The Hunger Games

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  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    If it were adults vs adults (running man) would you feel the same way?

    It's hard to really be upset over a fictional story about non-existant characters doing something that isn't real.

    Its no more heart wrenching or disturbing than Watership Down about rabbits that murder each other in a land battle over equal rights, or The Last Unicorn-about a man who is enslaving an entire race because they keep him feeling young...

    Because it has children in it (again, none of this actually happens) it makes it hard to stomach?

    It's not the first (Lord of The Flies) or last book that's going to be about children that turn on each other for the benefit of survival...

    I have avoided all of those.

    But, again, no one has said the books should be banned or that no one should read them or that they're evil. We're allowed to censor our OWN reading material, aren't we? If I know something's going to bother me (fictional or not), why would I subject myself to it?
  • deeharley
    deeharley Posts: 1,208 Member
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    You youngsters may never have heard of this short story, but from the way you are enjoying The Hunger Games, I thought you might like to read this:

    http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html

    Just read this - that was disturbing. My favorite short story is "The Most Dangerous Game." The movie they did many many years ago was terrible.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    It's a good series, but it's about kids killing kids. If the concept itself upsets you so much, you probably won't enjoy it. If they'd done all the deaths right, this movie could have been rated R.

    This is the part that has me smh. I read the books, I enjoyed reading them. BEST BOOK EVER? No. I've loved other books more. I liked these, and read them quickly, because I liked the writer's style of cutting to the chase. The story was engrossing, and I was interested in/cared about most of the characters. (Kinda got PO'd at Katniss during book 3, but that's beside my point)

    But I just do NOT understand how they were able to turn this into a PG-13 movie. There are so many scenes that were WAY too intense for PG-13. I'll try to leave out any spoilers, but the very last part of the battle that occurs right in front of the President's mansion (hint: parachutes), HOW are we going to show that in a movie????? Cannot fathom it. :noway:
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I can't believe this thread was revived :)

    Anyone want a cookie? I have a bunch... and I like to share.

    And for the record, I would be more down with it if it were adults. Doesn't necessarily make any sense, I realize... but it's my head and I just try to embrace my neurosis :bigsmile:
  • SinIsIn
    SinIsIn Posts: 1,865 Member
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    But one of my favorite movies is Battle Royale. /shrug

    Didn't this just come out on Blu Ray?? I never finshed watching it! The damn DVD I had was scratched .
  • k2quiere
    k2quiere Posts: 4,151 Member
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    I finally started reading this and got through chapter 6 last night, and honestly, I'm bored to tears and horrified all at once. I don't think I'm going to finish it.

    It doesn't help that she writes in present-tense. I never cared for that style.

    Honestly, I seriously disliked the first book immensely. The second one was phenomenal, and the third was good, but not great. While they are a continuation of the same struggle, the focuses are so different, that there are different feels to them.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    Perhaps I am a prude... But I can't not imagine how this movie (book) is so popular when it's based on kids killing kids. It makes me sick every time I see the preview. My best friend insists it's AMAZING and I need to see it with her when it comes out... but no way. Unless all the kid's revolt against the Capitol or something and they all live happily ever after, I'm OK without seeing it :ohwell:

    Am I the only one that finds it all so odd? Then again, I threw up after Lord of the Rings *LOL* So... there's your perspective :)

    yeah cause there's no way the parents in the book could possibly agree with you and the kids would not want to kill each other... jeebus crispies people - you are all so friggin ready to hate stuff you havent experienced.

    Where did she say she hates it? She said the idea of the plot is stomach-turning. I feel the same way. And I still feel the same way now that I've started reading it. I'm not saying it's morally wrong (the book, not the kids killing kids thing) or that no one should read it. But not every book/movie/song/whatever is for everyone.

    Hard as it is to believe, there are people who are turned off by the plot and others who have read (or tried to read) the books and didn't like them.

    It is extremely hard to understand someone being turned off by a plot they haven't read. Its being turned off by other individuals recaps and opinions without experiencing something for yourself - that bothers me.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    It is extremely hard to understand someone being turned off by a plot they haven't read. Its being turned off by other individuals recaps and opinions without experiencing something for yourself - that bothers me.

    I've been reading for as long as I have memories, and possibly longer. My mother started reading to me probably in the womb and never stopped. Before I had my daughter, I read three or four novels a week and once she was old enough that she didn't need my full attention, I started that up again. I have a bachelor's degree in English lit. My "text books" were novels. I know what I like.

    I can kind of tell by someone else's synopsis of a plot (or by reading the back of a book or flipping through it briefly) if it's going to be something I'm going to like.

    I'm far more disturbed that someone is THIS angry over whether a person likes a book when that person has no influence over whether you read it or like it. We're entitled to make up our own minds based on our own life experiences.

    Several different people described these books to me. I was very turned off by what they told me. But I gave the first book a shot. And guess what? I'm finding out that my first instinct was indeed correct.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    THIS angry?? ... I said I was bothered.

