"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen. 1:27)

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Hungry for the Games


In prior conversations about the next pop culture phenomenon, The Hunger Games inevitably rose to the top of the list… but I remained skeptical.  After all, these things have a way of appealing to a certain fan base and then disappearing into the Twilight.  (See what I did there?)  

It’s amazing how quickly someone can be proven wrong.

Grossing an incredible $152.5 million in its opening weekend, The Hunger Games has already shattered numerous box-office records:  

Highest grossing weekend for a non-sequel. 

Third highest opening weekend of all-time.  

In fact, it is already the highest grossing film in Lionsgate’s history, easily overtaking Fahrenheit 9/11 (which amassed a mere $119.2 million in it’s entire run). 

Nevertheless, what impresses me more than the final total is the manner in which The Hunger Games made that much money.  According to Box Office Mojo, the movie held up incredibly well on the Saturday of its release, suggesting that the demand “exists across a wide array of moviegoers, and isn't just rooted in the type of rabid fans that drove the front-loaded openings for recent Harry Potter and Twilight movies.”  With this in mind, reports also suggest that an incredible 51% of the audience held an average age of over 25, further revealing that the film’s appeal was not limited to pre-teens.  In fact, the Chicago Tribune even went so far as to call the series a ‘uniting force’ in our culture. 

In other words, The Hunger Games has become a full-blown pop culture phenomenon.

The question that I have is ‘Why?’

I think that the obvious first response to a question such as this is the film’s well-planned marketing strategy.  Rather than taking the more traditional route of focusing on the book’s legions of fan, Lionsgate opted to take a much broader approach in its marketing.  By emphasizing the intensity of the tournament,  Lionsgate was able to help the film seem more accessible to a wider audience.  All of a sudden, The Hunger Games wasn’t simply the latest ‘must-see’ event for ‘tweens.  Instead, the film also started to gain interest to the average ticket-buyer.[i]  (Although, to be fair, the plan was far from perfect.  For example, a major misstep appeared to occur with the release of the film’s first footage.  Releasing a teaser with a tone akin to ‘Twilight’ in late August of last year, the early buzz was decidedly negative and actually appeared to work against the film.  Still, it’s also possible that this error inadvertently aided the film in that it slowed the hype machine temporarily, ensuring that the general public were not experiencing Hunger Games fatigue by the time of the actual film’s release.)

To be honest though, I am not one to simply buy the excuse that ‘the marketing paid off’.  I’ve seen tonnes of examples of films that tried all the same strategies and failed to catch fire with audiences.  People don’t rush out to the movies in numbers like this simply because a promotional campaign tells them to do so.  

They have to care about the story.

Truthfully, I believe that the primary reason that this story has connected with such a broad base is due to the relevance of the narrative in our current cultural climate.  Obviously, our North American culture has yet to resort to watching teenagers hunt each other for sport.  (Although, that would probably be a step up from watching the Jersey Shore.)  Nevertheless, this series of stories really manages to capture the atmosphere of a world that feels trapped.  It’s true to say that dystopian narratives are far from new ideas.  Still, Katniss’ emotional journey somehow feels relevant to 21st Century North America.  Like the rest of the people of District 12, we too cry out for freedom in a social climate that threatens to break us down.  Does hope really exist? If so, where does it come from? 

Angered over the callousness of the Capitol and the cruelty of the Games themselves, Katniss provides a voice for all audiences, regardless of age.  Her angst is more than a deep-seeded yearning for someone to save her from this life (read: Bella Swan).  Katniss’ journey is filled with a desire to see things change.  Yes, she feels helpless… but she is willing to challenge the system.  In a world such as ours that is battling global economic collapse and demonstrating ongoing protests, Katniss’ desire for freedom reveals itself as a universal ‘cry’ on behalf of everyone who feels as though they’ve been bullied by the system.  (Yes, even you, Harvey Weinstein.) Her situation may be foreign to us… but her feelings and quest for hope in a broken society are all too relevant.

Therein lies the incredible secret of the vastness of Hunger Games’ success.  On the surface at least, this series appears as though it should only appeal to a very limited age group.  Yet, at the same time, the depth of the thematic content also connects with an audience that is much more broad in its scope.  As a result, The Hunger Games manages to find an audience that consists of a hybrid between die-hard fans and the average filmgoer.  Will it flame out by next week?  It’s possible.  However, given the numbers that have been reported—and the film’s strong ‘A‘ Cinemascore average— I suspect that these Games will have an impact for some time.

At the very least, the odds are certainly 'in their favour'..


[i] http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3401&p=.htm

Hollywood Jesus, blogging and other stuff

Has it really been 3 months?

Given the amount of time since my last post, I felt it appropriate to write a brief piece to update anyone who might be interested on my status with this blog.  As it stands, I have been writing reviews for Hollywood Jesus now since last November.  It has been--and remains--my goal to continue to blog on Movio Dei whenever possible.  However, because of my work at HJ (which, by the way, I have found personally and spiritually invigorating), I have neglected my posting on this site on a regular basis.

But I'm not willing to shut it down.

As a result, in an effort to continue to use this site, I will post a link to my latest reviews on Hollywood Jesus as they come.  What's more, it is still my intent to continue to utilize this blog for my personal musings.  (Though, to be fair, that will be less frequent than my posting with HJ.)

Movio Dei has been an exciting project for me over the last year and remains so.

I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us in Year Two.