Family hit by 3192 Paintballs for Media Profanity

Profanity Impact in Movies

What if for every curse word you heard in a movie, someone shot you with a paintball?

Now watch a family get hit with 3192 Paintballs in 5.2 Seconds. Yea that’s a lot of swear words.

Profanity has been increasing steadily in the media, particularly in movies. There was a time where a curse word would actually shock the viewers. Now? It’s the norm. Very few ever flinch. Thus it’s much more difficult to find family friendly movies, even movies rated PG-13 are no longer safe.

Profanity and Swearing in Film

1939: Gone with The Win
– First Swear Word in Film

2013: The Wolf of Wall Street
– Most Swear Words in Cinema History
– 528 F-Words alone.
– 200+ other swear words.

Enjoy this visual representation of swear words hitting us through media. By Paintball. 3,192 Paintballs in 5.3 Seconds to be exact.

Watch Movies Pre-filtered

This video was made by VidAngel. VidAngel allows you to stream movies that pre-censor out profanity, sex and other potentially offensive scenes in movies and TV Shows. These tags allow user to filter out what they want to avoid based on their personal values and content preferences. Even better? You can watch a movie for only $1. Pretty new movies at that! For legal reasons you “pay” $20 to get the movie so you “own” the movie and legally censor out what you wish, but then after watching you can sell it back for $19. Yea a little bit complicated, but in allowing you to watch a movie with all the filters you (or your family) want in place, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Use this VIP link to find out more about VidAngel.

That paintball video mentioned earlier!

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Movie Review: Masterless Movie

Masterless Movie Poster

Masterless Synopsis

Adam LaVorgna (from the popular TV Series in the 90s called 7th heaven), plays Kane Madison, an architect working in Los Angeles looking to work his way up the corporate world. His counterpart, a Ronin, lives in the parallel spirit world where he is tempted to follow a dark lord and deviate from his path to finding truth.

What Makes Masterless Unique

When I first heard of this synopsis, I really respected the creativity required to come up with this concept. I am a fan of medieval Japan so I was intrigued. However as I was watching the film, it became apparent to me that if the viewer has no background in the idea of the “spiritual realm” as described in the bible, it would have been easy to get lost or not appreciate what this movie was trying to depict. So here is a quick high level explanation of what a viewer should know going into this film.

The title, Masterless, is partly based from this verse:

Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

It’s the simple idea that in the end you can only serve one master or one true purpose.

Masterless Samurai Adam LaVorgna

The whole story is based on Kane Madison’s struggle with success in his career. There are two notable “masters” competing for Kane Madison’s attention. His wife, Emi Masuda played by Okiko Saito, urges him to go to church and read the bible. So on one side is truth and the seeking of this truth. Kane isn’t really interested and gets quite annoyed at Emi whenever she brings up the subject. On the other end, the other “master” is success and money. Kane is an ambitious man, initially driven by (small spoiler alert) his wife’s sickness and his desire to take care of her, but as he starts to taste success, he slowly gets drawn into the corporate world. Like what we see often in real life, he gets sucked in by the success and starts to value his work and recognition above the more important things in life. So this master isn’t just career, but the money, the recognition, and the comforts that come with it.

This is the battle that is depicted in the “spiritual realm” by his samurai-like counterpart. This character is a Ronin, a samurai without a master. He doesn’t have any one in particular to follow and has no true purpose. He is a character that represents his internal battle with money and success. As we see his ups and downs in the real world, we see his counter part struggling along his journey, battling attempts at his life, being seduced by a temptress and dealing with a masked Lord who both wants him to join him as well as want to kill him. He is on a journey to find truth, to find answers but he is often derailed by all sorts of troubles and temptations.

It’s an interesting concept to watch as our internal struggle with money, with success, and faith is visually shown through the live action battles of the Ronin.

