What parents need to know about the movie before heading
to the theater
By Martha Brockenbrough Special to MSN Movies
Without a doubt, one of the biggest movies of the year will be "The Hunger Games," a story about two dozen teens
forced to fight each other to the death while their fellow citizens watch the
spectacle on TV.
The film is a bracing adaptation to one of the most popular book series of
the age, and both are a powerful and important commentary on the corrupting
influence of power and the dehumanizing influence of the mob.
You might be one of the millions of adults who've loved the book, written
originally for a teen audience by Suzanne Collins. Or you might be the parent of
a child who's read it.
It's a good question. Theoretically, one the Motion Picture Association of
America exists to help us answer.
The operative word there is "theoretically." A PG-13 rating didn't stop
hordes of parents from bringing 8-year-old girls to watch Edward bruise Bella
during headboard-breaking sex, for example.
Are you planning on taking your kids to see "The Hunger Games"? Tell
us on our Facebook page.
But given how unreliable the ratings are in the first place, it's
understandable that people pretty much ignore them.
Why was "The Lorax," for example, rated PG "for brief, mild
language"? Does "truffula fruit" have some secret connotation we're unaware of?
There was nothing in it that should cause parents alarm besides the
tastelessness and futility of adapting another slight picture book for the
screen, and the tiredness of the snowboarding granny trope.
And it was infinitely milder on every score than "Cars 2." Meanwhile, the
wonderful movie "The Incredibles" earned a PG rating, perhaps for all
those wholesome images of urban mayhem, superhero torture and baby combustion.
And don't even get us started on the inanity of the R rating given to the
documentary "Bully," about the misery so many kids
face at the hands of their peers on account of language teens hear and use every
day. It's laughable that something from real life is deemed inappropriate for
the kids living it.
All of this is just another way of saying the PG-13 rating of "The Hunger
Games" is meaningless. There is an answer to the question, though, whether the
movie is appropriate for kids.
First, it's a faithful adaptation of the book. If you've read it, you know
that means there are many violent, bloody deaths, including those of characters
you will care about.
WHERE ARE THE REAL STARS.??? WHEN I WAS YOUNGER THERE WERE REAL STARS IN HOLLYWOOD. THE STARS OF TODAY SEEM LIKE A LOT OF WANNA BE'S. THEY AREN'T THAT INTERESTING. WHERE ARE THE JIMMY STEWARTS, THE CARY GRANTS, THE JOHN WAYNES.
ALL WE GET ARE JIMMY KIMMEL AND TRACEY MORGAN. WE HAVE GONE DOWN HILL
Well...I have to agree....all the "real stars" are sadly gone, or working in the director's chair. All we have left are whatever the hell a "snooky" is, something called a "honey Boo-boo"? or something like that, and all the super teens with white teeth, big smiles, perfect hair.....and no "real" talent. Hollywood....you have lost it.....shame on you!
I watched this show with some curiosity for awhile last night; simply because the wife was watching it. One cannot honestly say that there was anything normal about the characters portrayed in that show. Perhaps I am an anachronism, but I must conclude that if NBC wants to convince people that these weirdos are normal, there must be some quite odd people at NBC..
Description:
Frankie's new employer Dr. Goodwin (Jack McBrayer) isn't too pleased with her lack of punctuality. "The Middle" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
