Oh, Suzanne Collins. How do you do it? Although I made a valiant attempt to rebel against the crowd by not becoming crazily obsessed with her books like everyone else in the nation seemed to be, something inside of me finally snapped. Two days before the movie premiere, I went to our school's library and checked out the last lonely copy of The Hunger Games. Needless to say, I was hooked within the first few chapters. It took approximately forty-eight hours later for me to reach the last sentence, just in time to go with a group of friends to see the movie on Sunday. (Which, by the way, was AWESOME.)
Now, let's set something straight here. I have never been a big fan of violence, be it in books, movies, video games, etc. I'm the person that squirms while watching nameless extras die in superhero movies, and I always cringe a little when the dastardly Disney villain meets his or her untimely doom. The thought of anyone experiencing pain or suffering (be it mental or physical) with no relief whatsoever is unbearable to me. (Reason A why I refuse to watch medical shows or any of the Saw movies.)
So you can imagine that some parts of The Hunger Games were a bit tough for me to stomach. Of course, I think the whole concept of forcing children to commit brutal murders as a sort of sport is hard for anyone to process... but when you think about it, hasn't senseless violence already been established as a form of entertainment for people today? Of course, it's all virtual stuff- no one's really taking out those Nazi zombies like it's nobody's business, because that's just not acceptable in today's society- but doesn't the popularity of shoot 'em up games such as Call of Duty and Halo reflect back on our nation's values as a whole? My little brother isn't going to believe that the blood that spatters all over the television screen is "just juice" for very long, just sayin'.
How does this all tie into literature, you may ask? Well you see, dear reader, I just finished reading Part I of a French novel (translated into English obviously) called The Stranger, which involves a highly dispassionate yet fairly innocent young man who commits the pointless murder of (as the title suggests) a stranger while stumbling around drunk on an overheated beach.
Sound ridiculous? It is. This man took the life of another as thoughtlessly as you and I might squash a fly that was beginning to annoy with its constant droning, with no reason or motivation behind his action except that the stranger used a knife to flash sunlight in his direction and intensify his hangover-induced headache. Five (or four? This was the question on the quiz I was't 100% sure about) shots later and boom, problem solved. (Except for the fact that the man will most likely go to prison for the rest of life, that is if he doesn't receive a death sentence for murder.) Easy as pie.
Obviously I don't advocate murder in any form, but at least the Capitol had some motivation behind theirs, as horribly evil and twisted as it was. Senseless killing, the kind where human life isn't treated with the slightest bit of significance... now that's where the real danger lies.
-Kati Davis
P.S. For the record, I still wouldn't consider myself crazily obsessed with The Hunger Games... just mildly engrossed. ;)
P.P.S. Woot for turning this in only two days late! :D
