I went with my DH last night (my boys are 6 and 4 so not a discussion issue yet). Agree that the violence was well-handled and not the glorifying blood-gushing-pulling-the-heart-out-of-the-cheat kind. Was SHOCKED to see a woman with her four little boys - the oldest was 6 and they all sat quietly and normally, like it was no big deal. Ugh. I do admit to being a fan of the books and now of the movie. Well-handled and thoughtful.

Anonymous wrote:The topic is awful, but the books were pretty engrossing. They are not appropriate for kids under 16 really. It is amazing how we as a society are okay with the graphic violence, but would be aghast at the equivalent level of sexuality being marketed to the same age as Hunger Games is. If the sex was at the same level it would be porn.

This. I would rather my kid see sex than violence.

It doesn't glorify violence. On the contrary, it the movie sends exactly the messages I would want my children to understand: violence is wasteful and tragic; callousness, casual cruelty and materialism are bad; generosity, trust, compassion, courage and loyalty are good; good people should stand up for themselves and each other; even within a cruel and arbitrary world, strong people hold onto their humanity. Oh, yeah, and girls don't always need boys to rescue them: sometimes girls rescue boys.

Not claiming this is the all-time best movie -- it thought it was pretty good, but not fabulous. But I'd way rather my kids see this-- and discuss it with me-- than that they overdose on superficial crap like Hannah Montana movies.

saw it by accident with my kid
Awful. Kids killing kids.
I don't see how/why it is even worth seeing

My 7th grader saw it last weekend with friends, after they all had read the books. She told me it was upsetting in parts but had a good overall life-affirming message (my words, not hers). I'm not sure I would have been comfortable if she'd wanted to see it at age 10 or 11 though.

I took my 8 and 10 year olds. They're thoughtful, mature kids, and we discussed it first and agreed that we would leave if either one felt uncomfortable. They both sat through the whole thing, said they were glad they went, and had smart, thoughtful questions and comments about it. I'm glad I took them -- they are girls, and we also spent a lot of time talking about the main female character and how brave, tough and kind she is. I think whether you take your kids probably should depend more on your child's personality than on age.

Totally judging people who took their kids to the movie-- I am ok with reading the books. While they "hid" the killing well there was still direct killing of little children. This isn't a war movie or a movie about a major world event. This is pure "entertainment" movie and while I enjoyed it I was horrified for the 7 year old sitting there. Her life must suck with parents like that.

I took my twelve year old and some friends. It is well done, minimal violence. The message, more in the books than in the film, is anti-violence. I did not take my ten year old, but it was obvious that he and his friends knew the entire plot. I think reading the book for context would be better than the plot outline (which is pretty horrific).

We saw a 3 year old there! unbelievable.

I think it's pretty violent for any elementary school kid. My middle schooler was ok but he's not easily upset by that kind of thing. he had read the books and was most affected by the emotional/relationship aspects of the stories.

In the movie, they do a lot of up close, jiggly camera work during the most violent scenes so it's not really explicit, but you do see blood and a couple of the kids after they have died.

I think it's a provocative way to get kids talking about reality tv and how we watch people's misery as entertainment.

The movie is also pretty long and slow in parts.

The topic is awful, but the books were pretty engrossing. They are not appropriate for kids under 16 really. It is amazing how we as a society are okay with the graphic violence, but would be aghast at the equivalent level of sexuality being marketed to the same age as Hunger Games is. If the sex was at the same level it would be porn.

Anonymous wrote:I think the whole topic is disgusting. Kids killing kids??? No, my 9 yr old will NOT be seeing this movie. I keep her movies to those that are G or PG.

I agree the topic is awful, I resisted for a long time and gave in this last summer. There were a few points where I had to put the books down because it just felt too awful, but I also found they held a lot of humanity. I have to say I have suggested to quite a few people that maybe this is a topic mature kids can and should handle. While I was reading the books I thought a lot about the child soldiers in Africa and at the time what was happening in Libya and Syria. I have not let my 10 year read or see the books, but I fully anticipate doing them as a mediated read aloud sooner than later. Frankly it is a luxury that we can debate exposing our kids to these issues.

I think the whole topic is disgusting. Kids killing kids??? No, my 9 yr old will NOT be seeing this movie. I keep her movies to those that are G or PG.

Anonymous wrote:Well, DH and I saw The Hunger Games today, and we saw an awful lot of very young kids in the audience. Like 5, 6, 7 year olds. In Bethesda.

I couldn't believe that there were little kids (barely school age) were at the screening in DC I was at either.

Well, DH and I saw The Hunger Games today, and we saw an awful lot of very young kids in the audience. Like 5, 6, 7 year olds. In Bethesda.

I dislike the plot of these books -- kids killing kids.