4218: Dire Machinations
So I finally made it out to The Hunger Games today, while C went Avenging. I was spoiled by the things mentioned in that article I read that I don't remember where it was from [plus a parody], but that wasn't my primary concern. What struck me more were two things:
On the latter, it is SO class warfare. I kept thinking, this is supposed to be a cautionary tale, but you KNOW some of the "1%" will see it and just get IDEAS:"People at first were not so much concerned with what the story meant; what they wanted to know was where these lotteries were held, and whether they could go there and watch."
I keep wondering, with current politics, if this isn't a thinly-veiled documentary of what's actually going on in America, certainly. [I'm too ignorant to speak about the rest of the world but wouldn't be too surprised.] The GOP's trying to backpedal to 1950s America--"simpler times"--when women stayed in the kitchen and the gays were shoved into the closet and there weren't any Mexicans except maybe cleaning the office after hours and all this shit was easier because NO ONE HAD TO THINK, and any kind of upset to that threatens to shatter the façade of control over people who're SUPPOSED to be accepting slaves is viewed as some kind of uprising that has to be beaten down.
I hope that's where the next two books are going, but I don't know Suzanne Collins well enough to count on that and haven't looked for spoilers. [Next on the reading list is the book edition I bought despite no prior inclination to read/see anything about the franchise, 'cause I'm still working on that thesis.]
[[update: The version one first consumes sets the standard for content for future versions. For instance, when I first saw The Truman Show, it had a scene where Truman and [whatever the Friend's name was] talked about his desire to explore and what if Truman found a completely unexplored area, and that has NEVER BEEN INCLUDED ANYWHERE EVER AFTER AND THAT MAKES ME ANGRY WHY WAS IT LEFT OUT.]]
So... yes.
BGN: maximx was over for no particular reason, so he, metalfox, C, and I tried a 4-way of Felicia, wherein I lost my Undefeated crown on account of various mismanagements [mostly forgetting to acquire any food before setting sail to an oft-explored region]. C also won 4-way Innovation--actually by getting the four Achievements, for once!--while I got burned trying to accumulate the castle cards for the Monument achievement [something I keep trying to get each time we play] and then getting the shaft when Chris used the Alchemy dogma and burned my entire hand [7+ cards!].
Not that not melding any cards helped me benefit from/avoid getting hit by dogma in the first place, but still.
By contrast, I won Dominion from the Alchemy [expansion] card Transmute--early and often! Nomad's Camp is stupid in a game with armed Trade Route, though, but I did manage to change it up to Duchy when needed. Transmute is definitely a must-have card whenever it comes up ^_^
Now, Muffin O'Clock =9
- SHAKY CAM and
- BLUNT METAPHOR. IN THE FACE.
On the latter, it is SO class warfare. I kept thinking, this is supposed to be a cautionary tale, but you KNOW some of the "1%" will see it and just get IDEAS:"People at first were not so much concerned with what the story meant; what they wanted to know was where these lotteries were held, and whether they could go there and watch."
I keep wondering, with current politics, if this isn't a thinly-veiled documentary of what's actually going on in America, certainly. [I'm too ignorant to speak about the rest of the world but wouldn't be too surprised.] The GOP's trying to backpedal to 1950s America--"simpler times"--when women stayed in the kitchen and the gays were shoved into the closet and there weren't any Mexicans except maybe cleaning the office after hours and all this shit was easier because NO ONE HAD TO THINK, and any kind of upset to that threatens to shatter the façade of control over people who're SUPPOSED to be accepting slaves is viewed as some kind of uprising that has to be beaten down.
I hope that's where the next two books are going, but I don't know Suzanne Collins well enough to count on that and haven't looked for spoilers. [Next on the reading list is the book edition I bought despite no prior inclination to read/see anything about the franchise, 'cause I'm still working on that thesis.]
[[update: The version one first consumes sets the standard for content for future versions. For instance, when I first saw The Truman Show, it had a scene where Truman and [whatever the Friend's name was] talked about his desire to explore and what if Truman found a completely unexplored area, and that has NEVER BEEN INCLUDED ANYWHERE EVER AFTER AND THAT MAKES ME ANGRY WHY WAS IT LEFT OUT.]]
So... yes.
BGN: maximx was over for no particular reason, so he, metalfox, C, and I tried a 4-way of Felicia, wherein I lost my Undefeated crown on account of various mismanagements [mostly forgetting to acquire any food before setting sail to an oft-explored region]. C also won 4-way Innovation--actually by getting the four Achievements, for once!--while I got burned trying to accumulate the castle cards for the Monument achievement [something I keep trying to get each time we play] and then getting the shaft when Chris used the Alchemy dogma and burned my entire hand [7+ cards!].
Not that not melding any cards helped me benefit from/avoid getting hit by dogma in the first place, but still.
By contrast, I won Dominion from the Alchemy [expansion] card Transmute--early and often! Nomad's Camp is stupid in a game with armed Trade Route, though, but I did manage to change it up to Duchy when needed. Transmute is definitely a must-have card whenever it comes up ^_^
Now, Muffin O'Clock =9