"Hunger Games" Review- A Mom's Perspective

Parenting is a difficult task indeed- especially now-a-days,with sexting, Facebook chatting and "The Jersey Shore". When I learned about the concept of "The Hunger Games", I realized I was onto a whole new definition of 21st century parental treachery. I had been getting tremendous pressure from my older children- ages 12 and 9, to see the midnight premiere, and after weeks of begging, spontaneous cleaning and unsolicited offers to help mom, along with suggestions that I "needed to rest", I gave in. I agreed to take the older two to "The Hunger Games", at midnight no less. I admit that my inclination to give in to such effective manipulation was driven mostly out of the fact that this trilogy had accomplished a great feat with which I had formally failed to do effectively: it turned my children into passionate readers- the kind that sneak their flashlight under the blankets at night. The boys enjoy discussing and lamenting over the books and it's twists and turns. I figured this was a great opportunity to reward their new found love for reading and perhaps they would even engage me in conversation! Once I learned of the plot, I was horrified: the evil government, in an effort to maintain absolute control over society, creates and produces a reality show competition with 24 of its citizans, in which over the course of two weeks, they die one by one until a lone survivor is declared a winner. Absolutely disgusting, right? How could I in good conscience allow my children to be exposed to such an immoral and utterly despicable display of inhumanity? The problem: they had already been reading the series for almost 8 months- I was too late. I decided to proceed and keep an open mind. The style, look and feel of the movie- which I would define as a science fiction drama- was creative beyond imagination. According to the boys, it was true to the book and a perfect representation. The acting was superb and the writing quick and poignant. The flow and pace of the movie were spot-on- no one moved in the theater- not a single person. The anticipation and suspense was relentless. As an artist and (former) actress, I can, with some small measure of authority, say that the costuming, hair, makeup and overall styling was absolutely stunning. They were able to create a world of excess and debauchery among the "capital" players (the evil ones) in a visual way which I felt was believable. The style was futuristic, full of highly stylized lines in clothing full of bright colors, and various colored hair, with high contrasting makeup. The characters were almost cartoon like, yet the costumes had recognizable qualities not far from our own styles today (mini skirts and short waisted jackets). The capital players were set against a backdrop of sleek skyscrapers and high technology, with an art deco and sometimes retro feel- with antique props (microphone anyone?). The contrast to the poor "districts" with coal miners (won't we run out in 1000 years?) was effective, although the poor areas lacked some creativity in their representation. Now to the story- the utterly disgusting premise...this is the part where every mother cringes in fear of creating an axe murderer. Was there death? Yes. Violence? Yes. Gratuitious violence? No. Bad language? No. Sexual content? NO. This is a story of good and evil. The protagonists are forced, so to speak, to be participants in the hunger games. The crowd, (and thankfully my children) are rooting for them- that they get out alive, that they support eachother and fall in love. The children and rest of the audience recognize the evil for what it is, and that the participants are mainly victims of the government or the parents who raised them to be the killers they are. The children see the rich as evil, and the poor as the victims, and somewhere in the middle are those that are trying to help the victims, and they are, after all, victims themselves. So I would say yes, I recommend the movie for mothers, fathers, and children older than 8. It will be around a long time, and hopefully be a source of discussion into the larger issues of our real life unfolding around us. Colleen Shields is a mother, writer and producer of "Surviving Motherhood". See and hear her posts and insights at .