Saturday, March 24, 2012

Hunger is Just a Game When You're Lionsgate Entertainment

Does piggybacking on a Hollywood blockbuster-to-be in support of anti-hunger advocacy deserve a takedown notice? Apparently so if you're Lionsgate Entertainment, which is trying to prevent Oxfam and the Harry Potter Alliance from running a campaign entitled Hunger is Not a Game.

Here's an article which ran yesterday on ThinkProgress.org about Lionsgate's efforts to shut down the campaign.

If you've read The Hunger Games and/or its sequels, you know that a major theme in the books is social commentary about the state of our world today- how first-world luxuries are made on the backs of the poor in large parts of the rest of the world. The books present an opportunity to get all readers, and younger readers in particular, to think about these issues and act on them through different forms of advocacy and civic involvement. Oxfam's and the Harry Potter Alliance's efforts don't discourage anyone from reading the books; if anything, attaching The Hunger Games name/brand to their efforts might bring more attention to the series and the issues with which it deals. And I think it's fairly appalling that Lionsgate feels the need to act like the villain and trample on the admirable efforts of two respected organizations to encourage activism on the very issues that make the books such worthwhile reading.

5 comments:

Pippa Elliott said...

Lionsgate stance in incomprehensible and undefendable.

Vasilly said...

That is awful. Hunger and poverty are huge themes in this series. I wonder what Collins have to say about this.

Kathleen said...

I can't understand why Lionsgate would do such a thing. I think it is truly awful.

Athira said...

I read about this today morning, and I was shocked at how crazy the letter sounded. Since when did they get rights to an English phrase! As if they created the books!

Jeanne said...

Here's the update, though: http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/03/24/451243/lionsgate-wont-shut-down-hunger-games-inspired-anti-hunger-advocates/?mobile=nc