{Another}New Background!

As Carolyn tactfully pointed out, I have not been doing regular posts. That is mostly because my life isn't that interesting ;) But I do have something slightly remotely interesting here. A new background! Now, until I can get a custom background{which is in the works}, this will have to do. 

We just finished watching 'The Two Towers' movie. If you like epic battles, you'll probably like this movie.

 Excepting the gross Orcs. *Shudder* They are the things nightmares are made of. Especially this one really nasty one that chased Merry & Pippin.... but you don't really want to here about this, do you? I will review these movies soon, but I can't today. Probably tomorrow?

~Willow~

Why {The} Hunger Games is Flawed to Its Core{by N. D. Wilson}

Why {The} Hunger Games is Flawed to Its Core
 
N.D. Wilson

Here is the link.

{And, I would like to say, I don't hate you if you like THG. I am simply expressing my opinion.} 


{This review/analogy is by a guy named N.D. Wilson. I was given this link by Jessie and I liked it so much that I just had to post it.}


{I suggest that if you like THG, you don't read this.}

{It could make you mad.}

{I will add my own personal comments in these parentheses.}

 

Almost everywhere I go, I’m asked about The Hunger Games (book, not film){but the film counts too, 'cause it's based on the book}. The questions used to fly about Twilight and Potter,

but Katniss and dystopic death-matches have taken over.

First, I completely understand why The Hunger Games took off. Suzanne Collins knows how to suck readers into a page-turning frenzy. The pace of the book grabs like gorilla glue and the kill-or-be-killed tension keeps fingernails nibbled short. She knows her craft, and I have to say that I’m grateful to her for expanding our mutual marketplace (in the same way that Rowling did). That said, Collins stumbles badly in her understanding of some pretty fundamental elements of human story, and the whole thing is flawed to its core as a result.

The best authors are students of humanity, both as individuals and grouped in societies (big and small).

• C.S. Lewis’ profound insight into human motivation and relationships is on display in Narnia, and even more intricately in his Space Trilogy. He paints honest and accurate portraits, leading readers through darkness toward wisdom.

• Think about Mark Twain’s ability to see and image the motivations of boys, and the entire society in which those boys lived.

• Tom Wolfe’s sharp clear vision is on display in both his essays and his fiction. He sees into the hearts and minds of men; he sees which of their choices and follies will set fire to the world around them, and how exactly that fire will progress and grow. (And, like the greatest writers, he manages to maintain an affection and sympathy for his characters and for humanity in general despite this insight.)

When an author profoundly misunderstands human societies, arbitrarily forcing a group or a character into decisions and actions that they would never choose for themselves given the preceding narrative, it drives me bonkers. I once threw The Fountainhead across the room for exactly that crime, and I’ve never read anything by Rand since. And Collins bundles clumsy offenses like this in Costco bulk…

Quick Switch 1

Katniss volunteers to take her sister’s place in the Hunger Games. Yay. Self-sacrifice. Christian themes, yadda, yadda. So far so good. But that walnut shell slides away immediately and a moment of self-sacrifice is replaced with sustained, radical, murderous self-interest.

              
  
{Extreme agreement by Willow}

In the Christian ethos, laying down one’s life for another is glorious. In the Darwinian world, self-preservation is the ultimate shiny good. Readers bite the lure of sacrifice, and then blissfully go along with survive-at-the-expense-of-murdered-innocents. Katniss becomes evil–she’s even relieved at one point that someone else murdered her innocent little friend, because she knew that she would have to do it herself eventually. And we still give her credit for being sacrificial…{Poor Rue...}

(Sacrificial Sidenote: Many people point to Peeta as the truly noble and sacrificial character. I don’t mind him as a character, but a picture of heroic sacrifice he ain’t. In Hunger Games, he’s fundamentally passive and submissive. He’s that guy who is happy to ‘just be friends’ with the cute girl. Or a lot more than friends (but only if she initiates). He’s just the puppy at her heels. “Sure, kill me Katniss. Oh, you’d rather we both killed ourselves? Yes, Katniss. Whatever you say, Katniss.{What a man there, Peeta}” Really? There are plenty of guys in the world just like Peeta, and kudos to Collins for using the type, especially since nice second-fiddle fellas like that confuse and conflict girls tremendously. But worldview readers are gaming themselves into seeing something that just isn’t there.)

