"The Hunger Games"....opinions?

[ava]

I read this article this morning.

A woman took her kids ages 11 and 13 to see this movie, and now she regrets it due to the violence in it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2122524/Why-I-feel-Im-bad-mother-taking-girls-The-Hunger-Games-Its-film-child-wants--violence-left-SHONA-SIBARYS-daughters-weeping-disturbed.html

I already said I was not taking my kids to see it, this review definitely makes me feel like it's the right decision.

[friargate]

The focus of Bob's comments were good for reflection.

The film in question is a concern over its violent depiction of young people. An earlier reference to IMDb did not mention the content advisory section which has been invaluable in understanding a films content. The objective is stated as :-

Since the beliefs that parents want to instill in their children can vary greatly, we ask that, instead of adding your personal opinions about what is right or wrong in a film, you use this feature to help parents make informed viewing decisions by describing the facts of relevant scenes in the title for each one of the different categories: Sex and Nudity, Violence and Gore, Profanity,Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking, and Frightening/Intense Scenes.

Check out their comments , including spoilers in the following.

Sex & Nudity

Several young women wear low-cut dresses that reveal bare shoulders, backs and cleavage and a few of the dresses are short and show bare legs.

Violence & Gore

24 young men and young women (ranging from ages 12-18) stand on pedestals at the beginning of a competition and await a countdown, when the counter reaches 0 the young people run for a large collection of supplies and attack each other and 12 of them are killed: we see blades slashing and covered with blood, we see bodies lying motionless with blood stains and smears on their clothing and flesh, a young woman falls and a young man stands over her with a blade until another young woman throws a blade into his back, and a young boy is hacked with a large blade and we see blood spurt onto nearby objects (we do not see the boy).

We see a video of a man beating another man to death using a brick (we see the beaten man lying motionless and we see the brick shiny with blood).

A young man throws a spear that strikes a teen girl in the chest (we see blood on her chest), a young woman shoots the young man in the chest with an arrow (we see blood on his chest as he falls dead to the ground and we see him again later with the arrow sticking out of his chest) and we watch the teen girl die

A young man threatening to kill another young man by snapping his neck is shot in the hand with an arrow (we see his very bloody face from a previous fight) and he falls off a shelter and onto the ground where he is mauled by three animals (he screams and pleads for help) until he is shot with another arrow.

A young man kills a teen boy by twisting his neck with his bare hands (we see the boy collapse to the ground).

A young woman runs toward a table that holds supply bags, and she grabs one and tries to run away when another young woman throws a knife that slashes her forehead; the two young women fight and wrestle, and one holds the other on the ground with a blade across her throat until she is pulled off and slammed into a wall repeatedly (we see her flop to the ground dead).

A young woman cuts a branch that holds a wasps' nest off a tree (we hear that the wasps' venom causes severe pain, hallucination and sometimes death), she is stung several times, the branch falls and the wasps swarm five people sleeping on the ground below; the people run and scream and we see one young woman covered with wasps and a short time later she is seen dead on the ground with large welts on her face and hand

A young woman lies dead on the ground with berry-stained lips and a handful of berries that we understand are poisonous. Two young people prepare to eat poisonous berries to commit suicide (they do not).

Two young men fight: one swings a bladed weapon at the other, a young woman attacks the armed young man, and he strikes her and holds her head over the side of a shelter where three animals snap and jump trying to bite her; the other young man pulls him away and they continue to fight.

Five young men and young women chase another young woman through thick woods, the young woman climbs a tree, a young man tries to climb up after her but falls to the ground (he is unharmed), a young woman shoots an arrow at the young woman in the tree, and then a young man shoots an arrow at her (she is not struck).

A huge fire rages in a forest near where a young woman is hiding; she runs, the fire grows larger and closer, fireballs are shot toward her, a tree falls in her path, she slams into something and we see that she has a large leg wound (she winces in pain and we see a bloody gash on her leg); she continues to run until she falls into water.

A young woman warms herself near a fire when she is surrounded by four others with weapons; we hear a scream and we hear the four attackers joking about "the look on her face" and that she pleaded, "please don't kill me" (we understand that the young woman was killed).

A young woman follows bloody tracks and finds a young man with a large and bloody leg wound (we see the wound and he tells her it was caused by a sword)

A young woman applies salve to a young man's leg wound (we see a very bloody gash).

A young woman applies salve to her own leg wound (we see a very bloody gash).