Ephesians 6:12 – For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Masterless Full Poster MovieClean Cut Thoughts

It’s an interesting film. The acting is good. No Oscar winners here, but no cringe moments either and believe me, many movies have such moments (think Anakin Skywalker). I love the creativity and they did a good job on making the spiritual realm look dreamy and artsy. As I previously stated, I think people who are not familiar with the basis of the spiritual realm needs a bit more information in the beginning to better appreciate what is being attempted here. Though I also understand the difficulty here because for someone who is familiar with the spiritual realm idea, the movie seems to spell things out too much and make it too obvious. It would have been nice to have an “ah-hah!” moment where the person can make the connection themselves rather than making all the links for the viewer. How to balance the two is a difficult question though and would require a lot more thought. I still don’t know what the best solution would have been.

Story: The story is pretty basic, but I don’t think the story is really the point here, but it really is the depiction of the spiritual realm which I thought was very interesting.

Overall: I think the part of me that loves art and creativity enjoyed watching this piece because it was unique and interesting. What they attempt, I’ve never seen anyone do or perhaps even thought about. The part of me that is into story, acting, scriptwriting thought it wasn’t so great. It’s clearly a B-level movie with a limited budget. I absolutely admire the attempt at something new and different though, just felt it could have been done better. It’s honestly one of those movies that I am glad to have seen, but probably won’t see a second time unless I wanted to share it with someone else who might benefit or enjoy how the spiritual realm was depicted in this two-universe style. Basically I am saying the same thing in many different ways, can you tell?

Basically if the concept of a dual spiritual realm depicted in two parallel worlds sounds interesting to you, give it a shot. If it doesn’t, well it’s a free world. All I know is, thanks for reading this review!

If you have seen Masterless or have thoughts on it? Please add your thoughts or comments below!

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Movie Review: CAPTIVE (2015)

CAPTIVE the Movie 2015 - David Oyelowow Kate Mara

Movie Synopsis – CAPTIVE

CAPTIVE, based on a miraculous true story that drew the attention of the entire nation, is a thrilling drama about the spiritual collision of two broken lives. When Brian Nichols – on the run as the subject of a city wide manhunt and desperate to make contact with his newborn son – takes recovering meth addict Ashley Smith hostage in her own apartment, she turns for guidance to Rick Warren’s best-selling inspirational book, The Purpose Driven Life. While reading aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope.

David Oyelowow - Captive 2015 Movie

Movie Spotlight:

When CAPTIVE first came to my attention, I was slightly intrigued but a little hesitant. I wasn’t quite sure if this was a Christian movie or if it just happened to have Christian themes in it because of Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life”. I was intrigued by how Rick Warren’s book managed to convict a convict (see what I did there *groan*) to turning himself in. Remember this was based on a true story. How did that book even get into the picture? How did different parts of the book take hold of Brian Nichols? What kind of inner turmoil must he have gone through? I was excited to see what had actually happened. In the same time I knew it would immensely difficult to capture such psychological nuances let alone not come off as preachy or overtly religious. The good news is that it didn’t come off preachy or religious at all. But that is also the bad the news. The movie didn’t really show or explain how different pieces of the book transformed his life. I was expecting the bulk of the movie to be centered around this “conversion” or whatever you want to call it. However it went by quickly without much explanation. I am still left with the question I want answered: “How did Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, change Brian Nichols from a convict on a murder spree to turning himself in?”. The one question I wanted answered, never was. In all honesty, I think the story could have been better written, and a lot more attention should have been given to how Brian Nichols came around. Perhaps the movie was afraid to dive in because it didn’t want to seem overly Christian? I am not certain. Having said that, the acting was well done. Very believable. David Oyelowo, who plays Brian Nichols, recently got a lot of attention for his role as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.

CAPTIVE RATINGS:

Story: 2 of 5
Acting: 3 of 5
Film Quality: 2 of 5
Family Friendly: No (drug use, gun shooting)

CAPTIVE Trailer:

Have you seen CAPTIVE?
Tell us what you thought of the movie below.

