May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor...

(Spoiler warning: I am writing this article with the assumption you know/have read The Hunger Games series of books. I am not going to reveal too much but I am going to say things that if you have not read all three books yet could give away future events if you have only read the Hunger Games so far. So now
you are warned).

 Let me start this off by saying I believe 1000% that Suzanne Collins is lying when she says that she knew nothing of Koushun Takami’s 1999 novel Battle Royale which was published a full 8 YEARS before Mrs. Collins books. It is about a group of teenagers taken to an island (or in the Hunger Games an arena) and put on T.V. (same as in her novel) and told to kill each other (ditto). This is all to keep the populous in line by a totalitarian government. And of course there can only be one winner. Wonder where she got that idea from?

 Heck they made a movie of Battle Royale in 2000, and the sequel even has the surviving duo from the first movie (two survivors instead of one) leading a rebellion to overthrow the corporation/capital that created these ‘games’. These exact same ideas are ones that drives The Hunger Games two sequels Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. All the major plot points are way too similar to be a coincidence.

 Having said all that I found the Hunger Games series a very enjoyable, quick read. No deep thinking is involved in these novels. You could read all three books in a month. Each book clocks in at a little less then 400 pages.

 The story takes place in a dystopian future America where states have been molded into districts that are overseen by a president who runs everything from a capital. To keep these people in line he has an annual reaping, or lottery where one boy and girl from each district is chosen and forced to kill each other on T.V. with only one winner.

 Going into the movie my major fear was that with a PG-13 rating there is no way that a movie like this could be done correctly. Based on the subject matter alone (kids killing other kids) I saw no way that you could capture the savagery and the horror of the story without having an R rating. But to the credit of everyone involved in creating the film they did both themselves and the audience an amazing job of capturing all aspects of the novel and putting it on screen. First off the movie does capture how bleak and hopeless this world is for most of these characters. Trading for everything is the only way to survive and if you don’t have something to trade you probably won’t. This is in opposite to the capital which is opulent and where peoples wealth is flaunted every chance they get.

 You see how these people go from nothing to being picked and then are cleaned up for television and are trotted out as dressed up dolls for peoples viewing pleasure. They go from this to being thrown into an arena and told that they must kill one another for the audiences viewing pleasure. And you feel for all these characters cause they aren’t given any choice. More heartbreaking is that these are all people under the age of 18 and by the worst luck possible they are forced to grow up long before they should ever have too.

 My major concern going in was the violence. How could you have a film where the main theme was kids killing each other brutally without an R rating? My fear turned out to be completely unfounded as the producers captured this in a way that never took away from the film. If anything they enhanced the film by doing things the way they did. By drowning out the noise and just having the sound of a neck getting snapped, or showing a splatter of blood had so much more impact then if they had shown someones head being cut off. It really brought across how sad it was that these kids were put in a situation that they even had to do things like this.

 I thought overall the film was pretty great and had no problems with anything in it. Certain ideas from the book where left out and things were added to the film that were not in the book. That will happen as no novel can be 100% translated into a film. Most likely anything not explained in the movie will be added in a directors cut of the film when it is released in blu-ray later this year. If you plan on going to see the movie I suggest you read the book first if for no other reason so you have the source material in your head before watching the film. But this film definitely left me wanting more and I for one cannot wait for the next three films.

 Yes I said three films. The producers have already decided to go the Harry Potter, Twilight route and split the final books into two separate films. Not for any good reason other then they want to grab more money from your wallet. And the worst part is I will be there to give them my money.

 Long live the money grabbing movie producers, I mean the Captial!

*An aside to this article is that US filmmakers have cancelled a planned American adaptation of Battle Royale, because people would interpret it as being a copy of The Hunger Games. This is most ironic considering it came out 8 years before and that the ideas in the novel were the foundation for the entire Hunger Games franchise.

  I never read Battle Royale or saw that movie from way back when. J did mention this to me when I started reading the Hunger Games, but my loyalty was already firmly planted into the Hunger Games from the get-go so it was difficult to put that series on hold and read Battle Royale in order to have an unbiased, neutral opinion.


As people told me about this series a couple of years ago it was described as a post-apocalyptic world where children are sent to kill one another as a form of entertainment and control. I imagined, dirty, hungry, scavenger-like settings much like Mad Max and I had no desire to read that.


