So just saw Hunger Games and it’s the kind of movie that has some redeeming qualities that make it not a good reason to firebomb the movie theater. Being produced by Lionsgate, the special effects were top notch (both CGI and make-up), a few great camera techniques were incorporated, and the well known actors were great casting choices. Design concepts and film settings were fantastic and eye catching (I see butterfly lashes becoming a trend real quick) good choices were made for both aspects respectively. What kills me about this movie, was, true to Lionsgate form, the story was poorly executed, and played as though the average intelligence of the audience was that of the Jersey Shore cast.
The books tell the story of a Girl who lives in a society where the poor work to supplement the lavish lifestyles of the rich, but don’t rise up because they are being placated by gladiator-arena-style reality TV (really just a metaphor for contemporary attitudes toward TV in general), as well as military intimidation. And how, in that society, that girl would be conflicted between two boys she may, kinda, sorta have a thing for, and shenanigans ensue when she becomes one of those gladiators and has to fight in said arena. Long moral short, the “underlying theme” (if you could call it that because it’s as obvious as having a natural aversion to stabbing yourself in the eye with a burning, metal, dildo) is we should collectively be repulsed by the idea of having children kill each other for our entertainment, and any government who uses such tactics as a means of control should be overthrown, or simpler yet, any government that turns it’s citizens on each other in order to maintain control, is bad (“united we stand, divided we’re jerking off alone” style rhetoric, etc.). For a story that is meant to make the idea of watching state sanctioned murder a bad thing in the eyes of the viewer, you’d THINK that MAYBE Lionsgate (or gee maybe ANYONE for that matter) COULD HAVE MADE THAT HAPPEN. It’s motherfucking LIONSGATE!! The violence was so incredibly tame, it felt as though Disney had produced it instead! It makes me want to punch the 13 to 17 demographic right in their esophagus’s face, but I know it’s not their fault, and it makes me want to reenact the Reservoir Dog torture scene on Lionsgate for making me want to do that to 13 to 17 demographic.
What makes this fact so aggravating is that this series is becoming big, like really big. By not doing this story proper justice, it merely reiterates the inherent danger in entertainment’s ability to distract us from the issues we face (especially the disproportional distribution of wealth (yeah still a reality people)) the key moral the entire story hinges upon. So for yourself, if you want to see this movie, steal it, download it, just whatever you do, do not give these bastards any of your money, because if they cared about anything more than that, the movie would have been better.
4/10
Sincerely,
Isaac Wineman
