The Hunger Games:Advice for Catholic parents

I meant to write this post last week when the film based on The Hunger Games was released. Perhaps this discussion will help for those who didn't want to fight the crowds or are dealing with children who now want to read the books or see the 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

Catholic Views on Harry Potter

For years good Catholic men and women have disagreed about the popular Harry Potter series. The last of the Harry Potter movies opened at midnight today. Last week many news outlets reported that the Vatican had given the new movie a stamp of approval.  First of all, it wasn't the Holy Father who made the statement, but rather an article in the L'Osservatore Romano. Secondly, the article did not officially endorse the film on behalf of the Vatican, but instead only said that the movie promoted "friendship. altruism, loyalty and self-giving," which it viewed as attributes to value.

The problem with saying that the Catholic Church endorses or condemns Harry Potter or any other thing, is that the Church doesn't normally work that way. It's not some type of political party that maintains a platform with a checklist of pro's and con's. I can't count the number of times I've had non-Catholic and Catholic friends ask me "what's the Church's position on...?" Instead of looking for a laundry list of do's and don't's in the back of the Catechism, what we should do is a better job of forming our consciouses. This is precisely the mission of Joe Catholic, to help people learn their faith, so they can share it and defend it.

The principal instructors of the faith are not the priests and churches, but instead the parents. Parents are the ones who must discern if their children should or should not read or watch certain material. Furthermore, parents who are well formed in their faith are better armed to answer questions that children raise and, when necessary, to make the tough call to restrict access even when it's contrary to the pervading culture. I have some Catholic friends (who I respect) who allow their children to read and watch the Harry Potter books and movies. I have others, who I equally esteem, who do not permit their children.  Neither is wrong, but both are right.

Here are few other Catholic articles on Harry Potter (some for and some against):

The American Catholic: The Conclusion of Harry Potter (spoilers)

Catholic Answers: The Morals of Magic: Is Harry Potter Bad for Kids?

Catholic News Service: Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Dads.org: Harry Potter: An Entry Point into the World of the Occult/New Age Movement

National Catholic Register: Some Thoughts on the Harry Potter Series