Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games
Is the ‘there’s too much violence on our screens’ argument passé? Or has it been long enough that we can circle back to it? I only ask because I saw The Hunger Games on the weekend, in which twelve year old children were slaughtered… but that’s okay, because we all know that good will triumph in the end, right? And there were children in the cinema, as young as seven and eight years old… but that’s okay too, because the film was rated M, which means the content is ‘moderate in impact’. Ahh yes, I thought it was quite moderate when I saw a small boy slashed with a knife, a young girl killed by a spear to the chest and a teenager with his neck broken.
Now is it just me that is feeling so confused by all of this? When did this happen? When did this level of realistic violence become so commonplace? And I stress realistic. Because the movies I used to watch as a child (or perhaps a young teenager) were violent – I know that’s not new – but it was the ‘crazy, action, it’s-just-a-flesh-wound’ sort of violence. The innocent were always protected. When Sandra Bullock ploughed that bus into a sweet navy-blue pram, we all gasped… but then we all sighed with relief when Keanu reassured us all, ‘It’s just cans!’ Why was a woman pushing a stroller full of cans? A fine question – but that’s getting off point.
The point is, if Speed were made now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the pram was instead carrying twin eight-month olds, who would be hurled across the street. What’s worse is I’m not sure how many people in the cinema would even blink. Because next, the lead character would sob uncontrollably for several seconds, and then she would resolve to avenge the deaths of those babies. A suitable ‘I’m getting ready to kick ass’ montage with swelling music would follow. The audience would be placated, ‘it’s okay, Sandra is going to get the bad guy, never mind the woman left standing on the sidewalk holding the empty pram.’
I know it’s all about impact, about billion dollar sales figures, about telling a story, moving an audience. But God do I miss those fun Beverly Hills Cop style movies, where your heart races because even though you know that Eddie Murphy is going to catch the little girl from the top of the Ferris wheel just before she falls, it’s still exciting to see how he’s going to achieve it. Now I leave the cinema with my neck aching because I’ve sat so tense and stiff, terrified for the fate of the main characters, because it’s no longer a given that they’ll make it. I know, I know, who wants to watch a predictable movie, right? A good twist is what leaves you talking about the movie for days afterward… I just miss the days where you could rely on the sanctity of the pure and innocent characters (children, the elderly, the odd nun) being left unharmed – at least in an M rated movie anyway.
Is anyone else out there with me on this? Am I likely to have a following if I attempt a dramatic walkout from the cinema next time I see an orphanage blown up? Or do you think I’m being just a tad too sensitive?
Nicola Moriarty is a writer, student and mum from Sydney’s north west. Her debut novel Free-Falling was released in February of this year and she is currently working on her second novel. Find her website here.
What do you think about the level of violence in movies? Did you see The Hunger Games?
Comments
91 Comments so far
I have been concerned about Australia’s rating systems for a long time. I worked in a cinema as a teenager from 2001-2006 and I realised even then how dodgy the system is. For example, the MA15+ rating is restricted to 15 year old persons unless they have an adult guardian present with them. I kid you not that I personally sold tickets to a woman who was taking her infant and toddler in with her to see an MA15+ horror film and it was totally legal and there was nothing I could do to stop it despite my personal objection (It was something like Amityville Horror). Another time I sold tickets to a man taking his two little kids to see Bad Santa (also MA15+).
Aside from that I think the room of old men who rate movies in this country are far too desensitised because there are some shockingly violent and sexualised things out there that are only recommended for 15 year olds, i.e. anybody under that age can see them without a guardian because they’re not restricted.
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I loved, loved, LOVED The Hunger Games – but I’m nineteen and I definitely don’t think it is appropriate for young children. Same goes for Harry Potter, for that matter. I think it is one thing to read the books (I read the first three or four Harry Potters when I was youngish because I was (still am) an insatiable bookworm that needed a bit of a literary challenge, then I was sufficiently prepared/old enough for the violence of the last three) but another altogether to allow your children to actually see that kind of violence – especially unsupervised.
As a side note, most people I know cried at least once during The Hunger Games, so I don’t think everyone is necessarily that desensitised (I know I’m not, I’ll cry for anything). The other thing that I liked in The Hunger Games was when Rue died – instead of the ‘kickass revenge montage’, you do actually see Katniss crying on several occasions and being totally broken, and the same goes for the people in the districts. It was human and it was appropriate.
Just quietly, as some people said below – how great is Katniss as a role model? There’s a pic going around on Pinterest that says something like ‘If you take the love triangle out of The Hunger Games, the book is about a girl in a televised fight to the death. If you take the love triangle out of Twilight, you have a story about a girl who moves to a town where it rains a lot.’ Ha!
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I find it interesting that the knee-jerk “won’t somebody think of the children!” responses are very much focused on two things: children seeing violence and “how dare their parents allow it!” As some of the more considered responses have pointed out, each child has different levels of maturity and it is up to each parent to make a judgement call on whether their child has the maturity to understand and conceptualise the purpose of the violence in this particular film.
What I find most interesting, and it appears to be responses from young people in particular, is the focus, or lack thereof from adults, on the actual underlying themes of the film. Concepts such as dictatorships, slave labour, political maneuvering, media sensationalism and objectification/glorification – is this not something to think about rather than the thin veneer of violence?
