The Hunger Games Controversy- What do you think of the movie rating PG-13?
There has been a lot of hype over today’s release of The Hunger Games, a movie based on the book by Suzanne Collins. I read The Hunger Games book last year and found it enthralling. I will be reading the second book, fairly soon.
Here’s the thing I’m wondering about: Who is this movie targeting as it’s audience?
Many of the Hunger Games readers were in their early teens, and I’m certain that many young teens want to see the film. It’s rated PG-13. Which means if you’re under 13 an adult must attend the movie with you.
I don’t want to give too much about the book away, but it’s no secret that story is about kids killing kids. There are 24 kids a the start of the competition, and it’s a fight to the death with only one winner. You do the math, that means that 23 kids are slain in the course of the story.
Is this a concept that we want to become jaded to? Do we want to use the slaying of children as entertainment. I know that the characters are actors and no one is killed for real in the making of the movie…but. People generally are sent to jail for killing people. In this story the characters are put into the situation by the government and then it is televised, reality television style. And now, we’ve made it into a movie. Does this glorify killing?
As an adult I know that I can deal with the disconnect between reality and the premise of this story. How young is too young for a child to watch this movie? I’m not really sure. I do know, however, that when we read a book our imagination will only take us so far, but when we see graphic violence on a screen, we are inflicted with the directors imagination brought to life before us.
Once we see something, we can’t “un-see” it. How much is too much? Please, let me know what you think.
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I know what you mean. I am never sure what censors use as their criteria to judge how old someone should be for certain movies. I’ve seen some cartoons that can be terrifying for little people and they’re rated G.
Right? I’m going to go see The Hunger Games on Wednesday night, and then I’m going to decide if my 12 year old would be ok watching it.
I watched this film with my 9 and 16 old. Since then we’ve discussed the film in the context of gladiators, reality tv shows and oppresive regimes. My children are fully aware the film is fiction but also watch the news to see real life civil rights abuses, attrocities and oppresive governments do exist today. I think each parent should consider whether their child can engage with the film on this level. The audience in the cinema I went to was not the sort you see at a typical action film and hence I presume were not watching for scenes of blood and gore. As I final thought, the film was carefully put together so that violence was at no time glorified and the feel was rather one of rebellion and survival.
Excellent thought on this Gillian. The Hunger Games does certainly raise many areas for discussion. I’m so glad to hear that you discussed it with your kids. I’m curious if your 9 year-old understood the premise to be a cautionary tale?
I cannot say that he would regard as a cautionary tale exactly- the mind of a 9 year old is far too complex and shouldn’t be underestimated! But there has been a lot of discussion in our family about reality TV (we are not fans of it) and some of it already affects peoples lives in very negative ways, all for voyeuristic viewing “pleasure”. He has also related the film as being like the situation in ancient Rome where gladiatorial displays were used to entertain and placate the masses. Perhaps, as we did discuss the film even before we saw it, he had a better understanding of the parallels to current events and history. I suppose this is why I felt he was mature enough to watch the film- It certainly would go over the heads of many children his age.