The Hunger Games Reluctance

One of my coworkers started to talk about finally catching up on reading all the Nicholas Sparks books. Which, of course, led into talk about books. And that led into me talking about The Hunger Games. When I brought it up, the other two coworkers nearby got all interested too. “I keep hearing about that.” “My daughter’s friends were talking about it.” “Is it any good?” “What’s it about?” So, I explained the premise of the story to them (basically explaining about the 12 districts, there used to be 13, yada yada, they developed the Hunger Games to keep them in line). When I explained what exactly the Hunger Games WERE, here is their response:

“Oh.”

Not, “Oh, that sounds interesting,” or, “Oh, that sounds like it would be intriguing.”

It was, “Oh, that sounds absolutely horrible. Why would a sweet person like you be reading such a terrible book?”

I knew when I told them I would most likely have a negative response. They didn’t say much else. I did explain about Suzanne Collin’s inspiration behind the novel, with war and the like. It didn’t seem to change their thoughts much. So, the conversation changed to other books.

It got me to thinking about it. To be honest, when I first heard of what the books were about, I was reluctant to read them. I am not the type of person to read (or watch, for that matter) anything in the horror genre, or anything with horrific events that are gory and disgusting or extremely disturbing. I am more along the lines of contemporary, coming of age, psychological, and the like. I do read some paranormal and have been reading other dystopians, but that’s about it. The Hunger Games has quite a disturbing premise. A government that forces people to send and watch their children get killed and mutilate on television. It’s really sickening when you think about it.

But with all the talk of it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and wanting to at least SEE for myself what was so special about it. I was worried I’d be reading descriptions of the gross things that would happen to the tributes. It wasn’t as horrific as I imagined. The story wasn’t necessarily about the Hunger Games themselves--it was more about life. The life they all were forced into living. The life that had sad consequences. The life of finding love and friendship under pressure.

People in general don’t realize that though. They hear about a battle to the death and they instantly turn away. What gets me is that these are the same people who watch horror movies and television shows that feature violence for violence sake. What is so different from those things and The Hunger Games? (I mean, if all you’re focusing on is the killing.)

How about you?

Have you talked about The Hunger Games with somebody you know? Did you have a reaction similar to mine? Or did they accept the premise of the book/movie and not care about the negative? How about you--are you okay with the premise of The Hunger Games or do you find it too scary/horrible to try? I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!

PS: Pictures have been removed 08/03/2012, you can see some of them on The Hunger Games Facebook Page HERE and HERE.