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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer [Video]

The Hobbit Desolation of Smaug Movie Poster

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Video

The trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is out! The movie continues the story of Bilbo and the Dwarves as they seek out the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their glory past against the Dragon Smaug. There is also another familiar face – Legolas!

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be out Dec 13th.

  • Excited? A little?
  • Who is your favorite dwarf/character from The Hobbit?

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Product Placement: A Reflection of Reality or Sneaky Advertising?

TV Product Placement Advertising - Subliminal

Product Placement: Reality or Sneaky Advertising?

Love it or hate it, product placement in television, movies, music videos and even Broadway plays is here to stay. Product placement is the art and science of getting a company’s brand featured in a popular movie or television series with the implied endorsement that goes along with the placement. Broadcasting & Cable reported that two-thirds of advertisers use product placement as part of their marketing plans, most of which (80 percent) is used in television, according to an Association of National Advertisers survey. With this proliferation of products in the media, it’s difficult to know just how such use of products in media affects the general public.

The Best and the Worst of Product Placement

Opponents of product placement contend that this practice is unfairly influencing the American buying public. However, not all product placement in movies and television is divisive. Some placement is just plain fun. In fact, there are even awards for the best (and the worst) use of a product in a movie or television program. In 2010, Toyota Prius was recognized as “Best Role in a Supporting Product Placement.” Its award got us thinking: when you see a Prius in a movie, does it help or hurt Toyota sales? It is hard to say without seeing the figures but we do know that Prius is by far the best-selling hybrid in the U.S., capturing more than 50 percent of its market.

One very well known product placement comes to mind is when Mars famously passed on allowing M&Ms be the candy that lures E.T in the film. Hershey’s agreed to have it’s Reeses Pieces be used and soon after the film debuted, their sales went through the roof. Other examples are Exxon paying $300,000 for it’s name to appear in Days of Thunder. Pampers paid $50,000 to be featured in Three Men and a Baby. Ray-bans also benefited from it’s exposure in Risky Business.

Apple, whose products appeared in 17 of the 40 top-grossing films of 2011, received more than twice the exposure of the second most visible brand. Apple maintains that it doesn’t pay for placement. Still, its mention in the top seven films of 2011 amounted to approximately $50 million in free advertising, according to BrandChannel.com.

Where Product Placement is Worrisome

Proponents of product placement argue that real people use branded products; why shouldn’t movie and television characters use similar products? They say that to use fake labels makes the production look fake. However, where product placement crosses into that gray, uncertain area is the fact that these ads (and aren’t product placements really ads?) aren’t labeled as such. Unsuspecting viewers (like our children) might just assume that everyone uses an Apple computer or drinks a Pepsi. Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of product placement, as discussed rather eloquently by Edward Wasserman in “The Ethics of Product Placement,” is that it blurs the lines between art and advertising. Would Hemingway write a special scene into a novel just to accommodate an advertiser? Would Francois Truffaut insert a scene especially for product placement?

The Bottom Line

Eliminating product placement in media is probably not realistic, or maybe even desirable. After all, brand names are a part of every day life. We—and our kids—see them everywhere. However, like all media viewing, responsible parents need to be aware of what their kids are watching and help to counter the endorsements inherent in product placement with real life common sense.

Share Your Thoughts!

  • Do you think Product Placement just a reflection of reality or sneaky advertising?
  • Do you know of great product placements in tv shows or movies? The Good and the Blatant?
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Django Unchained Movie Review

Django - Jamie Foxx

Django Unchained: Review

The movie “Django Unchained” was one of the more popular movies from 2012. And it wasn’t only popular with general audiences either, as it also won 2 Oscars, and 26 other awards. The movie doesn’t have a shortage of famous names attached to it either, with Quentin Tarantino directing, and actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx starring.

Overview

Django is about a slave who is granted freedom in order to help a bounty hunter identify and ultimately capture a slave owner. Throughout the course of the film, the bounty hunter and the ex-slave become friends, and decide to try to buy freedom for Django’s wife from her current master. Most of the second half of the film focuses on the pair’s efforts to achieve freedom for Django’s wife Broomhilda.