Quick Switch 2

The self-defense defense. Katniss is a victim, but so is every other innocent person thrust into these games. She should be rising above the game and defending herself (and everyone else) from the Hunger Games. Instead, she kills her fellow victims. Sure, if someone is in the act of trying to murder you, shoot them through the throat. But dropping tracker jackers on sleeping kids? Negativo. Why is she playing this game by the rules at all? The Hunger Games are the real enemy.{Yeah!}

If Collins wanted her protagonist to be the kind of rebel who would start a revolution (and she does want that), she should have had Katniss cutting her locator out of her arm on night one instead of participating in and perpetuating the evil. But readers are a little numb to killing, and this particular switch wasn’t hard to pull on us.

{WARNING: Kind of gross subject} Here’s a thought experiment to help us see clearly. What if Collins had thrown her character into this arena and the rules had been different? Last one raped wins. Rape or be raped. Obviously, a real hero wouldn’t play the game. Explode the game. (Sidenote: rape is awful, but at least the other kids would have survived.){End gross subject}

Faux-revolution

File this under misunderstanding humanity, which is just another way of saying that The Hunger Games misunderstands courage, inspiration, oppression, and nobility as they relate to people in a collective herd. If you want to see an accurate picture of how one enslaved victim can threaten a regime, watch Gladiator. Twenty thousand people (and the emperor) are commanding one slave to kill another. (Kill!Kill!Kill!) But instead, he throws his sword in the dirt and turns his back on the emperor. And…the people he just defied now adore him. He inspires. His courage is unlike anything they’ve seen, and he is now officially a political problem.{I have not heard of this movie, and I do not recommend it.[Update. I have been told that Gladiator is not a good movie at all]}

Walk through what Collins has Katniss do while playing in the Hunger Games. First, she does and says exactly what she’s told to do and say (trying to manipulate the mob with false sentimentality){Hmmm....}. Second, she plays the vile despotic game, and by the immoral rules{My point exactly}. Finally, she threatens to kill herself (and talks her faux-boyfriend into doing it with her). This, allegedly, panics the establishment and is the spark that will start a revolution.

But the world doesn’t work that way. Men and women are not inspired to risk their lives in insurrection and defiance by someone reaching for poisonous berries. Revolutions are not started by teen girls suicide-pacting with cute baker boys. Oppressive regimes are not threatened by people who do what they are told.{*agrees*}

Put yourself in the author’s well-worn desk chair. If you really wanted your Katniss to threaten this tyrannical system like many great men and women have threatened many tyrants throughout the ages{or in books}, what would you have her do? She needs to be a lot more punk rock (in the best possible way). She needs to stop giving a rip about her own survival (the most dangerous men and women always forget themselves){Like in LOTR}. She needs to refuse to be a piece in the game{See! See!}. Imagine millions of people watching her disarm some boy who was trying to murder her, and then cutting out his locator, hiding him, and keeping him alive{Yes yes yes!}. Every time she defied the order to kill, she would earn the true loyalty of the spared kid’s district. And she would start being a legitimate political threat. (Even Tom Wolfe asked me about The Hunger Games, having apparently heard it had some revolutionary insight. I hit him with the primary plot beats and watched him blink in confusion.)

There is more to say, but I’ve said enough. Well, almost. One final thought: never read or watch a story like a passive recipient, enjoying something in a visceral way and then retroactively trying to project deeper value or meaning onto the story you’ve already ingested. Such projections have been making authors and directors seem more intelligent than they are for decades. As you watch, as you read, shoulder your way into the creator’s chair. Don’t take the final product for granted, analyze the creator’s choices and cheerfully push them in new and different directions. As we do this, the clarity of our criticism will grow immensely. Which is to say, we’ll be suckered far less often than we currently are.

Lastly, Suzanne Collins can really write. It’s just that we can’t really read.

