The movie, The Hunger Game, is like looking into a rippling mirror of society. Approximately 750 movie-goers of all ages had that opportunity at midnight on Thursday for the film's debut at .
B&B district manger John Cumins said four of their theaters quickly sold out, so he opened a fifth one.
Based upon a widely successful book series by author Suzanne Collins deemed to be in the "dystopian" category, the plot is about a future world under strict societal control.
B&B Theatres' staff of 10 dressed up in the spirit of the movie's characters, as did many of the attendees.
B&B host, Samantha Orlowski and senior at in Wildwood, greeted people donned like the movie's main character, Katniss Everdeen. Looking like actress Jennifer Lawrence, Orlowski was asked for autographs several times as she handed out Hunger Games posters.
She also visited each of the theater groups prior to the movie starting to conduct Hunger Games trivia contests, with prizes being free popcorn certificates and free movie tickets.
Until this Sunday evening for the movie's premier showings, B&B Theatre staffs will .
Rebecca Weitzel, a freshman at , said she read all the Hunger Game books in November. "We just got back in town from being in Texas for Spring Break, so we listened to the books on tape," she said. "I hope the movie is like the books."
Mary Kay Gagnepain and Angelina Mitchell, both residents and students in Wildwood, were at the debut with Jerad Grunther from Ballwin. These eighth graders also had read the book series. Gagnepain said before the movie began that she hoped it would contain a lot of the drama that was in the books. "The story's both heart-warming and sad," she said.
After the movie, all three of them said the movie lived up to the books' impressive nature.
(Spoiler alert, although many other media already have reported this fact:) A hard-to-handle element of the movie is that it revolves around children killing other children, mainly for the sport and enjoyment of others in a higher caste of society. After shooting sprees at high schools and other disasters killing random, innocent people in today's real society, the movie's plot may raise some questions with preteens and leave some movie-goers feeling uneasy. Personally, it made me feel very vulnerable and want to hide like a ninja in the dark while working my way to our vehicle after seeing it just a few hours ago.
Participants of The Hunger Games in the movie, who are called tributes, are those 12 to 18 years old. They are selected by a process called reaping, and are controlled by gatekeepers. There also are characters called peacekeepers. Many of the movie's scenes could have been taken straight out of the Depression.
It is a story about the haves and the have nots. But it's also a tale of underdogs.
It's easy to see why the story resonates with so many people, because parts of it deal with having to fake certain images of one's self to get others to like them and to garner "sponsors," who supply critical items for survival. It's also about pure manipulation. Ultimately, it's about the human will to live.
Rather than revealing more about the story's plot, I'd rather outline the range of emotions and concepts the film puts one through:
- despair
- fear
- hope
- death
- betrayal
- alliances
- kindness
- bravery
- violence
- love
- creativity
- teamwork
- jealousy
- terror
- friendship
- sacrifice
- relief
- gratitude
- pride
- doubt
- commitment
- confusion
It almost is like wondering if the story plot is truly possible, within a world where our current reality TV shows would be taken to extremes. The movie's ending certainly left open many options for sequels.
Even if you never see this movie, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"
Thank you for adding the spoiler alert. This reader and parent is grateful for the heads up and very appreciative of including your personal reflection of the movie.