Hunger Games...really?

So I have read about the latest teen movie craze known as the Hunger Games, and I have to wonder...why?

Well, actually I don't wonder why. Our society is exposing children to violence at far younger ages than we witnessed in the most recent two generations.

In my day, we had Pac Man. Today, we have Call of Duty and Twisted Metal. In my day, we had "Who Shot J.R?" on Dallas, and I don't believe there was any blood shown. These days, we have scary alien monsters who bite a chunk out of a human being and the blood sprays all over — on prime time television.

Really?

Call me old fashioned, but there are few TV shows or movies that I'm interested in watching anymore, let alone those that claim to be PG-13 material. Haven't we seen enough real bloodshed in New York, Iraq, Afghanistan, Uganda, Syria, Libya, Egypt and on our own neighborhood streets to be sick of it? Literally. Sick of it. Are our senses so deadened that when we witness a child die, even "for pretend," it's no big deal?

If there is some poignant message in this movie about how it's the government's fault that people are shooting each other and fighting for resources, I don't get it. It seems to me that individuals are practicing enough selfishness and greed all by themselves without the government's help or hindrance.

So no, I'm not entertained by children trying to kill each other. And I vote no on exposing my children to it. They'll have enough real world troubles to deal with, and I don't want them desensitized to the tragedies and needs of others. Any kind of violence, real or imaginary, isn't OK.

John 13:35