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Violence, USA: The Warfare State and the Brutalizing of Everyday Life
#3
The author's critique of The Hunger Games is off base. Having seen the move--twice--and read the entire series, he is just wrong. For example, Katness Everdeen, the heroine hates the violence and the empire that forces them into this impossible situation. She recognizes the goal is to put moral degradation on display and to celebrate it. The other main character is Peeta Mallark. Goes through the entire series without killing anyone, and is seen by the other characters as being better than them and deserving to live more than they.

The final "suicide pact" as the author calls it, is in fact a strategy to survive without engaging in a final battle. Katness says, "Trust me" before threatening to eat the poison berries. She intuitively knows that their suicide had to be stopped otherwise threatening an uprising in the Districts. It is indeed an act of rebellion and it is seen that way by the TPTB. And it is in fact the beginning of a general uprising.

The film itself does what it can to minimize the violence. I know one mother who took her girls to see the movie (and yes, all of them had read all the books) said, "The movie was not a gore fest." She appreciated that.

One might argue that they serve a deep politial purpose by helping people to see a totalitarian state as inevitable. I don't. But nevertheless, the novels are first to last a savage critique of the culture of violence that Henry Giroux decries. I highly recommend them for almost all readers. If young children insist on reading them, their parents should read them as well and discuss them with their children.
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Violence, USA: The Warfare State and the Brutalizing of Everyday Life - by Lauren Johnson - 03-05-2012, 10:48 PM

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