins devised is sanitized and safe.<br /><br />-JMTMichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02458749107182622662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-767867616808319812012-03-26T12:17:10.369-07:002012-03-26T12:17:10.369-07:00Everything in the movie (as pertains to this discu...Everything in the movie (as pertains to this discussion) is straight from the book. And yes, more morally ambiguous 'kills' would have made for an even more compelling story, but this IS a YA book, and while you can get away with your main character doing morally ambiguous THINGS, you can't have them killing people, especially other impoverished kids, without making them unsympathetic. While it was very convenient how all of the deaths Katniss had to cause were in self-defense and/or from a distance, this didn't bother me, but instead made me smirk at Suzanne Collins' cleverness at accomplishing this, at least from a logistical storytelling point. <br /><br />The books go into far better detail (it's told first-person) as to the psychological effects having to anticipate killing another kid, or being killed, have on Katniss, and a lot of that moral ambiguity is clarified.<br /><br />And one major thing the movie left out, inexplicably, as it would have only added a sentence to the overall movie, was that the district from which the eventual winner came from received extra food rations for a year, hence the NAME of the event, The Hunger Games. That little tidbit really goes a long way to explaining why the people don't argue about it TOO much. "Too bad about those other 23 kids, but at least WE won't die from starvation for a year."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07812513629277933304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-81117968251307042252012-03-26T11:40:44.531-07:002012-03-26T11:40:44.531-07:00BSR - I side with you on this. Even Cato, the clea...BSR - I side with you on this. Even Cato, the clear cut bully, is shown in his final moments to be a victim. And all those saying that Katniss never has to face the dilemma of murdering someone outside of self-defense is forgetting the final moments of the games. She is given the option to kill an undefended player in order to survive herself. She chooses a third option - one that defies the Game itself - and that is what makes her worthy of becoming a hero.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-33052619086184604162012-03-26T01:10:13.239-07:002012-03-26T01:10:13.239-07:00(Also an accurate critique of the American educati...(Also an accurate critique of the American education system re-enforcing class, as the kid who attends the elite private prep-school is going to have an edge in college admissions and job prospects over the kid stuck in an underserved, impoverished rural/urban public district.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-90513344405717225572012-03-26T01:05:41.472-07:002012-03-26T01:05:41.472-07:00All of this is true, and I would have found it a m...All of this is true, and I would have found it a more engaging film if there was more complexity to the situation the children found themselves in ... especially let down when the boar-dogs came to finish the players off. But - here is one explanation for the bully kids, as a non-book-reader. It is briefly mentioned that some of the districts were more wealthy and privilidged, and that the children go to special schools their entire lives to train for the games, then volunteer when the time comes. They are the kids of the 1%. They are trained to be blood-thirsty and confident that they will win, as it is stated that the winners usually come from these groups, with the poorer districts rarely represented. It was also hinted at that the government prefers these kids to win to preserve the social order. They are ready to kill off Katniss for succeeding and not engaging in the brutality of the game, but good TV wins out in the end.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com