We see a bloody wound on a young woman's leg and she appears in pain.

Many people in a district become incensed after the death of their representative and attack guards, destroy machinery and set property ablaze until they are sprayed with water by flying vessels.

A young woman trembles in fear in a couple of scenes.

This movie is very violent, but not too gory. There is blood, but not in an excessive amount.

Profanity

2 religious exclamations. Name-calling (punk, lover boy.) "Damn" is used 2 or 3 times.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking

We see a young woman hallucinating after having been stung by wasps.

A man drinks alcohol and appears drunk.

A man drinks alcohol with a meal and appears to have been drinking a lot.

People are shown drinking colorful beverages (presumably alcohol) in several celebration scenes.

A woman on a train says of a man that "he's probably in the bar car."

Frightening/Intense Scenes

Every scene in the arena where the Games take place has an intense feel to it.

One scene where a rough boy kills a girl by shaking her and smashing her head against a heavy metal wall three times. We see her corpse later.

In one scene a tribute (in the Hunger Games) is shown brutally being attacked by specially designed poisonous insects, and after she is dead, there are close-ups of her mangled grotesque body.

One scene near the end involving monsters called "Muttations" is quite scary and intense. This also includes quite a big 'jump' scene. This is all at night.

A teenage boy is attacked by the Muttations and thinking about the way in which he is killed can be quite disturbing.

A character who you get quite attached to during the course of the film is killed in a brutal way ( Spear through stomach) by another character. This scene and the burial scene afterwards is very sad and upsetting.

The movie earns its PG-13 rating. It would be highly unadvised to take children to it. The youngest that should see it is 12.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens

Certification: NewZealand:M / Ireland:12A / Germany:12 / Norway:11 / UK:12A (cut) / Canada:PG (Ontario) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) / Sweden:11 / Singapore:PG13 / Australia:M / Portugal:M/12 / Brazil:14 /India:U/A / Peru:14 / Chile:18 / Philippines:PG-13 / South Korea:15 / USA: PG-13 (certificate #47386)

[Greenfield]

The movie earns its PG-13 rating. It would be highly unadvised to take children to it. The youngest that should see it is 12.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense violent thematic material and disturbing images - all involving teens

Certification: NewZealand:M / Ireland:12A / Germany:12 / Norway:11 / UK:12A (cut) / Canada: PG (Ontario) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) / Sweden:11 / Singapore: PG13 / Australia:M / Portugal:M/12 / Brazil:14 /India:U/A / Peru:14 / Chile:18 / Philippines: PG-13 / South Korea:15 / USA: PG-13 (certificate #47386)

Fixed the movie ratings in the quote here: The Hunger Games is rated PG-13 here, not "tongue-sticking-out-G-13". When a capital P follows a colon with no space in between it converts to the smiley.

[DLM]

Count me OUT! Not upbuilding at all..

[friargate]

Rick,

Trying to understand your comment. It brings to mind the quote that USA & UK are "two nations divided by a common language."

Wikipedia states that in the USA the MPAA introduced the PG-13 rating on July 1, 1984, indicating that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. In 1986, the PG-13 rating's wording was changed to: Parents Strongly Cautioned – Some Material May be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.

The movie rating system has had a number of high profile critics. Film critic Roger Ebert argues that the system places too much emphasis on sex while allowing the portrayal of massive amounts of gruesome violence.

The list of gruesome scenes in this film is surely a concern to any parent. Perhaps we should ask - would Jehovah give it a smiley face?

[Brother_Bliss]

The most controversial 12A films

Success of The Hunger Games reignites debate over controversial BBFC rating

The question is though, with scenes of kids (some as young as 10) slaughtering each other with spears, throwing knives and - at one point - killer bees, should youngsters even be allowed to watch it?

According to the BBFC, 12A means children younger than 12 must be accompanied by an adult to buy a ticket. At one point ‘Games’ was set to be a 15 before the studio nixed seven seconds of particularly gory footage.

Despite the cuts, some parents have complained about the rating on Mumsnet, saying that “it was really stretching the 12 rating” with one child becoming “so distressed” that they had to leave the cinema. Another said that “some death scenes are quite shocking” claiming that “you see a lot of dead faces and it's very realistic”.

http://uk.movies.yahoo.com/the-most-controversial-12a-films.html

Certainly sounds traumatizing.

