# Is seeing "The Hunger Games" hypocritical? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670 "2012-03-24T04:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/41 "2012-03-25T01:00:18Z")
I’m just wondering why _The Hunger Games_ should be singled out. If seeing somebody “die” on screen is immoral, I think anyone who’s ever watched a movie is in trouble. People have been getting “killed” for our entertainment going back to Cecil B. “Tell Gene Wilder He Can Kiss My Ass” DeMille. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/42 "2012-03-25T01:06:59Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > It wouldn’t be hypocritical of \*me \*to watch it, as I would \*totally \*pay to see kids kill each other. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/43 "2012-03-25T01:09:10Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > It’s fiction based on fiction, and you’re sitting in a theater. It’s _all_ fiction. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/44 "2012-03-25T14:41:12Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Oh, really? You don’t see any connections between the Hunger Games, a story about a monied elite that destroys opportunity for others forcing impoverished young people to compete in vicious competitions, and Occupy Wall Street, a movement about young people protesting a monied elite that destroys opportunity for others forcing them to compete economically under crippling conditions? Whether or not it’s intended the parallels are freaking OBVIOUS. Everything is connected. That doesn’t make everything a useful lesson. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/45 "2012-03-25T15:26:47Z")
Why do people increasingly have such a hard time separating the _ **portrayal** _ of something from the thing itself? Additionally, hypocrisy is **saying** one thing, and **doing** another. So the act of seeing a movie would only be hypocritical if you had said “I will never go see that movie.” It would have nothing to do with your stated opinion of things portrayed in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/46 "2012-03-26T06:18:32Z")
Seeing as the movies uses shaky-cam to avoid showing anything, we aren’t even enjoying the gore that makes the real hunger games so offensive. It’s a PG-13 movie, for goodness sake. (At least, according to the reviews. It’s not my type of movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/47 "2012-03-26T08:52:22Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Speaking as someone who knows nothing more about Hunger Games than the current hype it does seem unlikely that it would contain any useful social commentary. It seems more likely such pretensions exist to give sophisticates an excuse to enjoy young adult entertainment. But I could be wrong. My wife is reading the book so it’s a good bet we’ll eventually see the film. I think that boils it down a bit too much. Saying that The Hunger Games is commentary against child gladiatorial matches is like saying that The Titanic is a movie about a doomed ship. Well, yes, it’s ABOUT THAT, but you’re sort of missing the other stuff. Whether successful or not, The Hunger Games is commentary on government power, on the things people are willing to accept to live happy lives, on the mentality of people forced into terrible situations. I’m sure there’s other things I haven’t thought of. These aren’t high school English bullshit analysis claims, there are things that you can see by looking at it for a few seconds. I’m sure all of the major commentary has been hashed out, but I think overall it’s presented in a unique manner. You’d be pressed to find something that HASN’T been hashed out regardless. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/48 "2012-03-26T11:52:03Z")
I was eating popcorn during the Hunger Games. Because I was hungry. Is playing Hungry Hungry Hippos while watching the Hunger Games hypocritical? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/49 "2012-03-26T12:50:16Z")
I love how the people not reading the books or having seen the film seem to know exactly what it’s about. First of all, the first book/movie takes on entirely new meaning in the context of the other two books. Saying what it’s ‘‘about’’ as a stand-alone experience is much different than saying what it’s ‘‘about’’ in the context of the other two books. The Hunger Games presents an issue as black and white when looking back we realize it’s not so much. Second of all, I can sort of see where the OP is going. While it’s obviously not morally the same, I was on the edge of my seat reading the books and movie. And it occurred to me, in a weird way I am enjoying the suffering of Katniss et al. It’s not hard to see how a society could become accustomed to such a barbaric tradition - because if you can achieve a certain degree of emotional detachment, it’s really entertaining. This does not mean I advocate forcing children to kill each other. It means I can imagine how a society could find this entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/50 "2012-03-26T14:34:23Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > The YA community is quite progressive. I don’t know anything about Suzanne Collins specifically but she probably doesn’t go to tea party rallies. The editor of Hunger Games is David Levithan, whom I have met and know to be pretty liberal (he’s also gay, not that it bears very much on the politics of Hunger Games). So I don’t think either meant the Hunger Games to be right wing – I think it was more just lazy, big evil government, etc. Like with Orwell, the “message” is cloudy enough for anyone to think it proves their point. I picked up on the potentially right-wing “message” as well, but I didn’t read it as a critique of any existing government. I just figured it was a plot device; Collins needed a baddie who could compel people to sacrifice their children, and an oppressive government fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/51 "2012-03-26T22:36:49Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I picked up on the potentially right-wing “message” as well, but I didn’t read it as a critique of any existing government. I just figured it was a plot device; Collins needed a baddie who could compel people to sacrifice their children, and an oppressive government fit the bill. I think it would appeal to both the left and right. Katniss survives because she is an accomplished bowwoman. That’s certainly right wing ideology. Panem is a nation where 99% of the population lives in sqalor supporting a 1% living in a gleaming Capital city. Left wing stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DeweyDecibel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DeweyDecibel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeweyDecibel)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/52 "2012-03-26T23:04:50Z")
I have not seen the movie, but have read the first 2 books. I am liberal myself,s o take this for what it’s worth, but I took liberal messages from the books. The citizens of the capital are rich, vapid, and only care about their own access to lots of fancy goods. Said goods are provided by people in distant lands who suffer greatly to do the work the capital demands. I saw a developed world demand for clothes/electronics/trinkets vs. poorly treated third world factory workers. Then there’s the usual reality tv parallels, of course. I did not see right wing philosophy here, but now that it’s been pointed out, I can see where it could be taken that way. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/53 "2012-03-26T23:20:39Z")
The government controls everything and the media is wicked. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/54 "2012-03-27T00:09:51Z")
The Matrix has you. . . ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670/55 "2012-03-28T15:01:22Z")
New [Cracked](http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-the-hunger-games-creepier-than-you-think/) article - 5 Reasons “The Hunger Games” is Creepier than you Think". It starts out espousing the OPs point of view, but gets more tongue in cheek from there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-seeing-the-hunger-games-hypocritical/616670.md?page=2)