{Ok, imagine this. Katniss has been stuck into THG. After she cuts out her locator, she gets attacked by, hmm lets just say Glimmer. Glimmer is trying to, ok stab her with... something. She hits him{or her}over the head with her bow, knocks her/him out, then drags him/her into the woods to her hiding place. She repeats this with the help of Peeta & Rue. The government doesn't know what to do. They try to kill Katniss but can't. That I think would work} 

~Willow~

Comments on My Hunger Games Post{and My Responses}

I hereby announce to the world that

I AM OFFENDED BY THE HUNGER GAMES!

{All Scripture References are either NKJV or NIV}

                        

~God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. 1st John 1:5b~

~Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds & praise your Father in Heaven. ~Matthew 5:16~

                                                  

~Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly diving the word of truth. 2 ~Timothy 2:15~

                    

A excerpt from the book:

I crouch before her, staring up helplessly at the embedded weapon. There’s no point in comforting words, in telling her she’ll be all right. She’s no fool. Her hand reaches out and I clutch it like a lifeline. As if it’s me who’s dying instead of Rue.

[~Katniss]

Ok, I got this comment from Lilac a couple of nights ago on my '{Horrible} Hunger Games' post. I wanted to respond to you in a post, Lilac. I want to respond to each thing she says. I also wanted to thank Lilac for commenting. I love comments!
 

Here's what she said{in its original form}:

Lilac : Okay Girls,This post really offended me and some of the comments.I am HUGE fan of Hunger Games!!!It changed my life and it is soooo inspiring for me!!No one likes the Hunger Games,in the books they are fighting to end it!Do you think that Katniss wanted to go to the Hunger Games,No!She only volunteer for her sister,she only did it so her sister didn't have to go!Do you think Peeta wanted to go,No!!Peeta didn't even kill anyone and Katniss only killed to save Rue and Peeta!She felt sooo bad when she did!You posted the worse part in the whole book!There are many great parts,that is only one part!You never even read the books how can you say these things when you never read the books!I could never say these things about Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter,because I never read the books! Not everyone likes the same things,that is what makes the world go round.                               

~Now I respond~

Lilac: Okay Girls,This post really offended me and some of the comments.I am HUGE fan of Hunger Games!!!

Willow: I'm sorry, Lilac, but as you say at the end of your comment, Not everyone likes the same things,that is what makes the world go round.  This is my opinion. And well, this comment kind of implies that I shouldn't have this posted this. You have your opinion, I have mine. And that is absolutely fine with me. I want everyone to be opinionated. Please be opinionated! But... you are a huge fan of books where 12 year-olds[Correction: Only Rue & 1{?}other Tribute are 12. Of course, it is meant for 12 to 18 year-olds, so my point still stands]try not to have their necks snapped by the other contestants? {And that does happen, I might add}

Lilac: It changed my life and it is soooo inspiring for me!!

Willow: How did it change your life? I understand the meaning of the books, that this is what the world might be like in the future, but that doesn't excuse poor 12 year-old Rue getting run through by someone else who wants to survive. Doesn't anyone think that's bad? Did it change your life that you don't want an evil government to take over? Or that these 12 Districts weren't brave enough to get rid of the horrid 'Capitol' until after 74 Hunger Games?[Correction: They have been 'fighting' to end it, though my point still stands that they hadn't succeeded yet]

Lilac: No one likes the Hunger Games,in the books they are fighting to end it!Do you think that Katniss wanted to go to the Hunger Games,No!She only volunteer for her sister,she only did it so her sister didn't have to go!Do you think Peeta wanted to go,No!!

Willow: Well, they fought in it, didn't they? If you want to end something by fighting in it, that doesn't work very well. And I wouldn't want to go either. I'm pretty sure that no one wanted to go. That's why they choose them! That's also why they didn't have a volunteer list.[Correction: Wealthy kids volunteered. Hmm...]

Lilac: Peeta didn't even kill anyone and Katniss only killed to save Rue and Peeta!She felt sooo bad when she did!

Willow: Good for Peeta. And I'm sure the people Katniss killed will understand once they get to Heaven or wherever they're going. And feeling bad doesn't really help the people who got shot by her. I feel pity for the people who were killed by her.

