28: The Hunger Games

 Branford, CT

March 24th and 25th

with: Michele and Bonnie

Well, we love a good fandom, don't we? If it isn't Star Wars it's Star Trek. If it isn't Lord of the Rings it's Harry Potter.  Then we had to love vampires.  Now it's The Hunger Games.

The synopsis:

North America is now a country called Panem divided into 12 districts and a capitol. The distribution of wealth is so disgusting my most liberal friends would put the book down before they got off the first page.  From the twelve districts, once a year one boy and one girl (12-18) are picked to participate in a game show.  They are trained, interviewed, and styled.  They are coached by mentors.  They can get sponsors to send them gifts in the arena and capitol citizens sit around bars placing bets on their favorites.  The main character is a 16 year old girl named Katniss who volunteers to replace her sister as the tribute from District 12.

How do you win? Oh-you kill all the other kids you are playing against.

Reflections on going to see the movie:

1) I couldn't wait for my friends, I had to go Saturday night alone. I was once told I needed to work on my patience.  I guess that is a character defect I have always clung to.  Saturday the movie had my undivided attention and I sat dead center in the upper aisle.  Once I had seen it, I could watch it again Sunday and enjoy it.

2) Please, if you are not a die hard fan or have not read the books, don't go opening weekend.  During one very important scene, a lot of people freaked out unnecessarily. They weren't sad, they were acting like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.  Like a magical rainbow was going to pop out of nowhere and make everything better. NO!!!! My friends and I were passing out the popcorn napkins and crying, that was understandable.  These people were screaming that the scene shouldn't have happened.  You can't re-write a book because you don't want a twelve year old to die. Wait a month and go see it if you want to play the Pollyanna glad game.

3)No matter how many adults are trying to escape their dirty dishes and other responsibilities, it's a young adult novel and young adults are going to go to the movies. Yes, we have to shush them while they giggle and run in groups to use the bathroom. But alas, when you go to the movies there will be kids there. You can avoid that by going at nine, but I'm usually on my way to bed by then.

Reflections on the actual movie:

1) Wonderful sets and character development.  I felt I was in Panem and could see the inequality of the place.  As for the violence, yes, kids are killing each other.  There is no magical rainbow making it all better, but thanks to quick camera work and good angles, it's at the minimum on screen.

2) Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickman, the host and commentator of the Games, was brilliant. I have never seen him look so happy to play a role.

How convenient to need a commentator for a game show:


Hello, I'm Stanley Tucci, I'm here to summarize for those of you who came to the movies without reading the book first.  First, every time the cannon blasts, another tribute is dead.  The Tracker Jackers are lethal wasps.   The kid from district 3 re-wired the mines, making him valuable to the careers tributes and enabling Katniss to blow them up.  Let us know if you have any other questions.

3) It was important for the "Careers" to lose their supplies. It leveled the playing field.  The career children are trained to go to this game, but they come from wealthier districts and don't know what to do to really survive.  People who have never had anything bad happen to them don't know how to handle it when something goes wrong.  Katniss has already had to hold it together, making the game easier for her.

4) The only mentor we see or hear from is obviously the one for Katniss and Peeta-Haymitch Abernathy. The mentors are previous winners from other games. When you win, you are pampered for the rest of your life and your district is honored with extra food until the next games.  How incredibly horrible to survive that.  You are alive because twenty three other people are not. You have to witness the re-enactments and the vacation spots and here people talk of exciting moments in a game like they were tokens on a board instead of real people. I don't think I'd want to win. 

5) I love a good female heroine that finds a way to stick it to Donald Sutherland. :0)


Everyone plays a Hunger Game every now and then.

I just want Stanley Tucci there explaining to everyone else what is going on...