Irony and entertainment

Hunger
I read "The Hunger Games" series and recently watched the film about the first book. When my wife an I left the theatre she remarked that it felt odd to watch a movie that glorified youth violence even if the story itself was to show how wrong the idea is. She's right.

Distopia
The idea behind "The Hunger Games" is not really new. There have been many distopian stories told from Zemyatin's "We" to Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." Most famously we know of "1984" and "Brave New World." The idea is that in the future we will be subject to anarchy or Fascism or some awful mix of both.  Where "The Hunger Games" diverges is in targeting children. 24 children fight to the death each year in a sponsored, televised killing event. The story makes me ill because it's wrong on all levels; children should not be the targets, the victims. I read the whole series hoping for a positive resolution with some clever allusions to the world we live in. While voyeurism, desensitization, violence and fear are rampant in some circles of the world, it is widely recognized that these vices are deplorable and society should avoid such.

Art reflecting life reflecting art...
My wife was right when she said it was ironic to pay money to be entertained by a story that tells about how evil it is to glorify violence against children by glorifying violence against children. The story of the Holocaust can only be told accurately by describing the atrocities of it and that's not a happy story. But it's not the same when the story being told is clever fiction. Is it a warning? Is it social commentary? And would it be different if it was adults killing children instead if children killing other children? (Of course that would be different.) So why is this story good and why did I read it and watch the movie?

We've been had
The author gets away with all of this by turning the mirror on society and saying "gotcha!" But when does she do this? After all the books and all the movies and all the money have been made? The real irony of it all is that by selling this story the author is guilty of what she decries. The problem is that the consumers made it popular and thus the circle of art reflecting life continues.

A fine line
Where do I draw the line? Do I focus on the humanity and heroism of the story and ignore the killing and unethical behaviour? Does this make it right? Well, I'll let you decide for yourself. As for me, I don't think I'll watch the other movies. Its not that I think its totally wrong to read or watch these stories but it's important to know what might say about you. I'm not judging others but I feel a bit hypocritical to continue on the path with these movies.

Your Turn
Does it change the message, irony, story if this just remained a book and was never a movie? Does the media and marketing behind the Hunger Games make it more ironic? Do tell...