Last night, the BF and I went to a midnight showing of The Hunger Games (and I still made it to work on time this morning - yay!). I read all three books in quick succession last year after hearing that the protagonist was a strong-willed coal miner's daughter from Appalachia, and I have been eagerly anticipating the movie's release for months. It did not disappoint.
For those who are unfamiliar, the story takes place in a dystopian future in which North America has been destroyed by war, re-built, and re-named as Panem. The 12 Districts of Panem are controlled by the Capitol, whose residents live in luxury as most of the citizens of the rest of the Districts starve. As punishment for their past rebellions, all 12 Districts are forced to participate in the annual Hunger Games in which a boy and a girl, ages 12-18, from each District are forced to fight each other in a televised battle to the death until only one child remains. 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, where she must illegaly hunt wild game to provide for her fragile mother and 12-year-old sister, Prim, after the death of their father in a mining accident years before. On the day of the reaping, Prim's name is chosen as tribute and Katniss, knowing that her beloved younger sister will never survive the arena, volunteers to take her place.
Read the books before you see the movie, because it really is a terrific series whether you are a fan of Young Adult fiction or not. Katniss is by turns brave, angry, selfless, prickly, sullen, stoic, and kind, a complicated teenager who wins the respect of the reader not because she is a hero, but because of her defiant determination not to become a victim as she fights for her survival. There is a love story involved (because teenagers are basically one giant throbbing bundle of hormones), but it is secondary to the challenges that are faced by Katniss and the other characters. Thank goodness...I was so afraid that Hollywood would take these books and turn them into Twilight 2: Electric Boogaloo. I'm pretty sure that pathetic little Bella Swann would be one of the first to get killed in the arena as she stood around chewing her lip and waiting for some sparkly vampire to come and rescue her.
The Hunger Games opens nationwide today.
Image from www.examiner.com.
I got lost at dystopian future and the you brought me back with Twilight 2 Electric Boogaloo. lol! I had an aversion to the Twilight series and finally broke down for book one after someone I really respected was into them. I liked the books.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I will join the Hunger Games, but if I do, I'll take your advice and do books before flicks. :)