Appropriate for Children?

Anyone who’s seen any of Tarantino’s films would hesitate to call anything he writes and directs as something that’s appropriate for all ages, and Django is no exception. The film is extremely violent and even gory at parts, and there is no shortage of adult situations. For example, there’s a part where one of the characters is hanging upside down in chains with the threat of castration being waved very visually over him.

It’s hard to imagine scenarios less suited for children. Django certainly earns every inch of its “R” rating. But on the other hand, these depictions show the realities of slavery, and they are a part of a larger picture that a lot of children would have trouble really picking up on anyway. But even so, many younger audiences will be drawn to the movie if only because it’s known as exclusively for adults, and because it’s frequent gun battles might seem exciting.

Themes in Django

One of the biggest themes in Django is that of freedom and equality. The laws of particular areas, such as the slavery laws of the south, or the federal laws of bounty hunting and killing, are contrasted with the higher laws of basic human morality. The bounty hunter in the movie, named “Schultz” goes through a moral transformation throughout the course of the movie that illustrates this theme. By the end, he appears to care even more about this higher morality than he does his own life.

The theme of the equality of man is definitely a large one in the film. Even beyond the obvious idea that no man deserves to be enslaved, the film takes us into the conflicting ideologies of Leonardo’s character, Calvin Candie versus that of Django and his companion regarding the intrinsic nature of people. Master Candie contends that Black people are all intrinsically subservient. This is an assertion that even goes beyond morality.

Even if Django was doing something wrong in his actions throughout the movie, you’d be hard pressed to call his gun rampage “subservient.” The film is saying something about the intrinsic sameness of people in this way. No one is subservient or dominant based on race. Each character speaks for themselves.

:: Author ::
This is a guest post by Lindsey Mcmahon. She likes to travel, play and read in her free time. Her interests are entertainment, television, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. She currently works for Direct TV.

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Colorado Theater Massacre – Who to Blame?

Gangster Squad Movie Trailer

The Blame of Colorado Theater Massacre

The Colorado Theater Massacre is such a tragic story. I am incredibly saddened by what happened and much prayers go out to the families and loved ones involved.

The alleged shooter is 24 year old James Holmes, who faces 142 criminal counts for shooting at a packed midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises. For whatever reason, motive still uncertain, he proceeded to open fire into the crowds leaving 12 dead and 58 injured.

In most circumstances as people try to make sense of this kind of senseless killing, our first instinct is to want to blame something or someone. Blame parents, blame media, blame society, blame gun-control or blame the individual who perpetrated it all. As usual, there are a lot of questions and lot of accusations, though surprisingly the outcry doesn’t seem to be as loud this time around.

Traditionally media is one of the biggest targets in the blame game. Considering this was at a movie theater, it seemed inevitable that a lot of blame would be casts on media’s influence on the young mind. However whether it is the immediate responsiveness of Warner Brothers, or perhaps of how ridiculously senseless the deed was – there seems to a lot less finger pointing over this event. Still the film industry is being very cautious and has properly shown sensitivity to what has happened by immediately taking action.

Warner Brothers Acts Quickly to Colorado

Warner Brothers, the studio who released “The Dark Knight Rises”, quickly removed the trailer for its upcoming film “Gangster Squad” which has been a trailer proceeding “The Dark Knight Rises.” This trailer features a climactic scene in which mob gangsters open fire into a movie theater. Good move. Warner Brothers also quickly removed the trailer from YouTube and other video sharing sites. It is also said that the studio plans to reshoot parts of the movie in dealing with this matter. The studio hasn’t been clear on how they plan to reedit the movie but it will be interesting to see to what extent they would go in response to this tragedy. Will they cut an important scene all together or make minor edits? Perhaps just tone it down? Either way it will cost Warner Brothers a pretty penny. They also stand to potentially lose money by pushing out the release date from September 7th to January 11th as well have already lost money canceling premieres several key global cities out of respect for the victims.

