Recently, I’ve seen a few people ask on Facebook why they should read The Hunger Games.
It’s understandable when a book creates such a frenzied following and is already secured 4 movie deals that some want to know why they should jump on the bandwagon.
They want to know, Is this just the current ‘thing’ or is it something more substantial?
The overwhelmingly majority have said, “Yes! It’s a must-read! It’s intriguing, thought-provoking with a strong female hero.”
But I was honestly surprised when a few people said don’t read The Hunger Games, because they’re immoral and ungodly. After my initial, “Whaaat?” my literary sensibilities were ruffled.
To have the plumbline of what we do or do not read be immorality is tricky. Is everything worth reading or viewing? Is all edifying? Are all stories equal? No.
But if we say, “Oh, don’t read that because there’s sin in it,” then we’re negating the experience of human life.
Should we not be around other people because their sinners? Should we not read the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, lest our American-Christian sensibilities forget the incest, human sacrifices, mass killings found in those first 39 books?
Do we stop teaching about the Holocaust and the Civil Rights movement, because they’re hard to stomach?
Because they make us uncomfortable?
When people say The Hunger Games is about kids killing kids, they’ve missed the point.
The Hunger Games is about survival, sacrifice, fighting oppression, and not letting another dictate your life. Yes, there are children thrown into an arena and told kill or be killed for the entertainment of a privileged and sheltered audience.
The Hunger Games is fascinating, because what would you do if you were thrown into the arena?
If at 17-years-old you are the sole provider for your family and their lives literally depend on you, what would you do?
If you had the chance to stand up to a dictator and say, “You don’t own me,” would you do it?
How do you live after being hunted and thrown over and over again into the clutches of death?
One of the beautiful things about storytelling is the ability for it to teach, move, and strengthen us. Nearly all good stories require us to be uncomfortable, to go a bit further, ask more than we’re willing to give.
How will I know what it means to be resilient if I keep with the happy, comfortable, and tidy?
How will I know that some of life’s messiest battles are in the will if I stay with the easy?
How will I come to sympathize with the pain of others if I never hear it?
Oppression lives outside of Panem.
Rape. Abuse. Slavery.
Poverty. Wrongly accused. Orphans.
Depression. Power struggles. The loss of everything.
All of these are common themes in great literature. Why?
Story gives us perspective, empathy, and teaches us what it means to be human.
We need stories of betrayal, because we are the worst of betrayers. We need stories of despair to know we are not alone. We need stories that will explore even the darkest recesses of our heart.
We need stories that will tell us Jesus is not afraid of our mess, our ugly.
We need love stories that go beyond cheesy pick-up lines and love at first sight. We need stories of humility and sacrifice. We need heroes—we need strong male heroes and strong female heroes.
But even more, we need stories to give us hope, to tell us we are not beyond the arms of grace.
That redemption is possible.
No matter what.
I agree wholeheartedly friend. You’ve articulated your point very well
Yes, this is spot on. Thank you.
I agree however…..I choose not to read the hunger games. It’s not that I think Christians shouldn’t read them. Christ followers should never try to live in the christian box, to avoid the ugliness that life often reveals. My life as a follower of Jesus Christ is messy. I work in the crisis pregnancy field, a son show battles addictions and so on and so on. I read to find relief from the ugliness that surrounds me. I carefully choose what I want to read and so should others. If a topic will depress you or bring upon stress maybe it just isn’t for you.
Thank you for this.
Woot!! You laid this out very well. Thank you.
One thing people need to realize (and even I have learned) that great literature isn’t for mere entertainment. I didn’t read the Hunger Games for entertainment. Actually, I read it to become a better writer, and got more than I bargained for.
It makes you pause to consider some things and admire someone’s dedication and selflessness to her family. To watch her struggle with the inevitable and trying to suppress emotion so it doesn’t make things harder.
The antagonist of “The Hunger Games” is the oppressive government that forces the children to murder, and it is exacerbated by the fact so many citizens find it so entertaining. The reason it is controversial is because, in reality, it is Suzanne Collins who forces the children to murder and it is us who find it so entertaining. That’s why I liked it, anyway.
Amen and amen. Thank you for articulating my thoughts so well.
Very well said! I read the books back when they first came out. Long before the frenzy began, and I was enthralled by the story. I struggled with the last book because I felt like there was so little hope. So much broken. But that’s the point. Suzanne Collin’s created a world that essentially existed completely apart from God. (And frankly, this being the trajectory of our culture is not so far-fetched) People can only do so much. At the end, things have changed but they are still so lost. There are so many parallels for us as Christians that we should be talking about these books. Not avoiding them. Avoiding culture is sort of what is creating the problem…