WARNING: May contain spoilers.
Dan and I went to see The Hunger Games last night. In spite of some very persistent recommendations from a number of my friends, I have yet to read the books. So you’ll have to forgive me if I sound like I have no idea what I’m talking about. Because in reality, I mostly don’t.
In any case, I LOVED the movie. I thought Jennifer Lawrence was phenomenal, the story was perfectly paced, and – in true nerd form – I found my heart skipping a beat at the historically evocative scenes.
Katniss lines up and prepares for the Reaping. This scene reminded both Dan and I of imagery from Nazi-era Germany. (via thehungergamesmovie.com)
As the lights went up at the end of the film, I turned to Dan and said, “MORE PLEASE.” He laughed and replied, “I’ll turn you into a science fiction fan yet!”
But he won’t. And here’s why.
I loved the movie for its story, and for its characters. Impoverished adolescents fighting for the entertainment of the wealthy, veritable racial and gender equality under the crushing hand of government tyranny, and deep relationships developed over the course of years, as well as through single experiences taking place over a matter of seconds. Very few movies have all of those elements, and that was what made this one so powerful.
But what made me crazy was the science fiction aspect of the story. Let her march to the end of the map and hide out until everyone else dies of starvation and exposure! You can’t just set the world on fire and chase her back to where the other tributes are! And those weird saber tooth tiger things that didn’t actually have any saber teeth? You can’t just create one in the middle of nowhere and try to make it eat Peeta! And then you can’t just multiply it and send all of them chasing after Peeta and Katniss! THAT’S NOT FAIR. What is this, Fight Club? The rules are “there are no rules?” FUCK YOU. I want some RULES. And I think that drug dealing artist from American Beauty who showed up in this movie with the CRAZIEST beard I’ve ever seen needs to abide by them.
After explaining this to Dan, he told me that in order to enjoy science fiction, I need to fully accept all aspects of the world in which the story takes place. Shit, you guys. I can’t even fully accept the world in which I live. So trying to fully accept some new world with TV screens in the sky and hovercrafts and Elizabeth Banks not looking undeniably gorgeous is just a little out of my range of do-ability.
With that said, I will reiterate that I loved the movie, and think you all should go see it (assuming you haven’t already). In the meantime, I’ll be over here, frantically trying to finish the trilogy of books before the next film comes out.