Warner Brothers also announced it was making a “substantial” undisclosed donation to the victims.

Hollywood is to Blame? Or Not?

Quotes from Hollywood:

“I think it’s a tragedy and to blame the movie business is incorrect and inappropriate…” – Geffen, Co-founder of DreamWorks

“I think it’s just an opportunistic scenario… I leave it to people who sit in rooms with diagrams and charts to try to correlate cause and effect. And I think hindsight is 20-20 and we’re not anywhere near hindsight. This is still fresh paint on the canvas of our culture and it remains to be seen. There’s a lot of healing to go on.” – Diane Lane, Actress

“If you are not raising your kids to have balance in life, that is one place we have to look at.” – Will.i.am, Recording Artist

In response to whether television companies should cut down on violence:
“We think about the images particularly that children see, and as we look at the programming that we design for our schedule — obviously, the programming that we produce is educational — but we think a lot about the images that particularly the most impressionable, and I would say that children are at the top of that list, are confronted with.” – Paula Kerger, PBS President

So Who do We Blame? What Do We Really Know?

I would hope that no one would argue that media has a huge influence on the way we, especially as children, view the world, view people, and the norms of society. Cursing, violence, how to treat other people, self-image, view of women, that life is all about one’s own happiness, that power is respected, that being cool or good looking is what matter, that living rich with comforts will bring happiness, that romantic love is the answer to all things – and so on.

I would imagine, it had some various affects on how this shooter viewed the world and the value of human life – but does that mean media is the only thing to blame for such a tragedy? No of course not. There are so many factors involved, that I wouldn’t even assume to know all that went into it. Perhaps parenting, perhaps influence of bad friends, perhaps he had a tragic past, didn’t have a father figure, grew up in a broken home, I do not know. The only thing I know is that it’s a scary thing that he became a person capable of such things. That as a baby he was no different than you and me – but there was something in him that thru circumstances and influences allowed him to do what he did. That is a scary thought and should really humble us to really be careful about what kind of things we allow ourselves (and our children) to be exposed to and the kind of things we listen to.

What are your thoughts?

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The Muppets Movie Review: Good for Children?

The Muppets Movie: Good for Children?

The Muppets Movie Review: Fine for Kids, but Will They Care?

The Muppets have always been grown-up versions of the “Sesame Street” characters. If you were a little kid in the late 1970s, you probably have fond memories of watching their variety show. I watched it with my grandfather, listening to him chuckle over the antics of Kermit, Fozzie and the rest.

Fast-forward 30 years and a handful of theatrical films later. Most kids know Elmo, but how meaningful is a visit back to Muppet Studios?

“The Muppets,” the latest film excursion for this band of felt characters, catches us up years after Muppet fame has peaked — and crashed. Human character Gary (Jason Segel) is best friends with Walter, who happens to be a puppet. Since childhood, Walter has dreamed of being a real Muppet, so when the friends have a chance to visit Muppet Studios, they jump on it — and are horrified to discover that the studio is run-down and the Muppets disbanded. Tex Richman, an “evil oil baron,” plans to raze the studio. From there, the friends (along with Gary’s long-time girlfriend Mary, played by Amy Adams), scheme to get the gang back together, put on a show and raise money to get the studio back and make the Muppets famous again.

But that’s like saying that Pixar’s “Up” is about a boy rescuing a bird from a hunter.

The Muppets Movie: Funny but Serious

Yes, the film is hilariously funny. Fans of “The Muppet Movie” will recognize the self-referential moments, such as Kermit being introduced with a chorus of angelic singing, only to have a church choir bus drive by. Or when the road trip to gather the remaining Muppets takes too long, and the little group agrees to “pick up the rest by montage.”

But it’s serious, too. Emotionally, the movie aims for a level of sophistication that’s above the average 6-year-old. The puppet characters are filled with regrets. A scene where Kermit and Miss Piggy discussed how they disappointed each other could have just as easily played out with, say, Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.

