Does art reflect life, or does life reflect art?

I hope neither after seeing the movie The Hunger Games.

My twelve year old daughters read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, loved it and have been lobbying to see the film since they viewed the trailer months ago. We had to go opening weekend. I’d heard the book series was very well-written and has been referred to as “The Next Harry Potter.” Knowing a little of the plot, I went with reservations.

When the movie opens, we see the young protagonist Katniss Everdeen stealthily setting off into the forest to hunt game to trade for food that will support her family, who lives in abject poverty. Clearly, her entire District, No. 12, is no better off.

Fast forward to the scene where Katniss Everdeen, (Jennifer Lawrence) and Co-tribute Peeta Mellark ((Josh Hutcherson) step off a luxuriously-appointed train into the obscenely wealthy Panem, where the Hunger Games will take place.  This juxtaposition of scenes epitomizes the eternal conflict between the “haves” and “have-nots.”

Twenty-four “Have-nots” between the ages of 12 and 18 have been selected from the 12 districts involved in a former uprising to fight each other to the death. There will be only one victor. These “games” are staged live for the entertainment of the “Haves.”  Katniss is the only volunteer tribute, having stepped in to replace her younger sister, when Prim’s name is chosen for the “honor” of representing her district.

I was impressed with the filming, the splendid editing and exciting special effects that brought viewers into an all-too vivid dystopian world of contrasts and moral decay.

All characters play their parts with aplomb.  Lawrence is particularly poignant as the young Katniss, a teenager at the awful edge of womanhood where she doesn’t really like or accept herself. As the movie progresses, we see her grow in self-confidence and power.  The other characters I loved, in spite of their limited screen-time, is Katniss’ co-tribute Rue, played with warmth and spunk by Amandla Stenberg and her stylist/mentor Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz.

In truth, I almost left the movie as I became more horrified by each boom of the canon heralding the death of another young tribute, by each manufactured or genetically altered atrocity thrown into the arena by the game makers to control “the game” and give viewers high entertainment value, and by the sheer joy of some participants as they dealt death to rivals.

Perhaps I’m too sensitized by recent events that happened too close to home in recent days and weeks: a teenager in my daughters’ school committing suicide; fifth grade classes where a friend teaches having to be separated because of their rival gang activities; another friend’s daughter being beaten with a metal lock by a group of school girls “just because….”

When we exited, I asked my daughters what they thought of the movie.  They said the movie followed the plot of the book closely, but exclaimed, “It was really violent.”  They were clearly disappointed because what the movie failed to capture was Collins’ exceptional writing. When a work of written fiction is transferred to “the ultimate in reality TV,” it becomes all too…real.

Part way through the movie, President Snow, played with chilling evil by Donald Sutherland, remarks, “The only thing stronger than fear is hope.”

Although I understand that The Hunger Games is a work of fiction, I wasn’t so hopeful for a society that flocks to see such a dark and cynically dystopian movie.  And seeing this film, I am fearful if either life reflects art or art reflects life.

If you enjoy fast-moving, well-crafted sci-fi with well-developed characters and a fair amount of graphic and emotional violence, you’ll probably like this movie. As for me, I won’t be seeing the sequels.