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Thursday, April 5, 2012

My take on the Hunger Games

Dada and I watched the Hunger Games movie last weekend. I always worry about watching a movie based on a book I really liked. I never think what I see on the screen lives up to the images my mind created while I read. I have to say this time I was pleasantly surprised.

I enjoyed the books and the movie for different reasons. The books immersed me into the Katniss's mind, which was fraught with emotion. But the movie gave me a perspective of what was happening while she was in the arena that Katniss could not have known. The repercussions of Katniss's actions are only revealed to her later in the series, but in the movie you can see the effect she has on others as it happens.

I heard many complaints about casting, but I have to say I did not notice anything that bothered me excessively. Cinna was my favorite character in the book and Lenny Kravitz did a great job bringing him to life. I imagined Rue darker not lighter. Katniss looked a little too well-fed, but I am so tired of only seeing anorexic actresses on the screen that I did not mind. I was surprised that my favorite character in the movie was Haymitch. I did not care much for him in the book because Katniss did not like him, but in the movie he had the freedom to shine.

What really bothered me while I was in the theater was in the audience, not on the screen. I read the books. I was expecting the violence and the apathy of those watching the games at the Capital. I just did not expect parents to take their elementary school-aged children to see the movie. The books stress the point that society has become desensitized to violence. No kidding.