Lilac: You posted the worse part in the whole book!There are many great parts,that is only one part!

Willow: I'm sorry, but last time I checked, a bad part counts as a part of a book. I'm sure there are plenty of fine parts. But, I chose this part because it illustrates my point. Using a nice part doesn't really help an arguments about the negative parts, I don't think.

Lilac: You never even read the books how can you say these things when you never read the books!I could never say these things about Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter,because I never read the books!

Willow: Last time I checked, I did not title my post 'A Review on the Hunger Games'. And I have the perfect right to post my thoughts about it. And actually, I've read quite a bit about the books and the movie. I'm pretty sure that I know more about this then most parents of the HG lovers{unless they read the books}. I just don't want to read the books because of the points in my other post. I have no comment about Harry Potter, but for LOTR, I do. If you read lots of reviews about it, you have the perfect right to post your thoughts about it. But I might add that in LOTR, there are not kids killing kids. There are kids, but they get chosen to help defend their country against the horridly evil Orcs. They don't stab each other in the back with a spear.

Lilac: Not everyone likes the same things,that is what makes the world go round.

Willow: I agree. This is my opinion.

~The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil & the good Proverbs 15:3~

Ok, I had just finished my other post, but hadn't posted yet, when this comment came up, from Mackenzie.

Mackenzie: Ok I'm sorry, but this post really offended me.
I mean you haven't even read hunger games!
And you put the worst part in all the books in your post?!?
I can totally understand why don't like it,and I agree with you on the whole kids killing other kids,no one likes it! No one in the book likes it,only president snow!
In the 2nd and 3rd book they are trying to take down the Capitol so that there are NO MORE hunger games. Don't you see,you are looking at the worst part of the books!
I don't like Star Wars or any of that stuff,but I don't go on about how much I don't like it..
This really made me upset.
Everyone keeps judging it!
I thought i wasn't going to like it at first,but I do now,it's my favorite book series.
I totally understand how people have different opinions,and I respect that.
Also,I can be way over obsessive about it.
And I will try to be better at keeping my "obsession" in.
But please,keep it to yourself.

~A Hunger Games fan

               

~Your word is a lamp to my feet & a light to my path. Psalm 119:105~

~Now I Respond~
 

Willow: Ok, lets take these one at a time:

Mackenzie: Ok I'm sorry, but this post really offended me. I mean you haven't even read hunger games!
And you put the worst part in all the books in your post?!? 

Willow: You have a perfect right to be offended. I actually have read quite a bit about it, as I've said before. And again, a bad part in a book is part of a book. 

~God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. 1st John 1:5b~
Mackenzie: I can totally understand why don't like it,and I agree with you on the whole kids killing other kids,no one likes it! No one in the book likes it,only president snow!

Willow: Yes, but why do you want to subject yourself to this gratuitous killing? Shows what Suzanne Collins likes imagining.

Mackenzie: In the 2nd and 3rd book they are trying to take down the Capitol so that there are NO MORE hunger games. Don't you see,you are looking at the worst part of the books!

Willow: Good for them! But they still participated. Didn't they? They didn't refuse to kill anyone. Or at least Katniss didn't, so I'm told. And I know I am, but still, a bad part is still in the book. Maybe Suzanne Collins shouldn't have put that part in it if people don't like it so much? Hmmm.

Mackenzie: I don't like Star Wars or any of that stuff,but I don't go on about how much I don't like it..

Willow: I'm not going on, I literally just posted 2 posts about it{and the second was like, a paragraph long}. And now 3 that people keep commenting on the first one. And the only reason I posted the first one was because people kept saying how awesome it was and I was quite tired of there being no oppositions.

Mackenzie: This really made me upset. Everyone keeps judging it!

Willow: I'm sorry this makes you upset, but this is true. I'm not making it up. It's from the book itself! And most people seem to like it, not dislike it. And, actually, I'm discerning it. I'm deciding that I don't want to watch this, and I want other people to know what they're getting into. And, aren't you judging me for judging it?

Mackenzie: I thought i wasn't going to like it at first,but I do now,it's my favorite book series. I totally understand how people have different opinions,and I respect that. Also,I can be way over obsessive about it. And I will try to be better at keeping my "obsession" in.
But please,keep it to yourself.

