There is Hope

We watched a movie this past weekend that made me realize that it is actually possible to make a PG-13 movie without watering it down in terms of "edgy-ness" (edginess?)  While this movie was definitely a case of a certain level of style over substance, (it was a bit lacking in terms of storyline), it was still very cool, very entertaining, very shocking in various ways, and seemingly quite violent.  The movie was Hanna:

You may wonder why I care whether it's possible to make a PG-13 movie that is "edgy".  The reason is that my beloved Hunger Games novels are currently in the process of being made into movies ... movies that will most definitely have to be rated PG-13 in order to appeal to younger teens (the books are "YA" novels, after all).  The problem is that the books are pretty disturbing and violent ... and I have not been able to figure out how that can be properly conveyed via PG-13 movies.  And any level of watering something down always makes me sad.

Well, Hanna, shows how it can be done without watering it down.  Here is what the two stories have in common, in terms of what needs to be "policed" by the MPAA:

• Both Hanna and The Hunger Games have disturbing themes, plus a generous helping of violence.
• Neither of the two stories have much of anything in terms of sex.  There is some very innocent kissing in each, but that's as far as they go.  So that earns them brownie points from the MPAA.
• As far as I can recall, neither of the stories have much in the way of swearing either.  I think there may have been a little bit in Hanna here and there, and just maybe a few very mild swear words (probably uttered by Haymitch?) in Hunger Games, but that is it.
• A decent amount of the violence in Hanna is actually done indirectly and symbolically, in the form of hunting/killing animals for food.  It works great to really get you on edge, and helps to give you that constant feeling that the characters are never safe, wherever they go.  And I'm wondering if maybe you can get away with more of that type of violence with the MPAA than you can the human kind of violence.  Hunting is the entire running them of the Hunger Games, so they could really take advantage of this.
• Hanna is violent in a way that does not involve a ton of blood and guts and gory stuff.  The Hunger Games, on the other hand ... starts off this way as well ... but as the books go on, I recall there being more of the gory type of violence (especially in the third book).  But there are ways they can convey this without actually SHOWING the blood and guts.  Harry Potter did a great job of this in Deathly Hallows pt. 2.

So yeah ... we'll see.  The fact that it is possible to do this does NOT in any way mean it's easy to do it, or that the filmmakers will be willing to take these risks.  It's still going to be very tough to pull off.  Fingers crossed, but still keeping my hopes low.  :-P