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I loved the Hunger Games but I was really disturbed by the number of young children – I mean kids who looked about 6 in the cinema when I saw it. Sure they were with their parents but seriously, that is no movie for a kid until 12 at least.
When I was 13 and my sister was 11 Mum let us see Jurassic Park. To this day she blames the fact that she read the Princess Diana had let William and Harry (who are younger than us) see it. Well needless to say my sister had to sleep in my room for the next couple of months and at 30 she is still scared of dinosaurs. There is a time when you are old enough for this stuff and a time when you are not.
I for one intend to be the mean horrible mother that does not let my kids see the movie they desperately want to if I think it is inappropriate.
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I never (and I mean NEVER) was allowed to see M rated movies as a child. I remember how huge Moulin Rouge was at school when I was 11, and there was no way known I would have been allowed to see it – nor would I have wanted to at that age.
Maybe there just aren’t enough movies for younger children now. I loved the hunger games, but I’m 21.
It was a young adult book read by majority 12+ age group. Yes, the books detailed the violence, but reading it and seeing it are very different things.
Why make a movie that is inappropriate for the audience it was written for? – Money!
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Same with me. There is no way my parents would have taken me to see a movie like The Hunger Games while I was a teenager even. Of course I then left home at 18 and it was ‘game on’.
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Why arent the cinema staff not allowing children under 15 into M15+ and higher!?!?!
I remember when I was 14 and the staff would not allow me into a M15+ movie. Now 12 year olds and younger can easily get in!
The staff and the parents need to control this more. I though there are ratings for a reason!
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I’m pretty sure cinema staff are still restricting underage people from seeing movies. To my understanding, the rules work as follows:
M rated things = “Recommended for mature audiences” but kids aged younger than 15 are allowed to see these without an adult
MA15+ rated things = You HAVE to be 15 years or older to be able to see this without an adult (or to borrow it from the video store). Kids younger than 15 can only see it if they are accompanied by an adult
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The Hunger Games is a wonderful metaphor for the world we live in. As someone pointed out from Gladiator days to our current obsession with “reality” TV show and celebrities, how far away are we from a real life Hunger Games? We love to see our favourite contestants win, we love to see the ones we hate get eliminated, especially if they start crying and whimpering! If they got themselves eliminated by doing something stupid, then we laugh even more! While MasterChef or Big Brother might not be as a serious as the real life Hunger Games, it’s exactly the same principle.
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I loved The Hunger Games. I’m 25 – it wasn’t too violent for me. The cinema filled with 10 – 15 years old? Can’t say the same for them.
It’s not a kids movie. Just like the book wasn’t meant for kids. Ditto Twilight.
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This is timely for me. I wanted to take my kids to the Avengers movie which has just come out, but it’s rated M. My boys at 7.5 and 9.5. They have seen a couple of M films before (Harry Potter 3, 4 and 5), but only after I’d seen them myself to determine they were suitable, and they had to wait until they were old enough.
So I went online to see why Avengers had an M rating, and checked with some others who have seen it, and decided that I wasn’t comfortable taking my boys to see it. (For those interested, it contains no sex scenes, implied nudity [of The Hulk], little swearing [like 'damn'], a lot of machine guns [shooting at robots, not people], but the thing that clinched it for me was there was a graphic stabbing, with blood and the knife showing coming out the other side of the victim).
And today my younger son’s friend invited him to the movies to see.. The Avengers. I had to say no. And now I’m the Worst. Mother. Ever. Ah well. I’ll wait a few years and we can watch it together on DVD.
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If the movie is rated M what are kids doing there? Parents need to take responsibility for the material they expose their children to!
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Totally agree.
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I think the fact that we’re discussing this is the whole point of the novel/movie. The irony of it, if you will.
We constantly debate whether we are exposing young people to violence yet this movie is so entertaining we are sucked in to its story and characters. Halfway through the film I said to myself “How sick am I? I’m enjoying a movie about kids killing each other.” There’s the irony. We are doing exactly the thing we should not and that is what I believe the author is trying to achieve through the novel.
That is what we need to discuss with our children. In classrooms, around the dinner table and in the car. Why are we so desensitised to it? Is it right to enjoy it? What’s the difference between fiction and reality? What is the author really saying?
The concept of The Hunger Games is sophisticated in my opinion for a teenage reader. It’s wonderful that kids are reading but it’s how we follow through with the post reading discussion that will influence their understanding of the book and how it fits into the larger scheme of things.
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Excellent post! I agree with you wholeheartedly. If you bag this movie simply for the violence (which I don’t believe the director glorified in any way), then you are missing the point of the novel altogether. I think it is thought-provoking and quite brillant! Given human kind’s past (think gladiators) and present (reality TV overload) … really how far away are we from this sort of thing? Hopefully a long way but the author has got everyone thinking about it!
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I saw it, my kids (9-13) read it first and then saw it. The books were worse than the movie. And most importantly the message was loyalty and the evil guy who killed people happily and competitively lost in the end. Far worse things on TV. Far worse things on the news each night with all of the drug fuelled shootings and random killings.
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That’s why I don’t let my kids watch the news.
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We’re the same – no news on TV in our house, because I can’t keep them out of the room when the TV’s on, and so much of it is more than a (young) child needs to see.
