Hunger Games Revisited,One Catholic View

[NOTE: This is primarily a revision of a previous post.]

This week, The Hunger Games movie became available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video and other VOD outlets. For those of you who may have missed my previous post outlining my opinion (and that's all this is) on how Catholics should approach deciding whether or not their children should watch the film or even read the books (that I hear are far better than the first movie).

My personal position (and of course that's all it is) is that parents have to make those types of decisions based on what they think their children are mature enough to handle. I addressed a similar issue with the last Harry Potter movie. Like I said in that post, the Catholic Church (outside of a movie review service) does not normally make definitive statements about books, movies or other art.

Forget about the content of the book(s) for a moment. A well formed and informed set of parents should be able to make rational decisions about what content they deem appropriate for THEIR children. If they choose to permit their children to watch the film or read the books, no one should call them out as bad parents. Similarly, parents who decide to not allow either should not be condemned as narrow minded. It's their right and responsibility to "be up in their kids' business." (I am envisioning one of my colleagues saying this).

Moreover, parents are responsible for being the primary teachers to their children. Blessed Pope John Paul II expressed this in Familiaris Consortio:

The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation of married couples to participate in God's creative activity: by begetting in love and for love a new person who has within himself or herself the vocation to growth and development, parents by that very fact take on the task of helping that person effectively to live a fully human life. As the Second Vatican Council recalled, "since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-rounded personal and social development will be fostered among the children. Hence, the family is the first school of those social virtues which every society needs."(FC, 36)Here are some well balanced reviews of the movie:

National Review, Father Robert Barron

Catholic News Service, Movie Review

A Review of The Way starring Martin Sheen

The first time I heard the title of this movie, I thought it might have something to do with St. Josemaria Escriva's famous book of points, The Way. It isn't. Instead, The Way is about a father trekking through the Pyrenees mountains following El Camino de Santiago (the way of St. James) in an effort to deal with the death of his adult son who was taking the way as a pilgrimage.

The movie has gotten a lot of coverage in the Catholic media. In fact, Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez, Sheen's son and director of the film, have even appeared on EWTN. The film is not overtly Catholic even though it deals with what is essentially a Catholic pilgrimage. I would describe the film as being about relationships, especially those between fathers and sons. It's a movie about getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle of every day life and not stopping to live life. My favorite line in the movie (and included on some of the movie posters) occurs during a flashback,  Daniel, the son played by Estevez, says to Tom, Sheen's character, "You don't choose a life, Dad. You live it."

The film made me laugh and it made me tear up a few times. In this sense, it reminded me of Field of Dreams. If you get this then you know what I mean. If you don't, I won't be able to adequately put it into words. The cinematography is superb as Estevez captures the beauty of the French and Spanish region covered on the pilgrimage.

The acting is solid all around. There is some brief partial nudity when a French peregrino (pilgrim) is changing his clothes. There is also some subtle drug use by a few of the characters, but mainly to demonstrate the challenges facing one of the travelers who joins Tom on the way. Some might be put off by the spreading of the son's ashes along the way because this is contrary to the Catholic Church's teaching on the treatment of remains of one who has died. I don't think the film is attempting to make a statement about this. Instead, I think it's the use of literary license to add sentiment to the film. Additionally, we are reminded throughout that Tom is not a practicing Catholic; he doesn't know any better.

The Way is currently available to stream for free on Netflix and to rent on iTunes and Amazon. You can also rent the DVD at Walmart.

For a more detailed and professional review, I recommend Steven D. Greydanus' review at Decent Films.