Oh Macleans - Hunger Games fear mongering? Really?
I didn't see any covers when Twlight was out that said "Your daughter wants to date someone that could kill her" which let's face it, was a lot more screwed up.
Isn't it interesting what we see as "inappropriate" for teenagers? I mean, here we have a novel which is basically a modern, reality TV show version of "Lord of the Flies" and we're scared to let them read it? Remember when we all read that at 16? It was okay then. Now, it's just scarier because it's related to our time. Or maybe because there's cameras and the kids are trying to kill each other on TV. Isn't that the point of a good story though - to teach you something, to subtly point out the folly in our lives. I remember when I was reading these novels and I asked Matt:
"Is the point of fantasy novels to teach us something about our world without pissing us off?"
And of course I knew this. But the point is, these books drilled it home for me again. They say something without having to finger point. Okay maybe there's a bit of finger pointing, but mostly it's us extrapolating what it means about our society.I don't know about you - but that's the exact kind of book that I'd want teenagers to be reading.
The actual article is a little less "fear-mongerish" than the cover suggest, but it still had that vibe. But then, that's the media isn't it.
2 comments:
I enjoyed this first year university student's article:
http://www.sociologyfornerds.com/2012/04/guest-post-hunger-games-is-not-next.html
I described this book series as 'subtle commentary on modern society'. The book simply describes what we are doing already. I watched the movie and thought, "how ironic is it, that I am being entertained by the Hunger Games?", knowing full well that it wasn't ironic at all - but rather, commonplace.
I hope to write a book as great as this, one day.
Post a Comment