The Hunger Games

I love to read. And I appreciate good literature. And I have 3 kids and work 50 hours a week so my reading time is very limited. Usually I like a good horror novel, or a mystery. Or some fantasy. One of my favorite authors is Stephen King. I'm not sure why I didn't know about The Hunger Games until all three books were out and the movie was almost here. I didn't even know the story line behind the books. So I finally read them all and here's what I think.

Yes, it was a good book. But have you read The Lottery by Shirley Jackson or The Running Man by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)? The entire time I was reading The Hunger Games, these two books were playing themselves out in my head. I even got a little Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card in it. I asked people if they had read any of those books and barely anyone had. But everyone couldn't stop raving about The Hunger Games. I'll repeat it, it IS a good book. I was hooked and wanted to see how it ended.

Then I heard about the movie.

I thought a lot about the movie and whether or not I wanted to see it. I read some blogs, participated in some online forums and talked to friends.

In the end, I decided not to watch it. Here's my logic. Granted, most films made from movies suck. Set aside The Lord of the Rings trilogy... (which leads me off topic to THIS idiot. Seriously people, think before writing!) Anyway...back on topic. The Lord of the Rings was beautifully made into 3 movies that (other than the ended of the 3rd) captured audiences and really made it feel like you were in Middle Earth without straying from the book too much. But other movies made from books lack many of the small important details that make the books worth reading.

I don't decide not to watch a movie because it was one a book. But I couldn't bring myself to watch it based on this reason a lot. In the novel, the reader loathes The Capital because they are oppressive, evil and corrupt. They force people to live in poverty so they can have lush parties and comfortable lifestyles. And to top it off, to remind people why they are in poverty, they hold The Hunger Games where they pit children against each other for sport. For their own entertainment. And they all watch it on screen so everyone can see children killing each other.

So how are we any better than The Capital when we go to a movie where children are killing children on screen for our own entertainment. Isn't that exactly what we hate in the books? So I will never watch The Hunger Games. I enjoyed the novel, it does have a good underlying theme, but I don't have to watch children killing each other to be entertained.