Controversial Popular Media: The Hunger Games

Greetings to you all! I wanted to begin this post by pointing out this is merely a list of my opinons. I do not write this to point out and judge those around me, but to relate why I believe what I believe according to these books and movies.

The Hunger Games: When these books first became popular and the movie trailers came out, I was slightly interested.  When it came out I asked my mom if I could see it, to which she responded with "Absolutely NOT!" Of course I was quite hurt and wanted to know why. She began to relay to me what THG was really about, in turn I was quite horrified. *Now please understand I have a very basic, somewhat limited knowledge about THG. I have not read the books nor seen the movie.  I do not desire to. I am relying on what my mentors have advised me with and the general knowledge open to the public. If I make a crucial mistake please correct me in the comments below.*

In a nutshell, children/teens are selected every year from their district to compete in 'The Hunger Games'. They are literally forced to kill each other to survive. Let me write that again. KILL EACH OTHER. First off, why would you write a trilogy about teens killing each other? Secondly and more importantly, why would you willingly indulge your mind in such...disgusting activity?

What we are doing when we buy this movie or this book, is promoting and helping the company and the authors produce more rotten literature. We are saying that we like reading such revolting violence, for fun! Even if there is no redeeming value whatsoever, it's okay, because its just fiction. Just fantasy. Just for fun. Even worse, people who claim to be Christians are endorsing this. They think it's good, okay, just entertainment. But I tell you my friends, it is oh so much more than this.

The Bible talks about what happens to us and our walk with Christ as we indulge in things that are not godly. As we do more and more of something, we begin to depend on it and sometimes become addicted to it. We become apathetic to violence, godlessness, sexuality, profanity, etc. It doesn't effect us anymore. It becomes okay. THIS IS NOT OKAY. We become used to this sin, and therefore justify it and end up not repenting for we believe we have done nothing wrong. But this kind of behavior leads us astray, and we end up pulling away from God and toward Satan.

As Christians, we are becoming hypocrites! We are telling people that it is okay to disobey the 10 commandments! Deuteronomy 5:17 says quite plainly: Do not murder. Yet here we are encouraging and applauding it! What's up with that? Not only that, we are giving ourselves a license to sin, saying that we can read/watch/listen to whatever we want, and God will forgive us later. The same things we look down on non-believers for doing, we do ourselves.

Some people may make the point that if you are old enough and mature in your faith enough to discern it's wrong, then it's okay to watch. Um, excuse my thinking-out-loud, but if cold blood killing is 'okay'; when is enough enough?!? When is the line drawn? Once again, we become numb to things we are exposed to on a regular basis.

I want to close with Philippians 4:8, which our family uses frequently when deciding what media we will watch/read etc. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, just, if it is admirable or praiseworthy, think on these things. We often contrast the pro's with the con's of a certain movie or show. If the pro's far outweigh the cons, then it is usually something we watch on Clearplay. If not, then we abstain.

I encourage you to think carefully about what literature and media you decide to feed your mind with. It can be hard not to indulge in the latest media, and I have indeed slipped up and done this myself. But don't give up! Strive to honor God with everything you do, and you will be rewarded!


~Clara