Then, Lionsgate made the movie and little snippets were released here and there. After seeing a small one minute trailer, I was hooked. Several more people gave me a much better synopsis of the story and it was better received. I read through all 3 books in one weekend. (Actually, I audio-booked all 3 novels while I decorated cakes that weekend.) I had to pause the audio while the Kitchenaid whirred so I wouldn't miss a word. It was captivating and I was absolutely enthralled by this world.


I don't normally see movies on opening nights. I don't like the crowds, the crush of people feeding off media hype, and the abundance of kids surrounding me. I like kids. I don't like kids being fussy while I'm trying to watch a $20 movie. And, frankly, if you're taking your kid to a movie after 10pm, you're a shitty parent. There. I said it.


I understand that despite the violent premiss of kid-on-kid killing, the books are written towards a young reader age group. There's teen romance involved and the words are fairly precise and to the point, rather than riddled with overly detailed synonyms for colors, sounds, and smells- a style much adored by authors like Anne Rice or Dean Koontz. I love those authors but reading their novels takes time, patience, and a couple of leisurely days in bed uninterrupted.


Just because you see Young Reader or Teen Romance, get the sparkly vampire image out of your head. The imagination and degree of writing is so far beyond that Stephanie Meyer garbage that has infected our culture.


Onto the review. I loved the books, as you can already tell from my set-up, and I enjoyed the movie greatly. You have a strong female heroine who is admired moreso for her inner qualities rather than how pretty she looks in a dress (until she gets to the Capital). She captures the hearts of everyone by volunteering for the games in place of her younger sister. She is determined to stay strong despite the tears and sorrow on the faces of her loved-ones as they say goodbye to her, possibly for the last time. And instead of crying about her fate, she makes sure her family will be taken care of, should she not return. In a world of little girls waiting to get bitten by Cedric Diggory, it's a breath of fresh air to make our female hero a pragmatic, logical badass.


The Hunger Games, created to keep the outer Districts subordinate to the Capital as a punishment for an uprising nearly 75 years prior, has transformed into an entertainment spectacle, enjoyed by the citizens of the Capital; probably because Capital children are exempt from the Games. Districts closer to the Capital who specialize in luxury resources such as gems, metals, or garments are better fed and better off than outer Districts which specialize in mining or agriculture. The closer Districts are better fed, have better schools, and produce stronger Tributes; the two children chosen for the Hunger Games each year during the Reaping. Whereas the outer districts dread the Reaping, the closer Districts often have volunteers who are eager to bring their District fame and glory.


I could go on in detail about the events that transpire, but you can get that from any other review or you can go read or watch the movie and enjoy it yourself. What did I enjoy the most? Given today's political climate, the Capital is the perfect metaphor for the 1% in our country, with the closer Districts representing thefaction in our country that support the Have's despite the fact that they are of the Have-Not's.


The Capital citizens are well-fed with an abundance of food, while the citizens of the other districts are fed only enough to keep them strong enough to manually labor for the natural resources the Capital relies on. Each District is kept isolated and is only made aware of what's going on throughout this defunct country by the propaganda the Capital allows them to know.  They are not allowed to communicate with the other Districts and they cannot leave their own district without the permission of the Capital. It's scary to read about a fictional society that is nearly close enough to start mirroring our own in many ways.


Our heroine is a pawn in the hands of many people who seek change and to people who want to maintain the status quo. She understands she needs to cooperate in order to not only save her own life but the lives of those she cares about. She knows that a good show needs to be put on; the crowds need to be entertained, and the weight of so many are resting on her 16-year-old shoulders.


A romance is fabricated to secure proper footing on-screen. (Hmm....fake romance to bring in the ratings? Wow! How long ago was this book written?!?!) Image is everything in the Capital, and where would our heroine be without the adoration of the viewing audience? Insert the sigh of many hormonal females *here*. Why do I dig this story so much? Because despite her own conflicted feelings on the matter, our Female Badass (Katniss) remains strangely a-sexual about the whole thing. What are her priorities? 

• Staying alive. 
• Keeping her family safe. 
• Keeping her partner/rival alive. 
• And taking on the responsibility of a rebellion that is neatly placed on her young shoulders.