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I’m not for exposing children to violence, sex, or profanity if it’s gratuitous, but I have seen The Hunger Games, and honestly, I would be perfectly fine (if I were a mother) to allow my children to see it because the violence is by no means gratuitous and is used to illustrate an entirely peaceful message. The violence in the film (and indeed in the books) has dire consequences for the world of the story and is at no time glamourised or promoted by the director of the movie or the author of the books.
To be honest, I am glad to see a sophisticated text written for young people emerge from the literary wasteland of Twilight & co. I agree with MissMin who pointed out that Katniss is a much better character for young girls to be identifying with than Bella who gives up her education and her life for Edward (and on that note, I would also consider Peeta and Gale better characters for young boys to be identifying with – strong, considerate, responsible and resourceful; not possessive, brooding or controlling).
Perhaps it is not how confronting the violence is, but what the motivation that is behind it that should be considered.
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Both my hubby and myself have seen it and I was surprised by how disturbed I was with the violence. I am usually not too bothered with violence (unless it’s really extreme) but I think this movie affected me a little more than most because the topic was children killing other kids. Maybe it’s because I am now a parent myself, I found it (and in particular the scene at the beginning of the games) uncomfortable. That being said everyone is different, some might have found it fine especially if they have read the book and knew what to expect.
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I haven’t seen Hunger Games but just from what I have heard about it I would have been surprised to see young children watching it.
Whenever I consider taking my kids to a movie that isn’t animated I check out a website that rates movies based on sex & nudity, violence & gore and profanity. It is called “Kids In Mind” and it rates these categories and gives a description for each.
I also use it for movies on the TV, and find it really helpful.
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thanks a lot for that tip, i have now bookmarked it.
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I think I will make these decisions for my future children on a movie by movie and child by child basis. What I appreciated about the Hunger Games was that the violence was shown to be a real tragedy. I think the brutal, almost background violence of movies where you aren’t being invited to pause and consider the horror but rather admire the special effects or laugh or even ignore the awful things people are doing to one another is much more damaging to all of us.
I suppose what I think is that there is a value to showing the “wrongness”, for want of a better word, of violence.
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I am honestly more concerned by young girls watching/reading twilight than I am about the Hunger games – which I loved, but was admittedly pretty brutal for 12 year olds. At least Katniss is the kind of person girls could aspire to be, as opposed to the complete dead-loss that is Bella Swan.
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If I could like this times a million I would…LOL!
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Same. I thought they did a great job with the film, but i was horrified to see little kids there.
The violence made sense as part of a larger context. It was’t glorified violence, it was sad and tragic and devastating instead.
Teens and adults can process all that, and learn from the story. Little kids? They’re just gonna have these terrible gory images stuck in their minds, not understanding what it’s all about.
Do some parents not check the ratings before hand or something? I just can’t understand who would think that an M rated movie of this nature would be okay for a seven year old. No matter how mature they are.
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Does anyone remember the Tomorrow, when the war began books? They were on the school reading list when I was in school in the 90s, and the first movie was out last year or the year before. I can’t remember how the violence and killing was portrayed in the film, but to me the books have similar themes to the Hunger Games- kids unwillingly turned into killers, social oppression etc. I don’t think those books were any less violent. Same with Harry Potter really. I read an interview with the Hunger Games author and she said she deliberately made it violent as she thought that these days, violence in the media is so much more common and anything less would not keep young readers’ attention.
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I read the books plus saw the movie. I don’t believe neither the book nor the movie is suitable for children. However I would have no problems in allowing teenagers (age 13+) access to either the book or the movie.
I’m a little disapointed that they cut down on the imagery of the killing in order to keep the ratings down so people would allow their children to come and see the movie. I would have preferred much more realism when it came to the violence as that may have got the movie a MA rating.
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Haven’t read all the posts, but in regard to The Hunger Games, I took my 11 year old daughter to see when it first came out, she had read the books over the Christmas holidays. My daughter is quite mature for her age and we had lots of discussions aboout the books (i read them as well) We both thought the scenes in the book were more descriptive than the imagery in the film.
Now I probably wont give these books to my son at the same age when he reaches it, he is far less mature at 7 than his sister was at the same age. I think that parents should parent when it comes to what they wtch at the cinema and on tv. No way would I have taken either child at age 7 and when we were at the cinema watching the movie there were quite a few children around this age.
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I thought the movie was very subdued in comparison to the book. I also think the movie was a far richer experience for having read the book.
As a broader issue I believe that there are many parents who don’t censor their children’s viewing and media experiences. I know 4 yr olds who have seen The Lord of the Rings. Many 10 yr olds I know play games such as COD where the goal is mow your oppononents down with with your gun and the results are graphically displayed on screen. Whilst I think there are many teens under the age of fifteen who are mature enough to cope with the content of The Hunger Games et al I also think the parents who blatantly ignore the ratings system underestimate the impact that graphic imagery and horrifying concepts can have.
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I once sold a copy of COD3 to a mother, who’s son would have been about six years old. He gleefully said, “I’m gonna shoot some f*&kers up when get home.”
Unfortunately, I can’t not sell it to the mother.
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I think that yes, you are being way too sensitive. If you’d done absolutely any research into the plot of the hunger games, you would know that there would definitely be violence. Also, there are PLENTY of child friendly and non violent movies if that’s something you want to see.
