<\/p>\n
The Hunger Games series \u2014 about a girl taken from home to participate in annual games which will result in almost certain death \u2014 have been called the \u201cnew Twilight.\u201d Both of these movie franchises come from best selling books aimed at teenagers, both have female lead characters, both have love triangles, and both have parents wrangling with suitability for their kids.<\/p>\n
However, I said no to Twilight and yes to Hunger Games for my kids, and here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n
First, our culture needs more Katnisses and fewer Bellas:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n As the parent of a thirteen year old daughter, I was disappointed at the lead character in Twilight (Bella Swann) had become so popular\u2026\u00a0 though she\u2019s always been ingrained in the popular imagination, hasn\u2019t she?\u00a0 As long as I can remember, there\u2019s a damsel in distress tied to a rail road track, screaming for a man to rescue her in the nick of time.\u00a0 Just because Bella is waiting for a werewolf or a vampire to rescue her doesn\u2019t make her weakness any more palatable.\u00a0 Bella is defined \u2013 some would argue consumed \u2014 by her romantic love.<\/p>\n Which is understandable since she doesn\u2019t have a great relationship with either parent.\u00a0 In fact, both Bella and Katniss have missing parents.\u00a0 Bella\u2019s parents are divorced and her mom is an emotionally weak woman living far away from her.\u00a0 Katniss\u2019s dad died in a coal mining accident.\u00a0 Ever since her husband\u2019s death, her mom is \u201cvacant.\u201d This plunges Katniss into a dire situation.\u00a0 While Bella\u2019s absent parents cause her to seek an intense love outside of her immediate family at an incredibly young age, Katniss assumes the role of care giver for her family, learns to hunt, and deals with merchants in the marketplace. She\u2019s fierce, loyal, and independent even in the most trying of circumstances.\u00a0 (If we could bend the book\/time\/movie continuum and introduce the two characters, Katniss wouldn\u2019t get Bella.\u00a0 \u201cWhy is she so depressed all the time?\u201d she might say to Gale while looking for squirrels in the woods.\u00a0 \u201c Why is she so sullen when she has so much food to eat and so much free time?\u201d<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if there were fewer Bellas and more Katnisses in high schools across America?<\/p>\n Second, love in The Hunger Games is outward focused, while love in Twilight is inward focused:<\/strong><\/p>\n Both Bella and Katniss have conflicted romantic feelings, but there\u2019s a huge difference.\u00a0 Rebecca Cusey wrote about Eclipse:<\/p>\n What concerns me is the very nature of Bella\u2019s love. Edward is \u2026 always there, but they never do anything. They don\u2019t hike or fish or go shopping or watch movies or play Wii or volunteer at a soup kitchen or even work at the local ice cream shop. They never laugh. They talk about their feelings. It\u2019s all intensity all the time\u2026 While the emphasis on marriage is refreshing, the film begs the question what is the purpose of love, romance, and marriage? Is it solely to love and adore each other?<\/p>\n If the inward-focus of love is all there is, the intense talks and wildflower meadows, then Bella\u2019s desire to become a vampire and adore Edward throughout eternity makes perfect sense. However, if that inward focus is designed to evolve into a greater outward focus, then she will surely miss out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The love triangle in The Hunger Games centers on whether Katniss shold choose, childhood friend Gale or fellow contestant Peeta. However, the real story is the fight for survival, and the romance does not require characters to walk around without shirts for the duration of the film.\u00a0 (In fact, there\u2019s no sexual content in The Hunger Games.) Katniss Everdeen\u2019s love causes her to bravely sacrifice on behalf of others \u2013 from taking care of her family to figuring out how to play a game in a way that hopefully won\u2019t kill \u00a0her friend. As Rebecca pointed out, the love in the Twilight series is inwardly focused<\/strong> and makes you want to toss cold water on the characters\u2019 heads. The love in The Hunger Games is outwardly focused<\/strong>, and movingly portrays characters acting in loving and courageous ways in the midst of tragedy.<\/span><\/p>\n Third, we live in a tough time, let\u2019s have tough conversations.<\/strong><\/p>\n Obviously, The Hunger Games has a more violent \u2014 and dark \u2014 plot. Though the producers do a great job at avoiding gruesome killings, Katniss must battle it out with the other contestants until there\u2019s one survivor.\u00a0 So how do you justify letting kids read about such a horrible situation?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s a strong message about personal freedom, liberty, war, and oppressive governments from which teens \u2013 and adults \u2014 would greatly benefit.<\/p>\n Plus, it\u2019s time we face it.\u00a0 We live in tough times.\u00a0 Let\u2019s start having difficult conversations with our teenagers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In conclusion, there\u2019s been a great deal of ink asking Twilight fans whether they\u2019re Team Jacob or Team Edward, and Hunger Games fans whether they\u2019re Team Gale or Team Peeta.\u00a0 I say we put away these silly questions and declare ourselves Team Katniss over Team Bella.<\/p>\n Because, in the battle between these two teenage characters, it\u2019s not even close.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Hunger Games series \u2014 about a girl taken from home to participate in annual games which will result in almost certain death \u2014 have been called the \u201cnew Twilight.\u201d Both of these movie franchises come from best selling books aimed at teenagers, both have female lead characters, both have love triangles, and both have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[324,326,328,322,323,117,271,327,325,332,331,329,330,320,321],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bella-swann","tag-books","tag-damsel-in-distress","tag-eclipse","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-kids","tag-movies","tag-parents","tag-romance","tag-team-edward","tag-team-gale","tag-team-jacob","tag-team-peeta","tag-the-hunger-games","tag-twilight"],"yoast_head":"\n