'The Hunger Games' shoots straight and kills the box office

Katniss Everdeen of District 12 has to survive two weeks in a forested nightmare and be the last survivor, despite the fact that other teenagers want her dead in order to survive and be crowned the 7th Annual victor of their nation's twisted 'Hunger Games.'

"The Hunger Games" has come in first place in the box office (big shock). I went to the opening weekend of "The Hunger Games" with some friends. Only one of us - if any of us - had read at least one book in the series. This movie was made for people who had already read the books, or were strongly considering reading the books and felt inspired to do so after watching the movie (I am on chapter five of "The Hunger Games" now since Sunday). The movie was a visual aspect to the book, although the book had to be read for some parts of the movie to make sense. The movie was brilliant; I loved it. It was a little disturbing, I'm not going to lie, the way the kids killed each other and how it was portrayed on the screen. It was so unfair that all the small kids were either used by the older ones or killed. Cato was such a freak.

In fact, the whole concept of the Hunger Games seems horrible and hopefully will never come to pass, which Suzanne Collins, the author, said was based on a mixture of the ancient Roman gladitorial games, channel-surfing through reality TV, images of the Iraq war, and the mythic story of Theseus. Despite the concept, the movie was actually pretty great, except for a few details.
"The Hunger Games" starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the 16-year-old protagonist who takes her 12-year-old sister Primrose's place as the District 12 girl tribute for the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Katniss has done her best to keep her mother and her younger sister alive, and this is just another element in Katniss' keep-my-sister-alive campaign. It is nonetheless extremely sacrificial and heroic, which later wins Katniss favor with "sponsors," rich people from the Capitol who can "be the difference life and death" for the kids during the Hunger Games, according to the overly-zealous, wig-wearing Effie Trinket (who's way too enthused about gathering kids who are about to die and really nothing more than an overly-done-makeup-wearing trinket and ninny).

Anyway, Katniss' district, apparently the poorest district in the nation, for their part in her sacrifice, merely stare at her and then kiss three fingers before raising them to her. (One has to go to the book to find out the meaning behind this, something I didn't like about the movie, which didn't EXPLAIN anything. The meaning, everyone, is that it's an old and little-used sign for respect, and, still rare, now is only used at funerals.) Fantastic! Katniss has a whole group behind her - behind her death, that is, for it appears no one expects her to survive. After all, there are 24 children, and only one survives; the one who survives has to kill the others, basically, or the ones that nature doesn't kill first. Not only that, District 12 has had exactly two victors, a dead person and a drunk named Haymitch, who is their mentor now. Oh yes. The boy, other than Gale, who's been in love with Katniss forever is Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, a baker's son who once threw bread to a starving Katniss - and of course he becomes the boy tribute from District 12. Naturally there will be romance. Lovers attempting to kill each other? A good adventure NEEDS a little romance, right?

So poor Katniss, who only wanted to save her sister, is thrust into the spotlight as an underfed, undertrained tribute and sent to the Capitol, a symbol of the punishment of the members of the Rebellion, in which 12 districts dared to rebel against the Capitol over 74 years earlier. Everyone assumes she will die in the rigged Games, and if she doesn't die, blood-thirsty, trained Cato will kill her. A wonderful and constantly twisting twist of fate is that they learn that two victors may be crowned, provided they're from the same district. Does that mean that Katniss and Peeta, star-crossed lovers, can both come out alive? Maybe...if Cato, some berries and unstable, ever-changing rules don't get to them first.


Praying you have faith, hope, and love always,

Rachel