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Hi Merinda,
Thanks for your thoughts. Let me just clarify something though, I was aware of the premise of the plot of Hunger Games before seeing the film and I was prepared for violence. What I wasn’t prepared for, was being surrounded by so many young children whilst watching that level of violence. I personally still enjoyed The Hunger Games, and will be interested to see the next two movies in the trilogy, I just found myself whilst watching the movie, feeling worried about the young minds that were watching it along with me. But it’s been good to hear from so many parents in this discussion who have commented that they use this type of movie to discuss themes and politics etc with their children. What was most disturbing for me though, was hearing a small child cry out (clearly upset) during a violent part of the film. So I guess what I was trying to say in my article, was that I’m missing the feel-good movies that kids used to watch – like The Goonies! (Which happens to be on tonight coincidentally!) It feels like kids are growing up way to fast these days. I know that there still are plenty of other child-friendly movies out there and when I’m in this mood for something feel-good and cheerful, then that’s what I’ll go and watch (for instance, I think tonight I might reminisce and watch The Goonies!).
I hope I’ve managed to make my opinions a bit clearer for you – it’s difficult because it’s a topic that has so many sides to it, for instance, many of the comments below have brought new points to light for me that I’ve found to be very interesting and it’s all being piled up in my mind, affecting my opinion as we speak!
All the best,
Nicola
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Thanks for taking the time to write back to me with your opinion, I appreciate it. I think that it’s up to the parents of these children that were watching the Hunger Games to choose whether any movie their child watches is appropriate. I personally don’t have children and don’t know how I’d feel about my children watching these types of movies. The fact that the movie was rated ‘M’ implies that it’s probably not suitable for kids under 15. It’s up to parents to gauge maturity levels for their children though. A movie may be perfectly fine for one 15 year old, but not for another.
I respect that everyone feels differently.
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I’m 15, and I read the books when I was 13. I saw the movie in the holidays, and it was a lot less violent than I thought it would be. Most of the violence is in really short bits – like at the start of the Games, there’s just flashes of violence.
My 10 year old sisters were desperate to see it, so mum let them. I was kind of against it, but they enjoyed it. I made one of them read the books first. They found it a bit scary, but they did really like it. My parents are pretty laid back when it comes to us watching TV and movies. The only show my parents have explicitly said ‘no’ to me watching is The Sopranos. My parents let us watch pretty much anything (on the ABC, that is. We hardly watch any commercial TV – it’s all crap). If there’s anything that’s a bit gruesome, we close our eyes, or if it’s too graphic, we switch channels ’til it’s over.
One more thing – there were practically no kids’ movies on these holidays. It was practically The Lorax or The Hunger Games. My parents would be more against us seeing The Lorax than The Hunger Games – The Lorax is way too environmental for them.
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im 14 and read all the books. my parents had no issues with me seeing the movie.
my ten year old sister? reading the books. loves them. but wont be seeing the movie, because its too violent for her and her maturity. and her class teacher wont let her read the book at school.
my parents are pretty similar to yours; fairly laidback about tv and movies, because they know we arent into anything overly violent or sexual. its all about trust
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I dont really agree or disagree with this. I do think that there seems to be a lot more violence on screen, and a lot more explicit, gory stuff than there used to be. But I also think, if you choose to see a movie which is solely about children killing each other then you’re a bit foolish to think you wont see anything unpleasant.
I will also make a note that I saw Hunger Games and was impressed (if that’s the right word) with the way that they handled the violent scenes.
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I agree with you Louise on the part about how the violence was handled. I wasn’t sure about seeing the Hunger Games because I thought it would be too much for me, but actually, it wasnt that bad. Most of the violent scenes were shot in a very fast, unfocused sort of way, and there wasn’t a lot of blood splattering or time spent lingering on dead bodies.
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That’s what I thought too. My 11 year old saw it, but she s getting into wanting to watch more teen type movies now anyway. She’s also read 2 of the hunger games books. Some movies I’ve stopped my kids seeing and have let them see it on the tv, as it’s a smaller screen and a bit of time has passed to lessen the impact.
We let our kids watch a lot of movies, but ones in in doubt of, I’ll watch first and decide if they’re ok. We live in a pretty calm, peaceful and loving house, with no real dramas and will talk over themes of movies, books etc with our kids. I think that has the biggest impact.
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Hi Louise,
Thanks for your comments. I totally get what you’re saying, it would be odd to expect a movie about children killing one another to be non-violent! So I guess I should clarify that I did know going into the theatre that it was going to be violent, I think it was more the fact that there were such young audience members watching that shocked me, and that the audience wasn’t restricted (only recommended for mature audiences rather than actually restricted). I’ll admit as well, a part of me was so sure that the little girl who followed Katniss around would surely survive, and I guess that’s what I was trying to get across in the article, that once upon a time, you could watch a movie and think, ‘ah, nothing bad will happen to that sweet little character’ – and it wouldn’t! But that said, the premise of 12 go in, 1 comes out should have been a hint hey?! And also, as I mentioned in the article, I know that you don’t necessarily want a movie to be predictable, so the shock factor is part of what makes it a good film – the fact that it moves you and surprises you. I’ll admit, the tone at the start of the article probably conveyed my feelings a little too strongly (I wrote it almost straight after seeing the film when I was still all upset by it!!).
Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts!
Cheers,
Nicola
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You’re absolutely right Nicola – I have female friends in their 20s and 30s who saw the movie – they all said it was good – then their next comment “but it’s really violent”. They didn’t mean that in a good way.
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Thank you!! It seems to be a fairly controversial topic, so it’s always nice to have someone let you know they agree with your opinion!
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I went down to the cafe at work the other day to get some lunch. They have tvs in there and one of them was playing what I am assuming was the mid-day movie. Well, in the 10minutes that I was waiting, a man had stormed into a woman’s hotel room, strangled her with his own hands, cut her up in the bath tub, put her in a suitcase and left the building. I was traumatized. (the chopping and placing in suitcase were only implied mind you) I was honestly a bit shaken by this. I think it was because I wasnt prepared to see it.
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Hi Cee,
Good point, sometimes it really is about being in the right frame of mind / head-space. I saw the film ‘Kickass’ a little while back (rated R, VERY violent) and I actually had to psych myself up to see it and even then I really cringed at the violence in it. But I wanted to see it because I thought it looked like an interesting film, good story, some great actors etc. Had I seen that movie without being prepared for just how violent it was going to be I probably wouldn’t have coped!
Cheers,
Nicola
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I am hopeless. I am almost 32 and I had to cover my face for so much of this movie and skipped off to the toilet for the other bits! I struggle with violence and suspense but still can’t imagine letting children under 15 watch this movie. Very confronting….
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I refuse to see this film on ethical grounds
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What ethical grounds? Not having a go actually want to know.
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M means for mature audiences, doesn’t it?
What does ‘moderate in impact’ mean?
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Hi Louise,
I found the words ‘moderate in impact’ listed under the M rating on the Australian Government Ratings website: http://www.classification.gov.au/Classificationmarkings/Pages/Classificationmarkingsonfilmandcomputergames.aspx
Yep, it does also mean mature audiences, but it’s only recommended rather than restricted.
Cheers,
Nicola
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Ah ok, thanks Nicola!
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I’d read all The Hunger Games books – mainly to see what all the hype was about – so when I saw the film, I have to say I was surprised how little of the violence described in the books was actually shown on the screen – it had certainly been toned down a lot. I didn’t think the film was particularly violent compared to the books.
HOWEVER, would I allow a child of mine, under 15 years, to see the movies? No. I have a 12 year old step daughter who was allowed to see the movie and I disagreed with this decision but as she’s not my daughter, my opinion counts for nothing. My step daughter is allowed to do many things I don’t agree with – like be on Facebook since the age of 11! But that’s another story.
I have to say that my husband and I don’t watch much television any more as it all seems to be about death, destruction, violence. CSI, Bones, SVU, The Mentalist, and on it goes – or it’s reality tv or sport. There’s nothing entertaining or funny on tv any more. And what happened to the old Sunday night movies where we could be entertained for 2 hours???
Even the news shows more violence now than it use to. We don’t watch the news any more either as we worry what our 3 year old will be exposed to.
I think Nicola has valid points and I worry where we are heading with all the violence, not just on film and television, but the internet, xBox & PS games and the like. I think parents need to be very mindful of what they allow their children to see or be part of, to ensure they have the maturity and understanding of what they are seeing.
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Hi Jane,
Thanks for your comment, I love your point about missing the old sunday night fun movies. And I also avoid the news (most of the time) because it doesn’t seem to be censored at all any more – I know it’s the real world – and that you can’t necessarily turn a blind eye to what’s going on in the world (i.e. you can’t pretend it’s not happening) – but still, it’s so horrific to see someone getting beaten to a pulp without so much as a warning.
Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts!
Cheers,
Nicola
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Honestly, have you ever watched GO! Or GEM channels on digital tv? Both have movie every night, including Sunday nights.
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People should educate themselves about ANY film they want to take kids to watch, simple. It is annoying when parents cry “omg that was so terrible” after letting their kids watch something clearly rated above that childs age group. This movie is definitely NOT for younger kids, and even anyone below the age of 14 I would have concerns about being let see if if they had not already read the books.
I LOVED the hunger games movie, watched it myself before deciding if it was suitable for my daughter (who is in Year 6 had also read the book twice – once with her teacher reading out loud to her class at school and then again on her own), and we DISCUSSED it after so i could be sure she understood what it all was about.
The book series (and I felt the movie also) were so much more about contrasts with current society and it’s sick celebrity/ reality tv obsessions, political domination/power, use of propaganda, etc. I felt it’s aim was to make people think about correlations to current society.
For the movie itself, I felt they portrayed the actual massacre scene in context, it was more realistic than the stylised normal hollywood “blockbuster” style of sequence, but without overtly glorifying (which is what hollywood generally does) the horrible way these kids were being used as a tool of political subjugation, and I thought it very well showed the terror and fear without being too graphic or “cheer-mongering” the audience – it was less graphic than the books.
Yes – it was disturbing, and people should feel shocked by what they viewed, that is one of the main points of the film and books, given the stark contrast that in the movie the citizens of the capitol were so desensitised to the disgusting butchering of children, to the extent it became a sport for them!
