My body is clearly telling me to eat something, but nothing seems appealing. Whoa! As if my small intestine knew I was writing about it, it just gurgled. I wouldn't make something like this up.
Right, well, as I was saying, despite this appetite (or lack thereof) I felt compelled to write a post. This post, however, may mark a change in how I approach updating this blog. I'm not sure why, but all of sudden a voice inside me said make something that matters; write about an issue in society. Believe me, I was taken aback by this too. Here I am, on a Wednesday afternoon during my spring break, browsing the Internet like usual, when I am struck by this notion. Maybe it's divine intervention? I really don't know. At any rate, I think I should at least give it a try.
Fortunately, I have a fantastic, relevant topic to discuss: The Hunger Games. More specifically, how this new book-to-movie franchise has affected me, and, by extension, the world at large.
I don't claim to be a sociologist (or any expert on human behavior for that matter), yet as a casual observer I noticed a few things surrounding this particular movie's premiere. Not unlike similar franchises, (Harry Potter, Twilight Saga) the fan base is immense. Still, I think lovers of the book initially, even before the movie was announced last year, i.e. me, were skeptical. I personally wanted to preserve my pictures of the characters. While I feel the movie's Katniss (Jennifer Lawerence), Caesar (Stanley Tucci) and Effie (Elizabeth Banks) were accurate, they still taint my original imagined versions. And at some level, that's not okay.
The sad truth? It doesn't matter how I feel about Hollywood adaptations of books, they're still going to happen. There's no use being upset by it when Catching Fire is already in pre-production and Mockingjay slated to be filmed after that. Time to just sit back and accept it.
What's interesting, though, is the distinct division amongst the book's readers. From my experience, either you loved it or you hated it. For instance, my school's librarian couldn't get past the first few chapter. With the movie, though, I think it's much easier to walk away indifferent. Whether this is a good or bad thing, I don't know.
At their core, the books challenge the idea of a powerful, central government whilst commenting on the propaganda-esque, brain-washing nature of reality television. In fact, as my mom pointed out, shouldn't we, if we love the book so much, refuse to go see something made with the intention of brain-washing us for 2 hours? Furthermore, what if we, as Gale suggests, just stopped watching for a year? What would happen then?
Katniss dismisses it with a blanket "that would never happen." Though I tend to agree, who's to say it couldn't ever be feasible? Nothing is impossible, right? I guess the real question is then, how do we let ourselves be sucked into crazes, fads, fantoms, etc. and what consequences are there for doing so?
Once more, I don't think there's a clear cut answer.
And if there is one, I certainly don't have it.
Note:
My speculations only go so far to try to answer these questions I ask, which is why I will dedicate more time to researching and educating myself before I try to speak on it again.
More importantly, though, I won't let my fear of being wrong stop me from learning or talking about things. I pride myself on being open minded. Thus, if you have a differing opinion, by all means, share it in the comments. If you have a new insight, let me know. If you're an expert in the field, correct me. I don't mind; I encourage it.
Moreover, considering I put a lot of thought into what I just wrote, please don't just say if you liked or disliked the movie. Don't get me wrong, do share your thoughts on it. Please try to at least state why you liked or disliked it, though.
I don't mean to suddenly ask a lot from you guys, I just think it's important for everyone, myself included, to impart more wisdom on issues when they're presented. Plus, I'm tired of feeling limited to only recapping my daily activities.
So there it is, my attempt at something different.
You can feel free to tell me if I was successful, or only remotely, or not at all.
Have a good day.