Time has passed since their hey-day, and we’re asked if the Muppets were left behind. Tex tells them, “You’re relics, Muppets. The world has moved on, and no one cares about your goody-goody, hippy-dippy Julie Andrews and Dom DeLuise hostin’, singin’-and-dancin’ act anymore. You’re dead!” For those who wouldn’t recognize Dom DeLuise, sadly, that may be true.

Muppets Good to Show Your Children?

So, should you even try to get your little ones to watch? If you want to share the Muppets with your kids, it’s sure worth a try — it’s a kid-safe experience. The language is squeaky-clean. I’ve heard some take offense at the “evil oilman,” but along with the soundtrack, Tex is a throwback to the 1980s. Gary and Mary share a hotel room on their vacation, though the twin beds are obvious and their relationship is almost painfully wholesome.

“The Muppets” is a great film for older kids who like sllly humor (and who doesn’t?) and may be able to grasp how friends can get left behind. Be warned, though — it packs a surprising emotional punch. If you were embarrassed when your daughter or son caught you crying at the beginning of “Up,” you might want to prepare yourself. At least on home video, you can slip out of the room for a moment.

Clean Cut Media’s Take

I haven’t seen it, but I have heard good reviews about this movie. Though the note above about Gary & Mary sharing a hotel room bothers me. If it’s a kids movie, why not just have them be in different rooms? However, considering how unclean so many movies are these days, it is refreshing to see a movie that seems to pass all the filters with flying colors.

  • Have you seen the movie?
  • Let us know your thoughts!

About Guest Author

Jennifer Rose Hale is a freelance writer and web producer at an education nonprofit that offers online education opportunities and discussion for a variety of age groups.

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Butterfly Circus – A Beautiful Short Film

The Butterfly Circus Film - Eduardo Verastegui

Butterfly Circus – A Beautiful Short Film

“The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.”

This is a very well done, beautiful short film which will leave you feeling warm and touched.

The Butterfly Circus Short FilmThe short film “Butterfly Circus” takes place in the Great Depression. A showman of a renowned circus discovers a man without limbs being exploited at a carnival sideshow. He shows him a bit of kindness, a reaction that this limb-less man has never experienced. Starting with this small encounter, this man without limbs is slowly driven to hope despite all of his life experiences telling him otherwise.

The showman is Eduardo Verastegui (Bella) and the man without limbs name is Nick Vujicic. The ladder is a famous speaker of hope and change. The short film won several awards in the Best Short Category & Audience Favorite Category at the Heartland Film Festival, Palm Springs Short Festival, Ashland Independent Film Festival and Grand Prize winner at the Doorpost Film Project.

Again, “Butterfly Circus” is very well done, beautiful score (music) and the story is very heart warming. Wanted to share some good clean media films such as these. The creators are working on making this into a feature film.

  • Give it a watch and tell us what you think below!

Director: Joshua Weigel
Writer: Joshua Weigel & Rebekah Weigel
Producers: Joshua Weigel, Rebekah Weigel, Angie Alvarez
Executive Producers: Jon & Esther Phelps, Jason Atkins, Nathan Christopher Haase, Bob Yerkes, Ed Vizenor & Nathan Elliott
Director of Photography: Brian Baugh
Production Designer: Yeva McCloskey
Editor: Chris Witt
Cast: Eduardo Verastegui, Nick Vujicic, Doug Jones, Matt Allmen, Mark Atteberry, Kirk Bovill, Lexi Pearl, Connor Rosen
Original Score: Timothy Williams (Composer)

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The Hunger Games Trailer: Book to Movie

The Hunger Games Movie Trailer

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collin Short Review: It’s Awesome

Super Short Review: Wanting to find a fun book to read? Have extra credits on Audible and want wondering what book to download next? The Hunger Games Trilogy. I read it. Ok. So I listened to the Audiobooks. Almost the same thing. It’s an excellent read (listen?). Very gripping. Dives deep into the psychology of it’s characters and touches upon themes of independence, big brother, the sinfulness (evil) of people, trust and relationships. It’s not for children however, tons of violence as expected from a book centered around… 24 youths forced to… battle to the death… more info below.