And quite frankly, I would rather encourage people to view and think about and discuss a story like the hunger games and what it is about, (which also had great acting) than be swept up in the shallow and vapid shite that is something like the Twilight franchise!
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Hi Iala,
Thanks for your comment, you’ve made some interesting and intelligent points. I found it particularly fascinating to hear that your daughter read the Hunger Games at school (my children aren’t school age yet, so I’m not up to that stage). I agree that it’s good to watch movies in order to learn something, and it’s great that you’ve had so much discussion with your daughter about the ideas / politics etc behind The Hunger Games.
I just also enjoy watching films to be entertained, and like to emerge from the cinema feeling good – but not every time, so I certainly get what your saying. But I do still think it was quite violent despite being in context for a M rated film. Someone made a comment on the Facebook link of this article, comparing The Hunger Games with Lord of the Flies, and I thought it was a good comparison – but when I did a search on Lord of the Flies, I found out it was rated R when it came out, which I found to be quite interesting.
Anyway, again, thanks for your thoughts!
Best wishes,
Nicola
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Thanks Nicola!! I liked reading your point of view on the movie too. I gather you had not read the books beforehand? Because I understand where you are coming from if you had not.
I am not sure how my view of it would have changed if I had not have read the books first, so it is really interesting to discuss what people who had no idea of the full story line thought of it.
And I completely agree with the point that there is a lot of violence in films these days – I probably am more tolerant with the way it is handled in the Hunger Games given I thought they did a good job of displaying in a more subdued way which gave more focus to the the trauma/terror/tragicness(is that a word?..LOL) of the whole concept of why those poor kids were there in the first place , instead of the usual “bloody death for bloody death’s sake” that passes for a lot of what hollywood churns out these days.
Personally, I abhor the bloody gore most “blockbuster/action” movies descend into these days – it is like they wrote the movie to the most gory bloody scenes possible, with some lame attempt at storytelling to tie one killing scene to the next!
I can deal with it more if I think there is reasoning behind the context of including it in the storyine – which I personally think The Hunger Games did well.
But yes – I was very wary about letting my daughter watch it and did very much weigh this up, and it does disturb me that younger kids have seen it (Most likely without their parents giving any thought given to the wider impact of seeing that movie and not having an in-depth discussion of the story at all)
Have a great arvo.
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Hi Lala. I was interested in your post too. I re-trained as a high school English teacher a few years back and one of the books we read during our training was Tomorrow Where the War Began by John Marsden which is also about teenagers being placed in a situation where they have to kill or survive. I thought about this a lot while reading the Hunger Games and also thought what a great book this would be to include on the high school English syllabus. My thought would be Year 8 or older though because of sensitive children (like my own 13yo daughter who can’t even cope with Harry Potter). We read Lord of the Flies when I was at school and think that was Year 9. Also Clockwork Orange which has a lot of ‘ultra-violence’ and a rape in it. The film of that was actually banned in the UK at the time of its release. We all went and saw it because we were studying the book at school.
Anyway, have not been to see The Hunger Games movie yet but hope to soon. My 13yo won’t want to go and I won’t take my 9yo as I think he is still too young.
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I didn’t think it was particularly violent. The violence was certainly toned down compared to the books, which was actually quite dissapointing and IMO did affect the tone a bit.
Personally I think it’s better that kids see a depiction of violence that’s realistic, rather than the “hundreds of bullets fired and only a flesh wound” type of violence that used to be so common. All that teaches kids is that violence is funny and exciting, and that no one but the evil mustache twirling villain ever gets hurt.
Just FYI, Speed has Keanu’s partner and a whole SWAT team being blown up, one bus exploding and killing the driver and a passenger on the other bus having the floor blown from beneath her then being run over and crushed. Most 80′s and 90′s action movies did have violent deaths, it’s just that they were so filled with ridiculous situations and characters you never cared because it never felt real.
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Hi Anon,
You make some great points! I definitely see your view here, I remember thinking something similar the first time I saw ‘Reservoir Dogs’, I remember thinking it was much better that a gun shot wound was shown as so realistic than the fake, ‘I can carry on even after having been shot’ thing. But somewhere along the line, I guess I started to change and found those types of extremely realistic violent movie so much more upsetting than I used to. I’ve chatted with my husband about it and we’ve wondered if we both changed after having children, somehow became more sensitive perhaps? I’m not sure. But yep, I get your point about it showing children the serious effects of violence, I just wish the world wasn’t the place that it is meaning that we need to teach our children about these things. It would be nice to just keep kids innocent for as long as possible.
And also, I remember the rest of Speed, I think I probably cried when the guy’s partner got blown up along with the swat team! But I just wanted to use the example of the pram being filled with cans because as I said, I really wouldn’t be surprised if these days you would see a baby in a pram hit by a bus, which I’d find extremely traumatising!
I guess I’m just a bit of an eighties / nineties movies dork who misses the Eddie Murphy / Bruce Willis action flicks!
Thanks for your thoughts, you’ve made some excellent points.
Cheers,
Nicola
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This movie is particularly tricky because the story resonates with teenagers but the concept is gruesome i.e. children being slaughtered. I thought the scene at the Cornocopia (start of Games) was disturbing and is inappropriate for younger children to view. I even warned my 15 year old to be wary of the violence on screen.
