Thoughts
Here's a thing. I don't understand it.
The Hunger Games. It's a story about a dystopian world where a central Big Brother-type government enforces a lottery-based execution of children of the working class by children of the same. Upper and lower socio-economic class is a predetermined and unchangeable system where the poor, who have little and are constantly on the edge of starvation, work to provide the very rich with everything.
It's not the Olympics. Kids are murdered. Starvation and horrible suffering are rampant. It's absolutely not clear by the end of the series whether or not the world will ever not be distopian. It's up there with Brave New World and 1984 (only not *nearly* as well written).
Why is it so popular with teenagers and 20-somethings right now?? Why did my ex-colleagues go off and have their own "hunger games" and pretend to kill each other? It's not funny. And, unfortunately, it's not entirely fantasy (eg, the USSR and North Korea), okay, minus the computer generated 'arena' and kids killing other kids, there's still that substantial distopian society where the government basically kills it's citizens to ensure absolute control over them. How is this a fun game to play? How is this enjoyable?
How is it so awesome to pretend you're killing your friends and peers so that you aren't killed and your family gets enough to eat?
Am I missing something???
The Hunger Games. It's a story about a dystopian world where a central Big Brother-type government enforces a lottery-based execution of children of the working class by children of the same. Upper and lower socio-economic class is a predetermined and unchangeable system where the poor, who have little and are constantly on the edge of starvation, work to provide the very rich with everything.
It's not the Olympics. Kids are murdered. Starvation and horrible suffering are rampant. It's absolutely not clear by the end of the series whether or not the world will ever not be distopian. It's up there with Brave New World and 1984 (only not *nearly* as well written).
Why is it so popular with teenagers and 20-somethings right now?? Why did my ex-colleagues go off and have their own "hunger games" and pretend to kill each other? It's not funny. And, unfortunately, it's not entirely fantasy (eg, the USSR and North Korea), okay, minus the computer generated 'arena' and kids killing other kids, there's still that substantial distopian society where the government basically kills it's citizens to ensure absolute control over them. How is this a fun game to play? How is this enjoyable?
How is it so awesome to pretend you're killing your friends and peers so that you aren't killed and your family gets enough to eat?
Am I missing something???