This article above you cite reminds me when I was a kid going to see Gremlins. It was PG, but many of us children in the theatre were terrified and screaming (not me, the younger ones). Anyhow, because of that movie the MPAA came up with the PG-13 rating for the first time. Gremlins is now rerated PG-13.

[Brother_Bliss]

The movie rating system has had a number of high profile critics.

And count me as one of them.

Our brothers and sisters have this mentality that we "cannot watch rated R" movies and that anything PG-13 is just fine. Nothing can be further from the truth. I have been BURNED by more PG-13 movies than any of the seldom, selective, rated R movies that I have chosen to watch.

The MPAA rating system is ridiculous. How important it is to read why something has the rating that it does. There is something called the Common Sense Rating that I prefer to read when considering movies....

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

The list of gruesome scenes in this film is surely a concern to any parent. Perhaps we should ask - would Jehovah give it a smiley face?

Hmmm.... killing children....

“Furthermore, they built the high places of Ba′al that are in the valley of the son of Hin′nom, in order to make their sons and their daughters pass through [the fire] to Mo′lech, a thing that I did not command them, neither did it come up into my heart.” Jeremiah 32:35

“... and they continued to make their sons and their daughters pass through the fire and... to do what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, to offend him;” 2 Kings 17:17

[DLM]

I once saw a graphic demonstration in an hour talk in Hawaii. The brother commented that a lot people say "What I SEE doesn't have any effect on me!" Then he said "see if this has an effect." He reached in his pocket and brought out a knife and lemon! He carefully cut the lemon in two and took a big bite of it! The whole audience gasped and felt like their teeth were on edge. Then he said, " Does what you see not affect you?!?!" Point made and taken!!

[ava]

I once saw a graphic demonstration in an hour talk in Hawaii. The brother commented that a lot people say "What I SEE doesn't have any effect on me!" Then he said "see if this has an effect." He reached in his pocket and brought out a knife and lemon! He carefully cut the lemon in two and took a big bite of it! The whole audience gasped and felt like their teeth were on edge. Then he said, " Does what you see not affect you?!?!" Point made and taken!!

I just read this in another review for the Hunger Games:

The film’s director, Gary Ross, naturally was concerned with staying true to the story’s core. “Is it violent? Yes,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Do we back off from what it is? No, we don’t.” As such, the movie earned a PG-13 rating. And when put in context with other recent films, that doesn’t seem out of line. Last summer’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” for example, also earned a PG-13, albeit with a far more wholesale approach to violence, grandiose and fist-pumping in its depiction.

And yet one should be circumspect when considering whether these films are having an impact on a child’s psychological development, Rich said. “What the research shows is not that kids see something in the movies and go out and imitate it. The problem is they see things over and over again that become increasingly normal, and they stop being in touch with their natural fear of and revulsion to these things. It shifts their frame for what is acceptable and what is desirable for the way we get along.”

[sweetwillow58]

Just from seeing previews on the TV I know I am not interested in watching people hunt each other. Now knowing the amount of violence and seeing a 10 yr old girl die.....my granddaughter is 10! I would not want to watch a movie that would make me think of her in a situation like that. Reminds me of the Gladiator games of ancient Rome.

[JahPrazer4Ever]

My first thought when I heard about the movie was being appalled. Who wants to watch children harm and kill each other? Especially when the premise of the movie is that it is all a "game". It makes me think about violent/warlike video games and bruising the conscience so that it is no longer bothered.

Whether or not it is demonic is up for debate here. I always think before I go see some "fad" movie about something that our District Overseer said at our last circuit assembly. It was something to the effect of "if it is popular with the world, then you can be certain that the demons are behind it or involved in it in some way". This is the same type of fad that Harry Potter and Twilight first started as and will continue as the next movie is already in the works.

Just my thoughts.

[Greenfield]

I always think before I go see some "fad" movie about something that our District Overseer said at our last circuit assembly. It was something to the effect of "if it is popular with the world, then you can be certain that the demons are behind it or involved in it in some way". This is the same type of fad that Harry Potter and Twilight first started as and will continue as the next movie is already in the works.

What the DO said is true for many movies, although there are some movies (older and newer) which are popular both in the world and amongst Witnesses in good standing.

(By the way, that does not refer to The Hunger Games. I shy away from sharing my personal decisions to do or not do any movie or any other conscience matter, but that's just me.)