The Hunger Games Story

16 year old Katniss Everdeen lives in a post-apocalyptic world in a country called Panem which lies where United States once existed. Panem consist of a wealthy Capitol and 12 surrounding run down districts. The government holds power through an annual event called the Hunger Games where each of the 12 districts chooses a boy and a girl representative or “tributes” to a highly televised battle royale to the death. The Hunger Games is as much as a “show” as is a fight to survive as your popularity can gain you more favors and donations from the outside world. Unfortunately only one of the 24 tributes are allowed to walk out alive. It is a government that controls through fear and resource control. The winning district is rewarded with food and benefits in a world where resources are scarce. Katniss’ younger sister is chosen as a tribute, so Katniss chooses to volunteer to replace her and thus enters the Hunger Games a place of shaky alliances, friendships, suspicion and a lot of posturing.

Hunger Games Movie - Katniss Selection
The Hunger Games Tributes are Chosen - Peeta & Katniss
Hunger Games Movie - Katniss Sign
Katniss Displays a "Special" Sign to the District

The Hunger Games the Movie is Coming – Watch the Trailer

This past week, the first theatrical trailer for The Hunger Games was released to the delight of many fans of the book. The Hunger Games the Movie is set to release on March 23, 2012 featuring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. It is expected to be a huge blockbuster considering the Hunger Games Trilogy is one of the best selling books in the modern era. It is regularly in the top reads on Amazon, one of the first to hit 1 million sales on the kindle and easily one of the highest downloaded book on Audible. The rights were picked up by Lionsgate. Word is that it will be PG-13. Watch the trailer below!

 

The Hunger Games Themes

Government vs Independence: The majors themes in The Hunger Games involve topics of government control vs. personal independence. The “capital” in this book controls the populace through fear and forces the hunger games upon them as a means to assert their power.

Survival vs Value of Human Life: Through the struggle through the hunger games, the themes of survival vs humanity becomes very apparent centered around the value of human life. Lot of the characters struggle through being put in a position of placing their own life against the life of others. What is acceptable for survival? Is it ever ok to hurt (or kill) another person in order to survive? Should one feel guilty over lying and deceiving others as needed?

Hunger Games Movie - Katniss Fight
Will Katniss be able to Kill other Youths if it Came Down to it?

Selfishness of Man: Personally, one thing I appreciate about these stories is that it is very blunt about the innate selfishness of man. People often want to think that deep down inside all people are “good,” but let’s be honest here. When we look at little children who have no concept of image or wearing masks, we know we are born innately selfish. You need to teach them to share. You need to teach them to be thankful. You need to teach them that they just can’t cry because they don’t get what they want and not to bite the kid next to them. When we are honest with ourselves and our thoughts, our motives, we know that we think mainly of ourselves and how we feel above everything else. We know if all boundaries and rules were removed as it is in the scenario in this book, all hell would break loose and eventually everyone would simply do as they please. Thank God for laws, and punishing sticks.

This book is very real about this truth. When it comes down to it, everyone innately wants to serve themselves. It is a beautiful thing to see characters fight their way away from this innate desire to survive to thinking for the good of someone else even while everyone else is becoming dead to their sensitivity. It is often the thoughts of someone Katniss loves that helps her fight from spiraling into just forgetting humanity altogether. But the struggle is very real and very difficult especially for the main protagonist Katniss. You can tell her natural inclination is to mistrust and watch out for herself. Having compassion and love is a considered a “weakness” within the book especially when everyone in the hunger games are just simply trying to outlive one another. This is true of the real world, where the message often tells us that ultimately we need to watch out for ourselves and do what we need to do to get ahead in life. But just like in real life, it is compassion and love that we all know is how it is meant to be. When we see people suppress the urge to serve oneself out of love for another, it is something we know to be right. When people sacrifice their own good for someone they love, we know that is right. Yet again, this is something that does not come naturally. It is hard and something we need to fight for. I think this is portrayed well within the story.

