Nice review. I haven't seen the film, and just about every review that compares it to the film makes me want to read the book and not bother with the film.
A radio review that followed a recent Fresh Air episode made another interesting point: in the book, readers cheer for the main character - but at the same time, they feel ashamed for cheering because they're also cheering over the death of the other children. In the film, according to that reviewer, the film-makers gloss over the killings in a way that tries to minimize the emotional shock of kids killing kids, apparently because making the killings appropriately disturbing or shocking would draw an "R" rating that would lock out a lot of the audience. I agree with that reviewer's point that toning down the horror of kids killing kids is exactly backwards; that should be disturbing, and portraying it as just another action moment sends the wrong message to kids.
The point about ratings brings the controversy over the film Bully to mind. That film is a documentary about bullying
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Nice review. I haven't seen the film, and just about every review that compares it to the film makes me want to read the book and not bother with the film.
A radio review that followed a recent Fresh Air episode made another interesting point: in the book, readers cheer for the main character - but at the same time, they feel ashamed for cheering because they're also cheering over the death of the other children. In the film, according to that reviewer, the film-makers gloss over the killings in a way that tries to minimize the emotional shock of kids killing kids, apparently because making the killings appropriately disturbing or shocking would draw an "R" rating that would lock out a lot of the audience. I agree with that reviewer's point that toning down the horror of kids killing kids is exactly backwards; that should be disturbing, and portraying it as just another action moment sends the wrong message to kids.
The point about ratings brings the controversy over the film Bully to mind. That film is a documentary about bullying ( ... )
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