[MelFromOz]

Hi everyone,

The Hunger Games is only just coming out here in Australia and I only heard of it the other day, this thread prompted me to watch the trailer and find out a bit more about it, so far it doesn't really interest me but at the same time it's probably not something I would want to watch even if I was interested due to the violent content. Just this morning I read on the news that there was a school shooting in California at the University where a student opened fire killing 7 people and wounding more and in a separate incident a 15 year old boy has been sentenced to 16 years prison for copying a murder scene from a TV show to kill his own mothe by bludhening her to death with a hammer and then setting her on fire. Satan uses things like violence on TV to encourage angry and violent behaviour in us, I certainly wouldn't want to be effected by his influence. That is my peronsal opinion and I hope I am not disrespecting the rules of the forum, I do realise everyone's concience has a different level

warm Christian love

Melanie:grouphug:

[Tala]

You definatley have to read the books to understand them. When i heard what they were avout, i was like ew! Read them, love them. I can see how people would be offended of course but this is not a story about children killing each other. It's about Stopping that from happening!

[LindaL.]

I’ve just read through this post and I’m shocked! Horrified! When I read of brothers and sisters even considering viewing such violence – let alone enjoying it – the word “desensitized” comes to my mind, along with the following article in the Watchtower.

*** w79 6/1 pp. 12-13 Go On Walking as Children of Light ***

‘STRIP OFF THE OLD PERSONALITY WITH ITS DECEPTIVE DESIRES’

8 So urged the apostle Paul at Ephesians 4:22. No, do not patch up the old personality, but ‘strip it off,’ get rid of it. (Col. 3:9) Why? Because its “deceptive desires,” which linger in our “treacherous” heart, can ‘corrupt’ or make the old personality go from bad to worse. (Jer. 17:9) To justify their patronage of obviously degrading entertainment, some Christians have reasoned: ‘It does not bother my conscience, so what is wrong?’ Could it be that their conscience is wrong and the desires of their hearts are deceiving them? The mere fact that our conscience does not bother us is in itself no assurance that our course is fine. Even the apostle Paul admitted: “For I am not conscious of anything against myself. Yet by this I am not proved righteous, but he that examines me is Jehovah.” (1 Cor. 4:4) The consciences of many in the early Corinthian congregation had become so desensitized that they tolerated immorality in their midst, even boasting about it. What misguided consciences!—1 Cor. 5:1, 2, 6; Titus 1:15; 1 Tim. 4:2.

9 It is easy to let our consciences gradually become defiled by “deceptive desires.” From the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in a European land comes the following disturbing report:

“It is certain that about 10 years ago our brothers would not have looked at the majority of films now being played, because their sense of decency has been altered. There is no doubt that the tendencies of this world have in a certain measure influenced some of our brothers.”

10 Ever so gradually Satan endeavors to have his depraved standards accepted. When the gladiatorial games were introduced in Palestine, they were initially received with “terror” by persons “unused to such sights,” according to first-century historian Livy, who adds:

“Then by frequent repetitions, by sometimes allowing the fighters to go only as far as wounding one another . . . he made the sight familiar and even pleasing, and he roused in many of the young men a joy in arms.”

Step by step their horror was softened. In time they no longer were shocked but became joyful participants. Satan’s methods rarely change; so be alert that your Christian “sense of decency” is not slowly altered. Stop and think: How far has your conscience allowed you to go? Is it too far? In the field of entertainment, is your course little different from that of persons “beyond all moral sense”?

[Holly]

Well, this movie was referenced, w/out specific name, at our meeting a few weeks ago. The brother definitely said it was not something we should go see, due to it's violence. Now, I know many have differing views on this and other types of movies. I, personally, won't go see this, but, I have seen a few movies in my time I should not have seen, The Lord of The Rings Trilogy as a matter of fact. However, I do regret having seen those and taking my nieces and nephew to them as well. They were teens at the time..... but, having said that, I really enjoyed them and that makes me feel even worse.... Now, the original story is suppose to be coming out at the end of the year, The Hobbit.... as much as I would love to see it, I know I should not and will not go..... sigh..... In this day and age, our consciences have become more and more immune to what is truly proper and what is not.... I always have to remind myself of that....

[Brother_Bliss]

Last summer’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” for example, also earned a PG-13

And was also so much better than Transformers 2, which stunk!

/me runs for cover

[Hammerhead]

Satan owns the fence....thats all im saying about this

[Brother_Bliss]

Satan owns the fence....thats all im saying about this

So we don't wanna be sitting on it

I like this.... adding it to my collection of illustrations and cute sayings.