    Congratulations on all your reading.
  • woou
    woou Posts: 668 Member
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    All I can say is the movie is out! I'm going to see it tomorrow. popcorn.gif
  • JaySpice
    JaySpice Posts: 326 Member
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    This is the part that has me smh. I read the books, I enjoyed reading them. BEST BOOK EVER? No. I've loved other books more. I liked these, and read them quickly, because I liked the writer's style of cutting to the chase. The story was engrossing, and I was interested in/cared about most of the characters. (Kinda got PO'd at Katniss during book 3, but that's beside my point)

    But I just do NOT understand how they were able to turn this into a PG-13 movie. There are so many scenes that were WAY too intense for PG-13. I'll try to leave out any spoilers, but the very last part of the battle that occurs right in front of the President's mansion (hint: parachutes), HOW are we going to show that in a movie????? Cannot fathom it. :noway:

    That's scene happened in the last book.
  • CharityEaton
    CharityEaton Posts: 508
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    I'm concerned about the books a bit...but only because my 9 year old is reading them! I have read all 3 and I am allowing her to read them. She very badly wants to see the movie but I'm not sure that will happen. I think when you read we all have our own ideas in our imagination of how horrid the details of these murders are but when you see it on a screen from someone elses perspective it can bring a whole different idea into your mind.
    The books are wonderful. So far I have read all three and my daughter is reading the second one. We have talked about it sooo much that my husband is now reading the first one and he too can NOT put it down(he is not even a big reader either).

    It's a story but in all reality this kind of stuff is happening all around us. I think we are very narrowminded to pretend that we don't have children killing children all over the world. We just go about it a bit differnt and we have the option to ignore it.

    The reasons I let my daughter read it:
    1. The main character is a very strong girl
    2. The main character sacrifices her own life to save her little sister...a great family lesson
    3. It is a story of survival and again...a GIRL survivng when all the odds are against her at every turn.
    4. I think it is a wonderful way for her to read literature in an entirely different atmosphere where there isn't always Rainbows and unicorns and the world IS a dark and scary place. It is a great way for her to be thankful for the life she has. even if it is a fiction story. It makes you realize that in all honsety our worl really isn't too far off from this story. We all watch the shootings and bombings and wars on the news every night...innocent people being sacrificed for the good of the majority.
    It's a good series and I will have all three of my daughters read it as they get old enough.
  • Mr_Cape219
    Mr_Cape219 Posts: 1,345 Member
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    I've heard it compared to a japanese cult classic Battle Royale. Is this true?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I've heard it compared to a japanese cult classic Battle Royale. Is this true?

    I have not read that, but from what I've read online and what others have said, the only difference is Hunger Games is teenagers and BR was adults.
  • Mr_Cape219
    Mr_Cape219 Posts: 1,345 Member
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    I've heard it compared to a japanese cult classic Battle Royale. Is this true?

    I have not read that, but from what I've read online and what others have said, the only difference is Hunger Games is teenagers and BR was adults.

    Have you had the chance to see BR? It is pretty good. I dont think that it is originally japanese, but I saw the Japanese one.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I've heard it compared to a japanese cult classic Battle Royale. Is this true?

    I have not read that, but from what I've read online and what others have said, the only difference is Hunger Games is teenagers and BR was adults.

    Have you had the chance to see BR? It is pretty good. I dont think that it is originally japanese, but I saw the Japanese one.

    No, I actually never heard of it until it was mentioned in this discussion (I think earlier in this thread)>

    I started The Hunger Games a few days ago and after six chapters, decided it wasn't for me. So I don't think that BR will be, either. Just not my cup of tea. My daughter and many of my friends just adore HG, but I can't get into it. Every time I started reading it, I started longing for Harry Potter! lol

    So, I decided to re-read HP instead of finishing HG. And I don't think I'm going to see the movie, either.
  • alias1001
    alias1001 Posts: 634 Member
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    Don't read Lord of the Flies , either, then. It's an entertaining series.

    People killing others for the crowd's amusement isn't so far-fetched (gladiators, etc.). Reality shows are just one step away from that, really. Good old schadenfreude.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
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    New review for the movie:
    spoilers included***********

    http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/the-hunger-games/


    It says pretty much what I feared, by making the movie PG-13, it was stripped of all that was gripping about the book.
  • Eaglesfanintn
    Eaglesfanintn Posts: 813 Member
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    I just started the second book yesterday. I really enjoyed the first one. I'll wait to see the movie either at home or when it's not so crowded at the theater.
  • CrzyAte
    CrzyAte Posts: 55
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    Don't want to spoil it for anyone but it is more than just about kids killing other children. That's really only one part of the storyline in the first book. The second and third books have nothing to do with that, really.

    That's encouraging ;) I needed to hear that. I'd be so much more down with this if it was adults... cause that's just good killing fun :wink:

    I felt exactly the same. The previews gave me anxioty lol. A friend at work is obsessed and was pressureing me to read it. I saw a thread on here that kinda convinced me to give it a try. I read the serious in 4 days it was so good. My 14 year old picked the book up at school and while I was skeptical to let her read it she handled it great and finished it in two days.

    Give it a try if you don't like it you don't have to finish it .

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