Many complaints I read about the movie was the shaky camera action of the actual killings. How else are they going to get away with a PG-13 rating on a movie about kids killing kids for survival? Wasn't Lord of the Flies rated R? The camera is shaking violently and the images are blurred on purpose to depict the chaos happening while it's happening. When does the image clear up? When they show the aftermath; the dead bodies of young, teenage children. If I was watching an R-rated or NC-17 movie, I'd expect to see more blood and violence, but the movie does not need it because the plot is already strong enough in itself.


The killing is an ingredient, not the main dish. We're talking about an imbalanced society where a few can have an abundance and the majority is barely alive. The power over everything is in the hands of a few elite, and even when change is fought for; the results are not always as perfect or euphoric as we would expect them to be. Power corrupts. No one is innocent or always good; even our own Katniss.


There were a few details that didn't make it into the movie, but they make up for it by adding a couple of small changes on-screen. Television commentators covering the Hunger Games take the place of the narration in the book that explains the history and current state of the realm. Small details within the Game which couldn't make it on-film are replaced with the addition of a Control Room in the movie that depicts just how manipulative and engineered The Hunger Games really are. An element of being mind-fucked which is captured so well in the book through narration and description is perfectly emulated within the Control Room scenes. It was absolutely flawless.


I walked into the Hunger Games, knowing what I was going to see and knowing what I'm going to see in the next 2 or 3 movies. I was not disappointed. I listened to a few people coming out of the film, and those who didn't read the book and knew nothing of the story gave it very enthusiastic thumbs up. I did read a couple of negative reviews online; mainly because people over 20 found it hard to relate to the youngsters on-screen and they found the story chaotic and hard to follow. One person felt it was too long. I'm in my early 30's and I found the characters totally relate-able. I wish they could have added another hour just so they could stuff it full of details from the book, but even I know that's just too long for a movie of this magnitude.


The only huge gripe I have about this movie (not the book) is that it's called The Hunger Games, however, the hunger in the districts and the excess of the Capital is not adequately captured on-screen. In the books, people are barely eating. The teenagers who are aged appropriately for the Hunger Games can get extra grain for their families if they agree to put their name in the pot a few extra times. That's pretty much agreeing to raffle off your life more than once in order to eat- poorly. Katniss learns to hunt out of necessity to keep her family alive and to sell game to earn more money to buy things they need; however hunting is illegal. She forages for mushrooms, wild roots and weeds to make broths that are nothing more than boiled weeds and roots in order to have food to eat- and they are grateful for it. This is a skill that proves to be very useful to her once she's in the Game, but it's not something she was ever allowed to learn. Once she is chosen as a Tribute, the excess of food and drink available to her and Peeta is instant- as soon as she steps on the train headed for the Capital and the idea of having such rich, decadent food within her reach is jarring. I don't think that was conveyed adequately.


I want to get into the position she was placed in when it comes to Peeta (the 2nd Tribute from her District) and Gale (her best friend, hunting partner, and back-up provider). You'll see lots of things about being Team Gale or Team Peeta, and that fucking floors me because it's just another ill-conceived comparison to that Stephanie Meyer garbage. Luckily, you're saved from cheesy dialogue and perfect, shirtless abs in The Hunger Games. This story is about survival and human nature; not fucking Emo Sparklers and Shirtless Glistening Bodies.


In order to avoid story spoilers, I can't get into my whole diatribe about what I think about this triangle. Let me just say I was angry when I got to the epilogue, but like anything else in this life, not everything is going to be tied up in a perfect little bow.


There isn't much I didn't like about the Hunger Games. As a bleeding-heart, dirty-hipster liberal I want to cheer on the parallels between the state of our current society and that of Panem (the country in the Hunger Games). I also dig the imperfections of the rebels. No one is innocent or perfect; just like real life. Not all the citizens of the Capital are evil and not everyone leading the rebel force is well-intentioned. You won't see all that in this movie or in the first book. You must read-on to get those overtures, but it's a read you won't regret.


When it comes to the Hunger Games, I will anxiously await the sequels and I will pay $20 to go see it in IMAX on opening night. It was well worth the aggravation of a crowded movie theater. And, that's saying A LOT coming from someone like me!


I'll give Battle Royale a shot just to be fair. The Hunger Games sets such a high bar, it's going to be hard to keep an open mind, but I'm going to try. Stay tuned!