http://community.babycenter.com/post/a32357689/hunger_games--offensive_to_the_spirit

I haven't read/watched the hunger games, it's not my cup of tea, but I get the idea. I wouldn't have said it was any more offensive than Harry Potter or Twilight etc. Let's be honest...it's just a STORY. I read further down the thread people calling it horrific! Have they read some of the stories in the bible/bom?
What do you think?

I have a lot of different thoughts on this.

I did read some of the posts from the link you provided. I had to laugh, not because I found their point of view humorous but it was a laugh at ignorance.

In school, high school, we read a story called, "The Lottery." It was a shocking short story but then this was before all the violence in the media nowadays.

I liked reading "The Hunger Games." I found it interesting to see how America might survive or not due to natural disasters and civil war.

I must have mormon brain because as I read the entire series, the more I read about the Capitol and how all the surrounding districts existed to provided the Capitol and the citizens there in with goods and food and luxuries, and how the citizens in the Capitol were deemed more worthy (as their children did not have to participate in the hunger games) I felt more and more like the Capitol (which was situated around the Rockies) was Salt Lake City and the districts were the wards all around the country. Same premise anyway, some people are just more equal than others. I also made the analogy in my mind that sacrificing the children to the Hunger Games to appease the bigwigs in the Capitol was like sending your kids to the MTC.

Oh well.

I think some people need to avoid stories and shows that upset them. They need to realize that is them and what works for them doesn't work all across the board. As I said, there is a short story in English Literature called The Lottery and it is shocking but it is still accepted literature and maybe sometimes it is okay to get the bars of your cage rattled.

Who said it was godly to live in blissful ignorance where a person never gets upset or their ideas or beliefs challenged? For crying out loud, even a flower has to fight its way past dirt to be able to grow then bloom.

Have these people never read Edgar Allen Poe???? Yeah, there's a warm fuzzy guy for ya, NOT!

I think that there is a lot more to the Hunger Games then kids killing kids. The whole internal dialogue of Katniss shows that. Survive or be killed. It's more than that...it is about human nature, the lust for power, control of others and the human spirit rising up against a tyrannical government.

Geez, did these ladies ever read Animal Farm and run screaming out of the room when they took Boxer to the glue factory and vowed never again to read a book like that? Or how about Of Mice and Men and George and Lenny?

These women who have to deem these books as offensive to the spirit are ignorant and remind me of those fundamental bible thumpers who burned books written by Mark Twain and others.

It's time for them to pull their heads out of the sand and get over their ostrich viewpoint to life.

I was nervous about letting my kids read it as well, it is very violent..but then I realized they have other books that are just as violent and they were emotionally ready for this--I noticed one of the comments at babycenter mentioned their 11 year old not being ready for it--you can only protect them for so long, eventually you need to let them grow up. I've bought them books in the past that are just as bad, my daughter reminded me, LOL. It's just hard being a parent I think, knowing when things are or are not ok to introduce. I've heard nothing but good things about the movie here, am taking my kids to see it soon.

As far as comparing it to the BOM/Bible, yes, it is just as violent. It's funny in Sunday School one week the teacher was going on and on about how horrible the news was and how we should just stick with inspiring things like the BOM. I raised my hand and said, I've found the BOM, especially the war chapters in Alma, to be just as violent if not more so than the news. He looked at me weird and said, you have a point. LOL, if you've raised your kids in a bubble and not even read them the BOM/Bible stories, then yeah, Hunger Games is a bit much..but it is no worse than chopping Laban's head off, or cutting people's arms off.

Oh and I also agree it is not about kids killing kids.

One way to stop people like that that think the bible is the best book ever when the news has killing in it is get three very violent bits out of the bible and have them as a refrance and next time he says that stand up and just give out the refrences and get them to hunt down the verses and say them outloud.

As you can tell I am a huge fan of a rather vionent film myself. Though all the violence there is a good story and the violence is meant to be shocking and show the simple fact that bad people are bad. You cant show a sselfish unfeeling person simply refuse to feed extra snacks to a kitten and get people to beleve it.

My pareants are very much like that. The themes in some books are just to much for them and I have a feeling it is becauses it strays from church life to much.

Mormon children shoudnt read the hungr games I agree as they are to indocctoranated with violence in the right setting is good if god says so. You have to realise violence is bad and being violent does affect you before you can read something like that maturely.

I remember Lord Of The Flies, White Fang, and Of Mice And Men were reading requirements when I was in junior high, and they had some pretty violent themes. I was even caught reading Cujo by a teacher in junior high and she admired me for it. If anything these books enriched my mind about human nature.

It's ironic to see religious people get offended by violent movies when I've been told the Bible is one of the most violent--and most widely read--books ever written.

It's like Evangelicals who think that the Harry Potter series is satanic.

So is Mormonism.

TBMs going to watch Hunger Games with their 44 oz Mountain Dew strikes me as rather hypocritical.

One one hand they go watch a super violent, disturbing movie that is as close to R as it can get without getting pegged as R drinking sugar & caffeine.

On the other hand drinking green tea and watching an R rated movie is pure evil.

So yeah if you believe in the spirit as a TBM does I agree that going to watch the hunger games would offend it.

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For me personally I don't think I'll watch the movie. One of the big themes of the book was how reality TV had gone wrong to portray actual teenagers killing each other. Somehow watching it play out on the big screen and pretending to watch reality TV of teenagers killing each other doesn't jive with my interpretation of the book - the book was fascinating though.

Katniss refused to bow her head and say yes.
Obedience gets you killed in the books. Our protagonist resists and fights oppression. That's antimormon right there!