Other Themes: There is this “love conquers all” type of feeling which is not necessarily a great theme to take in blindly without some context.

Warnings: This is NOT a children’s book. When it comes down to it, it is a battle royale so many people die. Also there is a lot of discussion on deception and posturing which without proper understanding can be really confusing. However it is a relatively clean series in all other aspects.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collin Series

The Hunger Games Trilogy – The Books

The Hunger Games originally released in 2008, followed by Catching Fire in 2009 and Mockingjay in 2010 completing the Hunger Games Trilogy. It has since become one of the most popular, bestselling series. It remained on the New York Times list for over 100 consecutive weeks.

HEY! Book 1 of The Hunger Games is only $5 on Amazon. Great filler to get that $25 free shipping 🙂
Link to the The Hunger Games Book 1 Here

Audiobook

The Audiobook version of the Hunger Games is fantastic. The reader Carolyn McCormick does an excellent job portraying all the various characters guys and girls! Two links for you below.

Audible Subscribers: Book 1 of Hunger Games on Audible is link is HERE

Non-Audible Subscribers: Click on the image below and get the Audiobook Free!

1 FREE Audiobook RISK-FREE from Audible

Have you read the Hunger Games?

Let us know your thoughts on the book!

  • Did you read it or listen to it? Like it?
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Watch Pixar’s Brave Movie Trailer: Breaking Traditions

Brave Pixar - Poster Disney 2

Watch the Brave Pixar Trailer

The new Brave trailer is out. Brave is the next Pixar movie slated to make its theatrical debut on June 22, 2012. Pixar has been known to produce high quality, clean, family friendly movies on a consistent basis. I always look forward to Pixar movie releases. They never really disappoint especially compared to lot of the garbage “family” movies out there.

Pixar Brave Merida Disney

Pixar Brave’s Story & Premise

Brave follows the story of Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald). Merida is a young Scottish woman from the Highlands. She is out to “carve out her own path in life,” breaking the traditions of her people. It delves into the themes of tradition, bravery and self-journey.

Watch Pixar’s Brave Movie Trailer

Traditions vs “Being True to Yourself”

One thing I wonder is how Pixar will go about portraying the breaking of traditions. In our culture, media often romanticizes and promotes the idea of self independence and doing what you feel is right, often at the expense of tradition and responsibilities. It is the idea to forget what everyone tells you because you need to be true to yourself. Rebelling against authority, and following your own sense of right and wrong is sprinkled everywhere because inwardly, we all want to do what we want to do. That is why it appeals to us. In many ways, tradition and duty is often given very little weight, though often traditions are there for good reason.

Movies that take protagonists that breaks traditions, relationships, perhaps cause a lot of hurt and pain, but in the end has everything work out, makes us a little bit more open to that idea that it really is all about being true to oneself. The value of self-sacrifice and holding to responsibilities and duty even if it puts a damper in one’s own desires and plans is undermined in many cases. Think about sacrificing careers to be with your family, giving up own interest for the betterment of the group, giving up your dream because of your commitment to something or someone.

Some movies do fine with these themes. Mulan comes to mind. Mulan is shown as self-sacrificial. She breaks traditional roles, not because she wants to gain something for herself, but to save her Father. But then there are movies where the main character simply does what he or she feels like because it makes them happy or in the name of love or because they are trying to be “true to herself,” meanwhile leaving a string of pain and hurts behind. (But then it all magically works out in the end right? So why not?)

But I will always give Pixar the benefit of the doubt. Unlike most movies, Pixar has always managed to churn out a good message and their movies seems to be sensitive to the family viewers. So hoping for the best and looking forward to Brave.

Pixar Logo StudiosChime in Pixar Fans

  • What was your favorite Pixar movie of all time?
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