WHY YOU SHOULD LET YOUR CHILD READ/WATCH 'HUNGER GAMES'

Dear Concerned Parent,

No doubt you've heard about 'The hunger games,' the biggest book and film sensation for young adults since 'Harry Potter.' And if you have an inkling of the plot, of kids killing each other in an arena, you might want to keep your kid from it. How morbid, how horrible! How could this be any good for impressionable kids?

I for one do not think that parental censorship should be based on how pleasant or unpleasant something is. Author Suzanne Collins has given us a rather frightening, albeit entertaining, parallel to totalitarianism and war, through the tale of heroine Katniss Everdeen. Indeed, is the idea of "kill or be killed" any more agreeable when we see it occur in the Middle East rather than fictional Panem? Or even less so? If your impulse is still to shelter your child for fear that he will one day go on a shooting rampage in class, you might as well keep him or her away from the news altogether.

Because this is so much more pleasant.

To think that 'Hunger games' in no way casts the games in a good light, while politicians endlessly talk of dead young soldiers in terms of freedom and national glory!

So shut off the news, close the history books, and keep them away from any literature the likes of '1984,' 'Fahrenheit 451' (both given homages in 'Hunger games'), 'Lord of the flies'  and other books that may suggest the possibility of the youth being pawns of the state.

The US, for one, is becoming more and more totalitarian, where reports of warrantless arrests and killings by the police state are increasing, and citizens are left with only the semblance of rights. Ironically, sheltering kids from contemplating a story such as 'Hunger games' serves to bring its dreadful scenarios closer to reality.


Best wishes,
Me

[Earlier] Note: I am writing this on a Kindle, and it is a bitch, pardon my French. Coming back from an out-of-town Easter, the laptop just would not start. So for the meantime, my entries, if any, will lack formatting, and my expression of ideas will be somewhat clunky. I felt like writing the above article upon finding out it was an issue at all. My objection to reading HG has more to do with the frustrating if not depressing ending.