Books, Movies, and Discussions

Hunger Games is all the rage. The movie made over $150 million in its first weekend, and the audience was filled with people of all ages and genders.

People are talking and they haven't stopped.

And this is a good thing!

Hunger Games raises questions about political and cultural issues. Discussion are led around dictatorship, government control, reality television, and war. Comparisons are made with our community today, past wars, and what the future may bring. Teens, their parents, and even those without kids, are reading, talking, and lining up to see the movie.

And teens don't need their parents to go with them to see the movie. Hunger Games, a movie about teens killing teens and high level topics all based in a fictional world, is rated PG13. I went to see the movie this weekend and loved it! There is very little blood, not a lot of cussing, no sexual content...I agree, not an R movie. We are reading the book, seeing the movie, and most of all, talking about it. That is what we want! And hopefully adults are talking to their children about the topics in the book, helping better understand the complexity of society.

But this raises another question. We can see how much people are reading and talking. Movies bring us together. We love to talk about what we've seen and read. A good movie or book can start the most difficult conversation.

If a movie about such complex issues in a fictional world receives a PG13 rating, why would a documentary about real life issues in real life schools receive an R rating?

Are we saying that our schools- our world- is rated R? There is something wrong with that.

The fight to lower the rating for the documentary "Bully" is still on. As it should be. We can clearly see how much a good book and movie gets us talking. Teens, parents, and teachers need to be talking about the dire situation of bullying in our schools. Let us be reminded if this documentary is rated R then our schools are rated R!

Think about it...