Pic of the Week: Hunger Games Mania

The buzz, energy, and excitement around the release of The Hunger Games film has been a lot of fun to watch. There are more than 26 million copies of the book in print here in the U.S., more than 2,000 shows have already been sold out, the film has topped Fandango’s list of top-five all-time presellers, and it’s expected to have the biggest March opening ever. The mania surrounding this book series has expressed itself in more than just movie ticket sales. Some fans are making The Hunger Games a part of their lives forever–with tattoos:

The Daily Beast

Jessie Locke, whose feet we see above, explains why those words from the book, which describe Katniss, really moved her: “I connected really strongly to the main character of the series, to the point that reading [the books] became difficult because I saw so much of myself in her. . . . I’ve always had issues with seeing my own value and believing I’m somebody people actually adore, and for that reason I had to get this tattoo. It’s my little reminder that I really do have worth, and that nothing is beyond my grasp. I have a more wonderful effect than I dare to realize.”

While Locke’s pro-self-esteem message is a little bit much for me, I do think her words, and the fanaticism of the series’s lovers, speaks to the power of stories in our lives–their power, maybe even, to change our lives.

When you look at the biggest pop-culture moments of the last decade or so, they all involve not just books, but books about good, evil, and, above all, heroes: Harry Potter, Twilight, and now The Hunger Games. These books are directed to a teen audience and they’re about young people who are suddenly burdened with very adult responsibilities–and who triumph through sacrifice and courage. Could you ask for a better moral message?