Movie Review: The Hunger Games

At what age should children be allowed to see the movie, The Hungers Games?

Short answer:

It makes a huge world of difference if your child has read the book. If they have, it probably means your child is at least in third grade (almost 4th now). I would say that child should be fine. If they haven’t read the book, I would have reservations for anyone under 10 watching the movie because so much is explained in the book that would help guide a child’s understanding of the movie. When I asked my son if he thought it would be alright for his friends to watch, he said, “Sure. They play Call of Duty and Resident Evil.” (My son does not play Resident Evil.) I asked about the girls in his 5th grade class. He said maybe, it depends on who read the book.

In the end, you know your child best. For my children:

I would not let my 8 year-old second grader who has not read the book watch The Hunger Games. My 10-year old, yes. Mind you, I am not a parent who lets my sons watch every PG-13 movie. I still won’t let them watch The Dark Night, which I found infinitely darker and more disturbing than The Hunger Games. But at the same time, I took my older son to see the first Transformer’s movie when he was 6. I did not let him my younger son see a Transformer’s movie in the theater until he was 8 due to his mindset.

For a more in depth review of The Hunger Games and why I said what I said above read on:

(The long answer.)

There are three things to think about to determine if it’s appropriate for your child.

First, I think it is imperative that anyone who goes to watch the movie reads the book first. When trying to compress the book into a two-hour-and-twenty-minute movie, a lot needs to be cut. And with the book as detailed and layered as it is, many of the nuances will be lost on the audience who hasn’t read the book. For example, when Katniss tells Prim to mind her goat at a particularly moving scene so she can sell its milk for money, you will have no idea what she is talking about since this is the only mention of the goat in the entire movie. Or why is Haymitch a drunk? Or why doesn’t Katniss turn a cold shoulder to Peeta in the beginning? In the book, this is all explained very well.

Second, even having read the book there are subtleties only older children will understand. I was surprised that my 10 ½ year old completely misinterpreted two key scenes at the end of the movie. I give an example of one these at the end of this post, with warnings that it’s a spoiler alert.

Finally, the violence. Yes, it is kids killing kids. You can’t get around that. However, the director did a good job of making most of it brief, while still impressing on you the cruelness of it all. There were three fight images that are a little tough to watch knowing your child is sitting next to you, but my son didn’t seem distraught. And there is one scary “boo” moment, that did make my son jump, but you know exactly when that is going to happen.

***Spoiler alert***
When she shots Kato at the end to end his torment, he didn’t understand that it was an act of mercy. He thought Katniss killed him only because she could. Obvious too an adult, but not so obvious to a child.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was an excellent adaption of the book.

Book Review: The Big Burn

I found the The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan to be a fascinating book about a defining moment in America.

It discussed the founding of the U.S. Forest Service, and how it became the institution it is today and how the fire changed it's original mission.

We follow Teddy Roosevelt and the first Chief of the United States Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, and their fight to protect what was left of America's forest for future generations to enjoy against the railroad and timber barons and the hordes of settlers flowing into former Indian lands for scrupulous and unscrupulous purposes.

Egan's profiles not only of national figures, but also of settlers, timber barons, gold miners, black soldiers, and rangers really brought about a well-rounded story showing just how diverse a people were living in the American West at the turn of the century.

The first half of the book deals primarily with Roosevelt and Pinchot's relationship and the setting up of the U.S. Forest Service, but the second half really kept the pages turning with the first sparks of the big fire and the stories of heroism, bravery, and death. Egan's descriptions put me right on the hills with the men protecting the towns and each other.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in American history.

Book Review: The Faithful Spy

The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson is a nice quick read for those who like spy novels.

What I especially enjoyed was the protagonist's time in Afghanistan and Berenson's ability to create a very high tension level. I found the character's mental state transitioning back from Afghan life to U.S. life also very well done.

The book had a well-developed bad guy with a good plan that kept the reader guessing until the end.

The secondary characters were fine, but didn't really move me one way or the other.

My main criticism is that when the protagonist was in the U.S., why wouldn't he just pick up the phone and call for help or call in a tip.

That being said, it is a decent read.