If they think HG is shocking then they should stay far, far away from Battle Royale (kids killing kids in Japan). Now, *that's* violent. And you see the results of that violence.

I agree Battle Royale is far more violent, but it's also not just about the violence - it's an incredible look into the human psyche (the book, anyway. The movie is a rather poor adaptation of the original work).

Or just read the original Running Man or the Long Walk (both by Stephen King under his Bachman nom de plume).

They should read about the Mountain Meadows massacre - and it's not fiction.

Right. If they have issues with kid on kid violence ....how about adult male on women and children.

The reason mormons find The Hunger Games offensive to the spirit (shall we call out the elephant in the middle of the room?) is because the main character is a strong, independent female who says repeatedly, "I don't want to get married." She also doesn't want to have children because she doesn't want her own children to be drafted into the Games. She hunts and provides for her family and is platonic friends with guys. Then she sacrifices herself for her little sister and kicks ass and takes names in the book.

That is not a role model mormons want their girls emulating. A girl in charge of her own life and her own destiny? Who does not need a man to feed her, clothe her, house her, or make her feel good about herself? No. Better just pretend the spirit is driven away when we see positive strong female role models.

My 12 year old just read Of Mice and Men, and Hunger Games is not nearly as disturbing as that book.

One of the comments said:

"Do not compare the scriptures to works of fiction"

I laughed for 5 minutes!!!

So sad

I must be incredibly "desensitized" since I did not think it was that violent at all. And as far as kids killing kids, I think the Civil War, WW1, WWII, Vietnam, etc, was all about kids killing kids for the ideals of the fathers.

And that was real life.

Kids will want to read them instead.

I didn't find the books, or the movie, to be horrific or all that graphic. The author uses inhumanity to discuss humanity. The main character doesn't want to kill anyone. She just wants to survive, and she does what she needs to do in order to do that.

To me the disturbing part was the "normal" people of the world treating teenagers being forced to kill each other as a "sport" - the idea that reality tv taken too far was enjoyed by the masses. Even though the government sets the whole thing up, the regular people were sucked into it. Of course I'm fairly sensitive to violence. Shows like law & order or and a lot of actual news stories make me sick to my stomach.

other for entertainment. I still read all 3 books and will see the movie.

It concerns me that young people are so focused on the decay of society and zombies and vampires. In my day we had a good long list of outside enemies. We played cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, and worried about commies and a-bombs. We were united against outside enemies even as kids. Our adversaries were more thoroughly demonized than today's literary bad guys. You could tell who they were. They at least had a different skin color. Oh, the 1950s, good times. Unless you -were- a different color, or a Native American, or a girl, or some other non rich white male....

If you think watching a movie will start you down the road to apostacy and sinnin'...then you must be a ....MORMON!!!

the reviews on the movie. I wasn't interested until I read some of the reviews.

So for those of you who read the book and saw the movie, how did the movie reflect the book? Now I want to read the book, because I felt that they had a bigger story to tell and cut and pasted, had some ideas that never really got played out (like the sponsors, etc.).

Oh, AND, it, too, reminded me of "The Lottery"--which I saw long ago in school and it still freaks me out to this day. The movie reminded my boyfriend of "Animal Farm"--which I never had to read.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2012 12:30PM by cl2.

I thought the movie was pretty faithful to the book, but like all adaptations had to do a few things to move the story along that weren't in the book. Overall, very good.

(MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.)

I think Mormons would HATE this movie because the core of the story is rebellion against authoritarianism. The Hunger Games themselves are punishment for "the rebellion" and by the third book all the districts are in rebellion once again.

It starts with silent acts of rebellion, then grows. I personally think we need a little rebellion -- in the LDS church and in American politics. (But, that's just me.)

That's why kids love it. That's why Libertarians love it. That's why I love it. That's why tyrannies like the Mormon Church hate it.

children working in sweat shops and young girls sold to brothels. But, hey, mormons have their shiny temples and a new mall so everything is okay.

I listened to all 3 audiobooks and enjoyed them. If a child doesn't understand or like a book, they won't read it. Listening to books also takes concentration. Movies are more passive.

Boy this one takes the cake. If she wants a more violent book, tell her to open her Book of Mormon! Every other chapter basically is war!

All of my TBM family members loved the book and loved the movie.
Guess they're not as TBM as the babycenter mormons. (And for that I am thankful.)

I thought the movie did a good job of representing the book but it didn't go deep enough into the issues.

My husband is now reading the book after seeing the movie and agrees with me that the movie could have gone deeper.

I love books and movies that have you thinking about them days after reading or seeing them.

Not only is the Book of Mormon more violent, but so is the Bible, and not just the Old Testament. I know Mormons don't believe that Christ's death was the Atonement itself, but he did have to die in order to become resurrected, so the Passion story in the New Testament is pretty violent. I even remember a missionary giving a talk about the crucifixion in church, and he went into such graphic detail, if I wasn't already coming down with a stomach virus, I would have had to go to the bathroom to throw up anyway. Let's just say that my ex didn't mind that I went home after that Sacrament that Sunday instead of staying until the end.

This TBM was going off on FB about how she would never allow her children to read or view such violence. I replied by asking her how then can she promote the Book of Mormon in her home and to her children - a book that starts off with the hero Nephi committing a violent (and needless) beheading, describes wars that kill millions, the hacking off of body limbs, disasters that destroy cities and cultures including the women and children that live in them, rape, torture and cannabalism.

The Hunger Games is G rated in comparison.

She never replied back.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2012 03:16PM by kookoo4kokaubeam.

Wow, one of the comments is that 'my 11 year old daughter is not ready to process the difficult subject matter'... but she was ready to decide what church she should join 3 years ago?