By 11:30 p.m. on March 22, the parking lot of the Bowtie Royale 6 was reaching capacity. Hundreds of teens flooded into the theatre to buy popcorn and claim their seats for the much anticipated midnight premier of The Hunger Games.
“I’ve been looking forward to this night ever since I finished the book in January,” said Shelby Schulman ’12. “I pre-ordered my ticket online weeks ago.”
The hype surrounding the Hunger Games has led to a comparison to Harry Potter, another movie which students lined up to view the midnight premier.
“It was fun and exciting to go see the movie at midnight but it definitely doesn’t compare to the hype for Harry Potter,” said Taylor McNair ’12. “It was a good story to follow though.”
As anticipation as built up among Hunger Games fans over past months, students speculated whether or not the film would match up to Suzanne Collins’ much loved book.
Elizabeth Courtney ’12 said she enjoyed the movie, but that because it is near impossible to convey the feelings that Collins’ writing conveyed, she felt the movie was lacking in some areas.
“I’d give the movie a B+ because they left out so many important details from the book,” Courtney said.
English teacher, Christina Richardson, and her Myth and Bible honors class were among those in attendance at the premier. Richardson’s students read the first in the Hunger Games series during class, and discussed the mythic themes that related to the curriculum.
“Our class was obsessed with the book and we’ve been planning to go to the movie as a class since we read the book,” said Kenzie Roof ’12. “Even Mrs. Richardson is so excited to go.”
Yet the late night presented a challenge for students and teachers alike in the morning.
“When my alarm clock went off this morning I was asking myself, ‘What have I done?’ but once I got to school I was energized,” Richardson said. “It was a unique experience to go as a class which I really enjoyed.”
As tired eyes arrived at school this morning after all of the excitement, many of them were tardy.
Attendance Secretary Patty McQuone said at least 40 students admitted to coming late due to a decision to sleep in, after coming home after 2:30 a.m. from the movie.
“I had about 80 parents leave messages on my machine today excusing their kids for being late,” McQuone said. “It’s so ridiculous. People who make these movies must not have kids because they wouldn’t have set this up on a school night otherwise.”
