User blog:XD1/Should The Hunger Games Movie Be Rated PG-13, and how could it be?

Kaya Scodelario and Lyndsy Fonseca, as it turns out, aren't the only ones who got a peek at the script for 'The Hunger Games.' The author of The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins, assumed screenwriting duties for Lionsgate's film adaptation and then passed her work along to Billy Ray for revisions. An early draft made its way out and while no review or gritty details have been reported, they did bring up that the film is aiming for a PG-13 rating.

The buzz is that this the next "Twilight" or "Harry Potter," so no big deal, right? Not so fast. If you've read the book, you're well aware that it can get pretty violent. For those of you who've yet to get a copy, what are you waiting for? But for now, here's a little summary: The book follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl living in one of Panem's 12 districts. Once a year each district is required to send one boy and one girl into the televised Hunger Games where they're forced to fight until just one is left. This year is Katniss' unlucky year.

A number of tributes – the term used for the Hunger Games contestants – meet fairly grisly ends. They're loaded up with a variety of weaponry from bows and arrows to spears and you can't forget about the deadly environmental elements, too. The arena in which the battle takes place is also home to tracker jackers armed with deadly venom and poisonous berries with the power to seduce starving tributes. How can you possibly depict the deaths of 12 to 18-year-olds without venturing out of PG-13 territory? While reading the book, my mind always went way out of bounds, but apparently Collins and Ray found a way to make it work. The film's producer Nina Jacobson has said, "It's always going to be an intense subject matter, but you can tell the story with some restraint." She added, "The only people these books are not for are those under 12. The movie will be the same."

As thrilling as it would be to see an R-rated 'Hunger Games' movie, it makes sense on a number of levels for the filmmakers to go the PG-13 route. If this is going to be the new 'Harry Potter' and 'Twilight' and achieve similar success (which the source material deserves), it's going to have to be viewable by younger audiences. Still, some of the moments in those books certainly push the limits quite a bit. A reader can take the incidents as far as their imaginations will allow, but restraint will certainly need to be taken when presenting all moviegoers with just one depiction.

What do you think? The movie adaptation should depict the story: in full graphic detail - thus earning an "R" rating. in a more subdued style - so that a PG-13 rating will allow the trilogy's younger readers to see it.

Despite its vividly cinematic language, The Hunger Games won’t be easy to adapt. In an early copy of the script, it seems to be a point-by-point retelling of the Games. How can any studio show brutal child-on-child violence and still pull off a PG-13 rating? "It’s always going to be an intense subject matter, but you can tell the story with some restraint," says producer Nina Jacobson, who praises the books for appealing to both girls and boys. "The only people these books are not for are those under 12. The movie will be the same."