Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Hunger Games
I really like Hunger Games so far because it is easy to read and descriptive. I need something easy and enjoyable right now. Katniss decsribes and sets us up well to visialize the setting and her district. She seems like a smart and resourceful girl. I know this is set in the future, but the way they way she hunts and attempts to live off the land, and the way they decribe the hungergames themselves, and the "Dark days" seems more like a time a long time ago, nothing any civilized society would think up or lead to. Sadly, I need to admit that based on the other books we have read so far this semester (Breadwinner, Book Theif, Yellow Star) perfectly good and modern societies impose and commit horrific inhuman monstrous acts againts human beings. But my kid...NEVER. I COULD NOT WOULD NOT put up with this. The idea that so many are ammuesed by the Games is sickening, and....I wonder if today's reality shows are any match in analogy for this. I personally cannot stand reality shows. I have not gotten too far, but I am glad Katniss took Prim's spot, because I don't think we'd have a possibility at a rest of a book if she didn't....
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I totally agree with you about the shock of the interest in watching The Hunger Games as a "reality" show in their community. I had never thought about comparing it to the crazy reality shows that we watch, but you make such a valid point! Maybe we aren't watching people fight to the death, but we are watching a lot of ridiculous things (myself included)! The thing is, I usually don't agree with the characters in reality tv (ex. Jersey Shore) but I would be lying to say I'm not entertained by it. So, as sick as it is to think these people in the book who watch the Hunger Games are entertained by it, if that is all they've ever known, I guess I can kind of understand why?! I don't know, you gave me a new perspective to think about....
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen the movie The Trueman Show with Jim Carey? This book, in some ways kind of reminds me of the show and how they are being "watched."
I agree with your comparison between the Games in the book and reality television. In one of the author's interviews, she described channel surfing between reality shows and footage from the Irag war, and how unsettling it was to her when the two started to blend together in her mind. In many ways we have become desensitized to violence. I can't stand these types of TV programs either. I am trying to figure out why so many people find them appealing.
ReplyDeleteOh, and think about who was actually entertained by the Games in the book: the very privileged elite in the Capitol. The people there did not have to worry about hunger at all. They did not have to sacrifice their own children. I think that is also an important part of the social commentary throughout the story. At least, that's my theory. :)