By JEFFREY GILBERT
For Word News

CEDARVILLE, Ohio (WordNews.org) April 9, 2012 — Teens and college students are filling theaters to see “The Hunger Games” and making it the hottest movie of 2012.
First, they probably read the best-selling book by Suzanne Collins and love the characters, so naturally they want to see the movie. Second, true to their generation, they hate the social injustice that keeps the masses in poverty in a futuristic North America that has endured great war and rebellion.
“The Hunger Games” has been the domestic box-office leader since it opened March 23, and it reached $302.8 million over Easter weekend to surpass the final totals of each of the “Twilight” movies and all but the first and last “Harry Potter” movies. There are no numbers yet, but it is evident that Christian kids make up a measurable portion of this fandom.
The Hunger Games turn 24 teenagers into killers and survivors in a forest with borders. Only one will survive while the nation of Panem, the rich and poor alike, watch it on television from start to finish. For the rich, the Hunger Games are a ghoulish party. The poor are forced to watch.
If you can’t bear to watch kids fighting and surviving to the death like Roman gladiators, you might not like this movie. But if you remember that it’s just a story and can see the big-picture meanings, then you might come around. And if you like hope and self-sacrifice and hate tyranny, you will like this movie. These themes and more are enough to keep you thinking about it long after you’ve left the theater.
If you are staying away because you read the book, think again. Movies are not books and books are not movies. Maybe character development in a movie can’t have the depth it has in a book, but the personalities and the hopes and dreams of the main characters are not hidden by the screen.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) is a resourceful 18-year-old with a strong spirit from District 12 where people survive by working in mines. She loves her family, hates the injustice that forces her into a game of survival no one would wish for and possesses a will to survive what appear to be impossible circumstances.
Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is scared to die but he’s more scared of not being himself. He hates the injustice of the Capitol and he isn’t afraid to rely on others.
The president (Donald Sutherland) of the totalitarian Capitol is sure of what he wants and knows that too much hope for the impoverished 12 districts threatens his authority. His words and expressions are convincing, but what else would you expect from such a veteran actor.
Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) is the TV host of the Hunger Games. He has way too much personality, but he appears scared of saying the wrong thing. The Hunger Games must continue to succeed or he will be out of a job.
Seneca Crane (Wes Bentley) is the guy the president has entrusted with producing the Hunger Games. He is even more scared of losing his job, and this year isn’t going as smoothly as in the past or as the president would like.
Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson) is the drunken former winner from District 12 charged with mentoring Katniss and Peeta. He has a hopeless view of life, but Katniss’ skills give him hope that his district has a chance to win. But his vision does not see beyond the games because the Capitol and the cushy life it earned him owns him now.
Haymitch understands the injustice the Capitol wields over the districts, but he feels powerless to do anything about it. The favors he enjoys are only meant to control him.
The Capitol owns the districts and is ruthless enough to do whatever it must to avoid a repeat of a rebellion that was put down and gave rise to the Hunger Games 74 years ago. This movie is about a powerful few who rule, a powerless majority who obey and the meager hope that change is possible.
The powerful few like to solemnly say, “May the odds be ever in your favor.” Despite the sincerity they try to showcase when they repeat this mantra, they don’t really mean it. It has become cliche. That’s because tyrants seldom mean anything they say with a smile in public. And it’s doubtful their subjects believe a word of it.
The powerful few in the Capitol control every aspect of the lives of the rest of the population. Fences are meant to keep them confined to one of 12 districts. Food is purposefully in short supply. Living conditions are the poorest of the poor. But this control isn’t enough for those living in excess in the Capitol.
The powerful few have devised this devilish game to keep the districts in fear of the Capitol. A lottery is used to choose 24 teenagers, two from each district, to fight in the annual Hunger Games. The Capitol increases food rations for the district’s winner for the ensuing year with the expectation that the districts will live with just enough hope to keep them dutifully working for the benefit of the Capitol. Mostly, the Capitol wants to keep rebellion out of the people’s beaten-down hearts.
The powerful few, however, did not see what was coming from ultra-poor District 12. That’s where Katniss already fights to live a life without hunger. The Capitol has seen plenty of motivated fighters in the Hunger Games, but it’s never seen a fighter like Katniss.
The way the Capitol sees it, living a life in charge of people you dehumanize gives you a feeling of utopia. But the Capitol is obviously bored enough to need something like the Hunger Games for entertainment.
“The Hunger Games” begins as a story about a girl fighting to return home to raise her 12-year-old sister Primrose. When Primrose’s name is drawn, Katniss volunteers to take her place as the female tribute from District 12. Her self-sacrifice is even praised by the Capitol.
Katniss’ District 12 compatriot is Peeta. Their battle to survive and keep the odds in their favor becomes a battle for hope for an oppressed people.
Peeta understands this hope. It’s a hope for more than material freedom, which might never come. It’s a hope for emotional, spiritual and intellectual freedom. The story turns from Katniss’ quest to make it home to a hope of freedom for a nation when Peeta says “I just keep wishing I could think of a way to show them they don’t own me. If I’m gonna die, I wanna still be me.”
Christians understand that they belong to God, but all people yearn to be free from oppression. That might be this story’s greatest theme.
Whether you leave the theater thinking tyranny must be fought or you can’t let them own you or any amount of hope is enough to sustain, you will leave the theater knowing that maintaining power causes valueless people to do ruthless things.
Instead of saying, “May the odds be ever in your favor,” the powerful few ought to be honest and quote that old anonymous and sarcastic saying commonly attributed to pirates and the like: “The beatings will continue until morale improves.”
The probable scenario for the sequels is that the beatings will continue. But the only morale that improves will probably be the morale that unites the districts against the Capitol.

If you go
Focus on the Family has put together a resource kit with questions to start discussions.