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I used to teach high school, and we had to send notes home if our students were going to be watching M rated movies in class (usually the notes were along the lines of-return this note if you do not want your child to watch this film).
I would have to send a note home for The Outsiders as it was rated M. If it was re rated today, I doubt it would be a M rated film. A few swear words, some adult themes and quite minor violence, in comparison to what is coming out today with the same rating.
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I went with my daughter & son in law – probably wouldn’t have gone if they hadn’t asked me. I didn’t find it particularly violent – the violence was mostly suggested out of shot so there wasn’t blood and gore in your face. I thought it was in the end a beautiful story that will contribute to very interesting conversations about moral and environmental issues over coming months.
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I haven’t seen Hunger Games, so it may not be the same, but in many horror movies they don’t show the victims dying, you hear it, and see the blood splatters etc, as it is the unknown that really scares us. What could have happened to tat character…?
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It is rated M – surely parents can judge if their children are mature enough. I thought it was very mild in the violence department. That’s all. I don’t know that I would let children under about 15 or 16 see it though.
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Are you sure you don’t mean thrillers? Horror movies are almost always filled with gore and close ups of the moment of death.
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Argh! me too!! I find myself constantly asking people “what is this rated?!” only to find its M or PG!!
(not to say the HUnger Games wasnt good, Jennifer Lawrence carried that film!)
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Hi Ally,
I agree, I’m often taken by surprise by movie ratings. But yes, I did also still enjoy the actual story of Hunger Games, and in particular Jennifer’s performance!
Best,
Nicola
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i took my 11 year old son see the hunger games. but before doing so we both read the books and discussed the themes. i also asked my brothers if they thought it was appropriate for him after they saw it (they said that they felt that he was mature enough, and i trust their opinions). had it come out 12 months ago i wouldn’t have let him see it.
i think parents need to take their child’s age, maturity and personality into account before deciding what they let them watch on tv or at the movies. what’s appropriate for my son may not be for another 11 year old, and vice versa.
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Thanks for your comment, you make a great point – there’s a lot of factors to take into account before making a decision such as that. Nice to see so many parents being so sensible – for instance finding out about the content first and discussing the themes with your son.
Best wishes,
Nicola
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You my friend are a GENIUS!!!. I often have this discussion with friends about movies for example a few years ago the performing arts school i was teaching at was doing Alice in Wonderland. Coincidently the movie with Johnny Depp came out, i was inundated with parents anger (not at me, kind of through me) to the movie makers. In the How dare they do that to a children’s story. Which prompted me to ask, did you check the rating before you took a 5 year old?? and Have you read the original book ie NOT the Disney version?. Ratings are one thing but the truth lies in a parents ability to judge their children and with the help of people who might have seen it. I also love that you read the book as well so you knew what was going on. Did i mention i think you are amazing??
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exactly Missamoo. Jeez parents do some research before you take your children to see a movie. I don’t believe in violence just for the sake of it but I am absolutely addicted (yes I am 33 years old) with the book and recently saw the movie and LOVED it. Part of the story is quite violent but it is not just for the sake of blowing something up or killing somone for the viewers entertainment it is the storyline that will come together and has quite a good message underneath. I have 3 young children and there is no way I would take them to see this and I monitor everything they watch and if I am not sure then I will research it. I think there are far more damaging children’s movies/music/music videos which don’t have any violence in them and are targeted at tweens and show a very superficial/shallow message.
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sorry forgot to add that I totally am ok with the violence that was shown in this movie as it is part of the story. I would have been disappointed if they hadn’t shown it because then it wouldn’t have had the right impact on the hunger games which is what the movie is about.
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thanks missamoo – your reply made my day!
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Happy to oblige, i really enjoy simple well thought out logic. Plus adding a clear vision for your child and involvement and i go WOO HOO!!!
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My 11 yr old wanted to see it. So I read the books first, then let her read the books. I was about a third of the way through the first one when I told her she would not be seeing the movies. She has seen the Twilight movies (with some censoring), so she has watched some fairly ‘grown up’ content. But kids killing kids? The reaping? Nup, not going there.
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To me the theme is what’s important. If you deemed the movie unsuitable, why was the book ok? Is she not exposed to imagry of the same violence? Not trying to be confrontational, I’m genuinely curious.
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I think that a kid’s imagination will only conjure up what they can handle-there may be violence and death, but not necessarily vivid gruesome, gory unpleasantness. A moviemaker has the ability to put pictures in kids heads that they cannot self-censor.
I also think that not allowing a child to see the movie based on the book, but allowing a child to read the book, doesn’t make sense. If the child is reading the book anyway, see the movie and decide from there whether it is appropriate – it’s much tamer than the book.
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Honestly, its just me knowing what my kids can handle. My 9.5yr old will not be reading the books for quite some time as she will visualise the violence and the upset and not be able to move past it. My 11 yr old was upset at one point in the first book but moved forward. She was far more focussed on the love story *sigh*
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M rated films are not for children – according to the Australian classification board “M” rating means “15 + Mature, recommended for audiences 15 years and over. Note: this is not a legally restricted Australian movie rating, but movies in this category cannot be recommended for those under 15 years.”
If you had read the book or any reviews before you saw this film you would have expected violence. Simply put if you let your children watch this you are an irresponsible parent, if you don’t’ like watching violent films, then don’t.
