(Warning: You probably don't want to read if you haven't seen the movies, there are spoilers)
I've been taking an 'Art, Movies, and Worldview' class in college, which has been really cool! It's been so much fun to be examining the worldview behind movies (and we get to watch movies for homework!)
So this last week we were assigned to watch the Hunger Games for class. Which was cool, cause I just felt so left out, cause honestly, I had never even heard about the book until the movie came out! And it is so popular right now, I was excited to watch it from a biblical perspective and examine the worldview and meaning behind.
So, what do I think?...Well this movie left me confused, I liked and yet hated it. The whole fact that they were forcing these young kids to kill each other was just horrible. But I liked how they did show it in a bad light, which is what Suzanne Collins had in mind when she wrote the books. However, when you think how wrong it was for all the people from the Capitol to be taking so much delight in the big 'show' of the Hunger Games...and yet we are all in there watching them as well, and taking delight in the violence. I know that in our culture today we do take delight in violence. It's all over the place. I think that when watching this with the wrong perspective can have a dangerous effect on those who actually do lean toward violence.
Yet there are some good things as well in this movie. The main character- Katniss Everdeen, played a Christ-like role when she volunteered as tribute for her sister Prim. She was willing to die in the place of her sister, which is what Christ has done for us.
I was disappointed though when she did kill two of the tributes, I guess I just thought she would make it through without actually killing. But one was in self-defense and also she killed out of pity, for he was suffering, but that brings up another whole topic on when is it right to kill? If old people are suffering is it right to put them out of their misery? But, this is a big topic, so I won't go there right now.
Yet she never actually hunted someone down and killed them, like the other tributes were doing. She was a hunter we saw at the begining, and it would have been easy, yet she didn't, she stayed in trees and away from the fighting if possible.
Ethics- What is right and wrong?
When you watch this movie we can see that it is going against: Tyranny-Materialism-Violence-
Yet there is no standard for whats right and wrong. We as Christians use the Bible as our ultimate standard of truth, yet for the unbeliever, they don't have a set standard to actually criticize these by. In order to come against these things (tyranny, materialism, and violence) they have to borrow from our worldview. Which is constantly happening with the non-Chrisian worldviews.
They make you wander on whats right and whats wrong? Is it ok to kill when you're forced to? When is suicide right? Near the end Katniss and Peeta are about to commit suicide, but they are stopped..but is this ethically right? But there's also the question of whether or not she was actually meaning to do it, because she does keep saying to Peeta 'Trust me'.
There are lot's of questions and so much to say about this movie, I have only said a little bit. I haven't even talked about all the different characters. But lots of this came from what I learned today in my class, and I just wanted to share it while it was fresh on my mind. I hope it made sense, I'm not much of a writer and sometimes I just ramble away without making sense.
So what do you think? What did you like/dislike about the movie?
I didn't really mean to go all against this movie, there was good things to it, and it was a very well done movie I have to say. I did enjoy it, and I think I'll have to read the books now!
Hey Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post.
While I have not watched the movie I have read the first book and I agree with a lot of what you said. I did not have a problem with her killing those two people for their actions in the book anyway Deserved such consequences. As to the suicide I don't have a answer to that faced with two sins giving her choices I think she chose right.
Don't worry you made perfect sense :)
Hey! Thanks! I'm glad you like it! :)
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