Tuesday, March 27, 2012

The Hunger Games

With the opening of the movie, there's obviously been a tremendous re-visiting of the Hunger Games series.

Before I get into the main juice of this post:

A) The movie was great.

B) I didn't cry, but it was a near miss. I probably will the second time I see it this coming saturday.

C) Oh, no. I'm gonna cry now, just thinking about certain parts. No! I will not. I refuse. *hides face*

And now, on with the show.

There are two things that I am utterly perplexed by, regarding the Hunger Games movie response.

The Racism

Somebody was actually angry that they cast Rue, Thresh, and Cinna as black. And when I say somebody, I mean loads and loads of angry fans.

I don't mean surprised in a "that's not at all how I pictured them" way. I mean in an "Ugh, why'd they make Rue black? Totally ruined the movie." way.

Read THIS. 

I keep re-reading it, not able to fully understand how people can be so awful.

I am SHOCKED. Seriously shocked. And I am not a person who gets offended easily. Hurt by personal jibes, yes. Disappointed in people, yes. But legitimately offended? That's a rarity. Especially when it comes to being racist. Because I'm not black, so I don't face it much. And I'm from the south where being black is not a rare thing. Part of every day life. Whatevs.  

These people did it, though. They really crossed a line here. I am actually incensed by the things they were saying. As my good friend put it "OK, I tried to be kind and understanding, but these people are just dumb...so, SO dumb."

I tried to be understanding too. Couldn't do it.

My response to this:

A) Read the book again, dorkwads.

B) Even if she was pale and blonde in the book, why would you say things like that? WHY? (The article expressed this better than I can. I'm too flustered about it to try.)

C) Amandla Stenberg is SO CUTE. The instant I saw her picture on IMDB, I was DEVASTATED. It ripped me apart inside to think of that little, sweet, adorable thing having to go into the arena.

I like what the article said. "The actress Amandla Stenberg literally looks like a tiny angel."

This is what I honestly feel like. If you can look at that face and have her violent death mean less just because it's darker than you wanted, then YOU HAVE NO SOUL.

D) Seriously, every time I look at that picture, I say "Oh!" in the same way that I do when I see precious baby animals. (Don't take that the wrong way. I am not at all saying that she's a baby, or an animal. But she does fit into the same category of sweetness.)

Oi. I can't handle it anymore. I've said my piece. I really just need to move on to the next thing.

Gratuitous Violence

That's what a lot of people think this is. And that, to me, is just wrong.

Liam Hemsworth (who played Gale) thinks so too. (See here).

Someone I know was telling me about her friend. This friend was very against the books. She said they were spiritually damaging. That they were horrid and violent, and therefore evil.

The thing is, I think the exact opposite about these books.

Yes, they're violent. Yes, teenagers have to go into an arena and fight to the death. Yes, a precious little 12 year old angel has to die. And yes, there are wars, and fighting, and lots of evil things.

But all of that is exactly why it is so poignant.

The Hunger Games is a snapshot of what we, as a 1st world country, are not too far from becoming. It takes what we already are and exaggerates it ever so slightly. It forces us to realize what we have, and be grateful for it.

In the movie, for example, when I saw all the costumes of the capital residents, I was flabbergasted. I expected them to be different than we are. And they just aren't. Not by all that much. Slightly brighter colors. Slightly more ridiculous clothes. But honestly...

I even wrote a blog post about it last summer. After I'd read the first book again, and then gone shopping. It gets the main gist of this section, so I won't revisit it.

http://greatpopcorndisaster.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-books-change-your-life.html

I'd venture to say that the Hunger Games is actually inspirational. Influential. A reminder to us who have so much. Don't take that for granted.

Piles of food. Literally. High quality, disease free, pre-harvested piles of food, to be more specific. And how often do we walk past this without even realizing how fantastic it is?

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

You are correct. Ma'am.