Perhaps the ratings need to be reviewed but as the book is essentially teen fiction (albeit good teen fiction) the film makers toned down the violence quite a lot before it went to the cinema. It could have been a LOT more graphically violent.
The Hunger games was a good adaptation of the book, not a great film but an ok one to watch and rated appropriately. “M” means don’t take your primary school aged kids.
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Hi Carl,
Just to make it clear (in case there’s any confusion), I most definitely did not take my own children in to see this movie, but I was surprised to see so many other young children in the cinema (it was a day time screening). I agree with you, it’s the parents’ responsibility to make that decision, but I couldn’t help feeling worried for their young minds (particularly when I heard a small child cry out as they were obviously upset during a rather violent scene).
I expected violence, I guess I just wasn’t prepared to see so many innocent children slaughtered. But the article isn’t supposed to be anti-Hunger Games, more just a comment on the change (in my opinion) in films over the years. I also thought that it may have been better off as an MA rating, so that it actually restricted viewers – but again, that’s just my opinion, obviously it fit the criteria for the ratings board to give it an M rating – so as I said at the end of the article, perhaps it’s just me being overly sensitive!
All the best,
Nicola
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From the article I didn’t think they were you children either.
I also think the ratings system needs a revamp, one website my wife found not only uses the normal rating system but also a traffic light system of Green = ok for everyone, Yellow = ok for some people of age … and Red = not ok for people of age …
I also have been in movies that I cringe when seeing children in there.
This is not only a cinema issue either. My children are 7, 5 and 3 and many of their friends have seen on DVD movies with M ratings that I am not wanting my kids to see yet and are probably above their age range. Not only for an inability to process the themes, language, violence or sexual content at their age but if I let my 7 year old watch the Avengers movie how will he still enjoy the cartoons aimed at his age group?
Thanks for your article, I was clumsily trying to agree with you.
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Hi Carl,
Thanks for clarifying!! And for the record, I didn’t think your response was clumsy at all, it’s just so hard to read tone in a comment sometimes and I was worried that there may have been some misinterpretation in my article (being the paranoid girl that I am, I did my usual ‘oh no, what if people are thinking I’m a bad mum’ thing!!)
Cheers!
Nicola
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I’m 17 and a huge fan of the book trilogy. My friends and I were actually disappointed that it wasn’t MA15+.
The thing with the Hunger Games is that it is not violence just for the sake of it at all – it is about other things like dictatorship, suppression and some having so much while others have none. This was clear in the movie.
As for seven year old children watching it – that’s their own parents silly fault.
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Nicola I read the first book in the trilogy before I let my 12 year old read it to make sure that I felt it was okay for her to read but I have decided her 10 year old sister is not reading it yet.I also let the 12 year old go to the movie and we have had several conversations about the bigger picture themes of the book and what it is really aboutas opposed to it just being about killing children. I was amazed at the level of understanding she had about oppression and the control of a population involved in a dictatorship, it opened up some fabulous conversations. So in a nutshell I would only let kids see it if they can see that it is not violence for violence sake, I think that 7 or 8 is far too young.
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Hi Katmag,
You sound like a great parent, it’s wonderful that you have had so much discussion with your 12 year old about the themes of the story. I can only hope that the other parents that brought their kids into the cinema were as responsible as you and had similar conversations with their children. My kids are only 4 and 18 months at the moment, so I’ve still got a while before I have to start making decisions about when they get to see certain movies / read certain books, but hopefully when the time comes, I’ll be able to enrich their experience as you have.
Best wishes,
Nicola
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My thoughts:
1. Parents should not be allowed to take young children into these movies. They should know better.
2. The story is disturbing, it’s meant to be, but they give it a M rating so everyone will see it (more money), really it should be R Rated.
3. Have things gotten worse? Not sure, I remember the freddy cruger and friday the 13th movies, lots of gore, can’t remember what they were rated? The young and the innocent have been murdered in movie land….always
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Hi Funkstar,
Yep, I used to watch all those Freddy Cruger / Jason movies too. I guess I just coped with those movies better because they were so silly and unrealistic (still scary though!) – whereas these days I find more and more that movies are so tense and serious and (even though I know in the case of Hunger Games it’s a dystopian / fantasy style movie) it still manages to be so frighteningly realistic. I think that’s what bothers me most: the realism. Much more emotional, left me feeling a bit out of sorts for the rest of the day!
Cheers,
Nicola
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They were M, but back then the next jump was R. They weren’t a restricted age classification but most people followed them at cinemas… Videos, not so much, I’m sure! Fact is, these days parents need to show better judgment. We are supposed to guide and educate our children. If we get to the cinema, having taken our young child to an M rated film, having done no research, have we any right to then complain at its content? Hell, no! Parents need to take their job seriously and PARENT!
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Those movies terrified me too (and probably still would). I also remember being absolutely terrified by the Exorcist, the Shining and Salems Lot (saw the latter two on an outing to the drive in with a friends family when I was in Year 8!). Parents making silly decisions about children’s viewing aren’t a new thing at all.
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I thought exactly the same thing when i saw the Hunger Games! I seemed to be the only one bothered by it though.. left me very confused.
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Thanks Emma!
Glad it wasn’t just me then!
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