Posted on 11/13/2014 9:41:01 AM PST by Bratch
The latest installment in “The Hunger Games” film franchise opens on Nov. 21 and promises to be another blockbuster. What accounts for the movies’ success? The obvious answer, of course, is the combination of the irresistible Jennifer Lawrence and Hollywood special effects with a rollicking good story.
But we shouldn’t ignore the deeper themes of the tale, which are not only classic but classical, reaching back to Greece and Rome and the very foundations of Western culture.
At the heart of the story are three beautiful, heroic young people: Katniss Everdeen and her male romantic interests, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne. They form a love triangle, but they also represent, from the point of view of the ancients, an aroused citizenry banding together and fighting for freedom against an evil empire.
[...]
Like imperial Rome, the country of “The Hunger Games” is a once-free society now dominated by a corrupt and rapacious capital city. A president exercises, in effect, the power of an emperor. He lives in a grand city called the Capitol, and his government feeds off its provinces, much as ancient Rome did. The people of the Capitol radiate a baroque and overripe luxuriousness, like the lords and ladies of imperial Rome, while the provincials are poor and virtuous.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ann Hathaway was the lead actress - yes dead pan. She didn’t look much better than she did in Les Miz and she had TB in that movie, so that’s not saying much.
I think some of the characters were miscast or else misdirected.
When I was reading the third book, it seemed like there were pages missing because it seemed to jump from points A to points C without bridging the gaps very well. I keep turning the pages back and rereading to see if I had missed something, but I hadn’t. It didn’t seem hurried.
I like the 3rd book (SPOILER) I like the way the revolutionaries started being just like the people they were overthrowing, once you start seeing people as expendable you can never really be a good guy.
On a purely personal note, I’d pay to watch Jennifer Lawrence read the telephone directory.
I can see a comparison to the Obama administration
A side note about HG...Lawrence refused to lose weight for the role. She likes to eat...is considered "fat" in Hollywood...doesn't care.
No, George W. I’m talking about the last three films, not the first three.
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