'Hunger Games' Average, but the Message Is Clear

So now it's "Hunger Games" captivating a large portion of America, including some people I would have thought might have outgrown this genre (like my dentist). I saw it out of curiosity and it was, frankly, better than I thought it would be. That means it was about average for the genre (teenaged girls with a mean streak).

Almost every piece of the overlong production was right smack in the middle of average: acting, directing, sound, writing, sets, locations. The cinematography was more annoying than I like (too much camera movement) and the color was too brown in most places.

The story, though, was solid enough to keep me mildly entertained for a couple of hours.

This, of course, could be generational, but I want more from a movie than I got here--even a sci-fi, some of which can be quite good.

I suspect that what brought me over into the thumbs halfway up area was the treatment of the various classes of people and the idea that the elites were Republicans. One of the Districts featured in the movie was the very image of Appalachia (coal mining country) that so offends those of us from this area because it is negative stereotype of the ignorant, inbred ridgerunners. Real pisser. It fit the storyline, though.

The movie captured my vision of Republican government at its harshest. Donald Southerland was solid as Republican President Mitt Romney (they didn't call him Mitt, but that's who he was). The storm troopers used to suppress the poor and unorganized were a mixture of Star Wars soldiers and riot police thugs the Republicans (especially in Virginia) so adore. The garish Republican population, looking for game show entertainment resulting in the death of all but one participant, reminded me of a Republican convention tearing up the Constitution.

Anyhow, it's not a pretty sight, but it could easily be predictive.