Safe books, happy endings, and The Hunger Games

I started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins after reading reviews by several Christian bloggers whom I respect. My daughter was interested in the series as well, so I'm reading it more as a worldview chaperone than for the story itself.

This is a departure from my usual fiction reading. For years, I stuck to "safe" books - characters and story lines with more-or-less black and white morality and all loose ends neatly tied in a bow by the end of the book, which of course must have a happy ending. I was also a card-carrying fear monger, so there was the "Oh no! It could happen to me!" motive in avoiding anything nasty that could lodge in my memory bank as potential irrational monger-fodder. But my theology has changed, which has changed me. (Thanks be to God!) Yes, there are nasty things in books and even nastier things in the real life, but I belong to a God who rules over all things, which cannot move an inch unless He decrees it. Whether I like to admit it or not, the nastiness also resides in my own heart as a sinner, not just between the pages of a book or newspaper.

As a Christian parent, there's also the consideration of what is appropriate reading material for my child. Opening the flood gates is unwise but so is unnecessary censorship. I won't help my daughter face the reality of living in a sinful world by being over-protective unless I plan to keep her in a bunker for the rest of her life. The book of Judges has some pretty horrendous accounts, so would I dare edit the Bible?

I have mixed impressions of The Hunger Games so far. I don't want to allegorize it to death in an attempt to wring out some sort of Christian sub-story that was never the author's intent. Neither do I want to discount the value of reading it because of the plot's violence. So with the risk of dissecting the book to death, this will be a good opportunity to analyze its worldview and consider issues such as total depravity, the shallowness and influence of the entertainment culture,  expediency for the sake of survival, etc. Not exactly a bouquet of heart-warming fuzzies, but discussing these harsh realities with an open Bible may be more profitable than a happy ending.