The Hunger Games

The movie comes out Friday.  I have mixed feelings and am going to sound terribly snobby or snooty or something in the next few sentences. I guess it's better that I admit it?  I'll back up a bit. The Hunger Games is a trilogy of books for young adults (I realize that no, this is not me, but I don't care) taking place in a dystopian world separated into districts. Every year, each district elects a male and female child/teenage "tribute" to participate in the hunger games--the winner's district is provided with all kinds of resources. In a world where food and basic essentials are scarce, this is a big deal. The catch is that the tributes play the game to the death. In order to win, you have to be the last one alive.  Of course, the games are televised, with everyone absolutely enraptured by the spectacle. Twisted? Yeah. Far from reality? Not as much as you might think.

So anyway, I read the book in 2009, long before the rest of the world realized how great they were (this is the snooty part). Part of me really, really despises being on a bandwagon; I've always been an underdog rooter (ask me how great of a strategy that was in this year's NCAA basketball bracket challenge). Another part of me is glad the books caught on so I have the chance to see what a filmmaker does with them. The other advantage of the trilogy's success is that young adult authors everywhere are doing their best to replicate them, providing me with plenty of dystopian worlds to delve into. 

So the bottom line is, I won't be in the theaters at 12:01am Friday to catch the first screening, but I also won't wait for the DVD. Walking contradiction? You bet!