~A Hunger Games fan

Willow: O-kay. Please keep it to yourself? Isn't this the land of the free and the home of the brave? As I have said before, you have a right to your opinion, and I have a right to mine. That's why I call this blog 'In the Words of Willow' because it is my opinion. And I have a right to that. I honestly have not talked that much about THG, as you can see if you check out my posts. And I will not keep it to myself. You don't have to read my blog if you don't like my opinion, it's a free country.

          

~Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9~

~But seek first His kingdom & His righteousness, & all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33~

Yours Truly,

                                                                        

~Willow~

P.S.

If you don't want me to post my narrow-minded opinion about THG anymore, I wouldn't try making large arguments to me, I usually have to respond in a post if you do. 

[I have added 'corrections']

Assembling..... Please Wait.... Until it comes out on DVD....

Humph. Yeas, you read right. I am not seeing the Avenger movie in theaters. I actually knew that before the reviews came out, because of the cussing & other nasty elements. But still, I hoped. I hoped that it would be as clean as Captain America was. But I hoped in vain. Humphry. 

 On a lighter note, here is a part of an Avengers review from pluggedin.com. It is quite comical.

"Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover.{I already knew that}

Take Loki, pale-faced exile from the far-away world of Asgard.{Senses not-good-ness} If you saw him walking down the sidewalk with his horned helmet and glowing spear of doom, chances are you'd nudge your neighbor and say, "He looks like trouble."{duh}And that's if you are safely tucked away in café booth where he can't see you. If you're walking toward him, you might cross (quickly) to the other side of the street.{uh, again, duh}

Now, we all know jumping to these sorts of conclusions isn't entirely fair.{who cares, he's evil} There are plenty of reasonable explanations as to why someone might wear horned headgear and brandish dangerous weaponry{Like what?}. Perhaps he's attending a costume party{Yeah right}. Perhaps he's an accountant who just wants to liven things up at the office{Really?}. Perhaps he's a rich, ageless, eccentric Viking who's been looking for his longboat the last 1,200 years.{Uhhh, right}

But this is Loki we're talking about. Even when we saw him last, in 2011's Thor, the dude was up to no good. And if anything, he's just torqued up the crazy since then.{Times like, one thousand million trillion!}

His first act as an Earth tourist is to kill a whole bunch of people and destroy a massive government complex.{Quite an accomplishment there, Loki} And when one brave soul tries to tell him that we earthlings don't want to quarrel,{poor soul} Loki says, "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."{Joy}  Clearly, the guy could stand to read a self-help book or something.{Or sixty} Maybe Proactive Leadership 101 or Making Friends for Dummies.

Loki's not here to make friends, though.{That's a major understatement} He's here to humiliate his brother, Thor, crush our small planet under his iron heel and cause as much pain and suffering as he can{sounds fun}—just 'cause he's that type of guy. And to help him do it, he's bringing along an extraterrestrial army.{Now, we had to get aliens in here sometime, didn't we?}

It looks like we don't stand a chance. Why, even a superhero couldn't deal with this sort of threat.

Well, maybe not one. But how about six?" 

I find that highly amusing:) I just hope Loki doesn't kill any of the Avengers. He'd better not.

 Here is more of the review:

Black Widow tells Captain America that Thor and Loki are "basically gods."

Even so, Cap adds another addendum. "There's only one God," he tells her, "and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that." 

Don't you want to just hug Stevie for that comment? Well, I did.

                                                                  ~Willow~

Fun Quotes{and The Avengers}

                                       

          

 ~Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow~

 

                                              ~The Voyage of the Dawn Treader~ 

~Darrion Fireheart~

&

~mediatalk101.org~

~Darrion Fireheart~

&

~^And Above Link^~

 

The Avengers....

*Cue Mission Impossible Music*

 

  

  

 The Team....

Iron Man.....

 The Black Widow.....

 

Nick Fury & Maria Hill....

Captain America & Hawkeye.....

 

 Hawkeye{again} & Hulk....

Black Widow & Thor....

Now, who can't wait to see this movie?

                   ~Willow~