25 replies to this topic

[J.A.A. Purves]

David Smedberg, on 24 March 2012 - 12:17 PM, said:

As I noted before, I never read past the first book in the series--I suspected diminishing returns and gave up. But I found myself thought-provoked by this article which imagines what George Washington would have thought of the series:

In which article, "George Washington" actually utters the words and phrases:

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I checked it out ... Katniss Everdeen shows a lot of spunk ... Revolution is my gig. It’s what I know. I mean ... Can I get a “No taxation without representation,” What? What? ... sounds a bit worse than a stiff tax on tea, amirite? ... the Capitol is totally foppish ... Well, that’s what I thought, you know? ... Katniss never really takes up revolution inside, you know, in her heart ... But we were fighting for something, something real, you know? ... And I’ve seen that determination in the 236 years since our revolution, you know? ...

That was NOT George Washington!

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... This contrast between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games really struck me. I hope that we haven't created for ourselves here an American tale which re-writes our most cherished values

What do you mean, David? Are you saying that The Hunger Games is promoting an idea that is contrary to American values? I didn't get anything from that article.

[SDG]

Persiflage, on 25 March 2012 - 09:46 AM, said:

That was NOT George Washington!

Indeed not. I'm no expert, but my sense is that George Washington was very much a reluctant revolutionary, a man who as a colonial soldier took (IIRC) an oath of loyalty to the British crown early in his career, and took that oath seriously. "Revolution is my gig" is not a sentiment, whatever allowances for colloquialism may be made, that I can imagine associating with Washington.

[David Smedberg]

Persiflage, on 25 March 2012 - 09:46 AM, said:

Quote

... This contrast between Harry Potter and The Hunger Games really struck me. I hope that we haven't created for ourselves here an American tale which re-writes our most cherished values

What do you mean, David? Are you saying that The Hunger Games is promoting an idea that is contrary to American values? I didn't get anything from that article.

I did get that from the article--that the American Revolution (implicitly contrasted to the French) had a vision for a better world that would replace the old order, whereas The Hunger Games might be said to be skeptical or even cynical about the possibility of a better political order.

[Tyler]

David Smedberg, on 25 March 2012 - 01:16 PM, said:

whereas The Hunger Games might be said to be skeptical or even cynical about the possibility of a better political order.

It doesn't get there until near the end of the trilogy, but this is a reasonable way to read the series.

[Peter T Chattaway]

SDG, on 19 March 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

No thread on the books yet?

Actually, there is, but it's named after the third and final book in the series, Mockingjay. So we can probably forego the traditional "ahem".

[Peter T Chattaway]

SDG, on 19 March 2012 - 12:11 PM, said:

For the prosecution, Reformed writer Doug Wilson:

N.D. Wilson has now chimed in, repeating some of his father's points and eliciting a rather critical response from Elizabeth Baird Hardy @ HogwartsProfessor.com, e.g.:

His comments about Katniss reflect only the most superficial of understandings of the character. She plays the despicable kill-or-be-killed game and I think certainly would have played the rape game he suggests as a supposedly game-ending gedanken piece because of her family. That he proposes that Collins work is a failure because Katniss needs to be a revolutionary from the start of Book 1 makes me wonder if his reading capacity and understanding of character development are the reasons I have never heard of his books.

Edited by Peter T Chattaway, 01 June 2012 - 02:34 PM.