A very thoughtful reader in Texas sent me this note:

Hello friends. I appreciate the work you do on this site and elsewhere. I’ve been keeping my eye on the conversation, particularly Christian and scholarly conversation, surrounding Hunger Games, and while the majority of that conversation casts the series in generally positive light, occasionally, I come across a more negative view. The Gospel Coalition recently posted an article by novelist ND Wilson that makes the case that the HG narrative is “flawed at its core.” It’s a convincing case, I think, and I’d love to hear what you all think. Thanks so much.

Thank you for this link and for the appreciation. I confess to being surprised you found this a “convincing case” because I couldn’t find the substance in any of his arguments. I don’t know who N. D. Wilson is, but I think I can file this complaint about readers over-reading Hunger Games and enjoying-it-for-the-wrong-reasons with A. S. Byatt’s complaints about Harry Potter. There’s no ‘there’ here and we’re left pondering the author’s motivation in making this kind of attack on another, more successful writer.

Three quick notes for your reflection, if, after reading the criticism leveled at Collins’ work, you think it merits a response:

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Slate is an online magazine founded by a former editor of The New Republic and now owned by The Washington Post. Like its mother and father publications, it is not a surprise that Slate leans hard to the political left. Nonetheless, if one is steeled to partisan comments offered as undeniable ‘givens,’ a commonplace of both left, right, and center (there is a center?) in American discourse today, Slate provides as often as not delightful reading on substantive subjects and another, fresh look at worn topics. To risk a rough analogy, Slate is to reading online what NPR is to radio; shamelessly leftist messaging in a sophisticated, challenging package.

Most of you already knew all that, I’m guessing, but I review it because Slate loves The Hunger Games — and you could spend a big chunk of your day (as I have) digging into and thinking about The Complete Slate ‘Hunger Games’ Collection. Are all of them worth the time to read? No. The ‘Meet Suzanne Collins‘ piece is a two paragraph piece that tells us exactly nothing about her (compare), for example, and ‘The Problem of Tesserae Inflation‘ is just a failed reading of the books (and something like innumerancy).

Most, however, reward the reader with either a new take on the dystopian trilogy or raise a smile (see ‘Hunger Games Premiere Offers New Possible Object of Your Twilight Disdain‘ for a little of the latter). My favorite? The Economics of The Hunger Games: Could any real country have an economy like Panem’s? Actually, yes.

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Forgive me the morning ‘grin and giggle’ here, but I had to chuckle at the Reuters report that ‘“Hunger Games” success spells trouble for TV ads.’ What’s so funny?

The books in the Panem Saga have teevee programming right in their target sites. Television is a means of the power holders and their Gamesmakers to bend and shape the thinking and will of the Capitol’s citizens and the enslaved Districts. If anything, the attacks are over-the-top in portraying the hijacking quality of screened images; no one, it seems, has the ability to resist the ‘Propos’ produced by either side so control of the air waves becomes the means to victory almost as much as armed conflict in the Mockingjay Rebellion,

The first movie, however, largely hijacked the hijacking, anti-teevee message of the books, which, sadly, had to be expected when the Gamesmakers are asked to make a film about the evils of Gamesmakers. Even many serious readers of the books have been hijacked by the movie’s counter-narrative message that it is government, not movie/teevee makers, that are the wrong-doers (in the cinematic Catching Fire look for Plutarch Heavensbee  joining the rebels in order to revenge the martyr Seneca Crane…), which, sadly, only makes the author’s point about the dangers of the medium.

Now we learn that the movie’s novel means of promoting itself = through fandom online promotions and word of mouth buzz rather than through saturation television advertising — may strike a real financial blow to the industry that even the books’ satirical acid couldn’t have hoped to work. [Read more…]