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Any time a bow and arrow play a prominent role in a Hollywood hit (think Braveheart, Lord of the Rings or Avatar) the 29-year-old Lancaster Archery Supply in Lancaster, Pa., gets a bump in business.
Charles Sykes / AP
Garrett Chamberlain participates in the youth archery league at Targeteers Archery in Saddle Brook, N.J on April 13, 2012. In schools and backyards, for their birthdays and out with their dads, kids are gaga for archery a month after the release of "The Hunger Games."
Charles Sykes / AP
Christa Mattessich, 7, retrieves her arrows after a round in the youth archery league at Targeteers Archery in Saddle Brook, N.J. Archery ranges around the country have enjoyed a steady uptick among kids of both sexes in the movie's lead-up, though 16-year-old heroin Katniss Everdeen, the archery ace seems to resonate with girls more than boys.
But this time, in the four weeks since the The Hunger Games hit the big screen, the 55-employee distributor and manufacturer of target archery equipment has seen sales increase in a “profound way,” says President Robert Kaufold, who chalks it up to tweens and teens interested in emulating the sharp-shooting heroine Katniss Everdeen.
Charles Sykes / AP
Nicole Donzella of Fair Lawn, N.J., 15, participates in the youth archery league at Targeteers Archery in Saddle Brook.
Indeed, the story has proven a fertile ground for entrepreneurs. Penned by Suzanne Collins, the plot involves a life-or-death game show in the post-apocalyptic future, where “tributes” from one of a dozen “districts” are pitted against the elements and each other. Full Story
Scholastic Books' David Levithan, who edited the infamous "Hunger Games," talks about the franchise's success.
Murray Close / Lionsgate Films
Jennifer Lawrence portrays Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games."
Leave a Comment:
So this is ok for children to do, but lawn darts are too dangerous. #Americanlogic
Well it's been a couple decades since i've played a good game of lawn darts, but i do recall that you stand facing each other whilst playing the game. Much like horseshoes, 1 player from each of the two teams are on opposite sides of the lawn and try to land a dart in a small target by lobbing it through the air. Afterwards, the other set of players takes their turn.
Unlike horseshoes, archery does not place your opponents at the targeted end of the field... It's not #Americanlogic, it just nostalgia and common sense.
I like the fact that more youngsters, and a few parents, are taking an interest in outdoor sports. It's a little more engaging than simulating it on a game console. Question: in the photo above, of Katniss, does anyone find it odd that the arrow is resting on her wrist as opposed to the junction of the top of her hand is and the bow? I declare CGI in this shot.
At first I thought my eyes were screwing with me...
Was wondering the same thing myself.
To answer your question, Jay, The long bow she is holding is not really a style of the english war bow, it has reflex/deflex limbs, but it looks to me that there is no arrow rest on the bow. Hence she is shooting off of her hand and using her finger as a sight to line up the shot.
I've been shooting traditional archery all my life. This technique is known as "Hollywood Archery", notice that the hold point is down by the neck, One can't hide the stars face while shooting!
Given the bow has no shelf, I assumed she was shooting off her wrist instead of her hand given she's wearing a leather jacket which would offer some protection.
so out of a movie expressing social critique where we are willing to sit idly by while children are killed, forced into armies, and sold into slavery...we laud increased bow and arrow sales?? amazing how ignorant we Americans are!!
the hunger games didn't really happen in america, however we have been trying to prevent it since 1776 and will proudly continue to do so.
good movie and book i recommend both.
Haha I would rather have my kids playing with bow and arrows than guns any day. Heck remember the thing with Romney and the ectosketch? That boosted ectosketch sales 15 times the average amount in the market.
@gvilleball.. If you don't like it here, go live somewhere else.
LordPyrinc - So you have never complained about anything? The whole point about America is that you don't have to go live somewhere else in order to express an opinion. As to the book and movie - a lot of the kids that are reading the book and seeing the movie, and I am talking 3rd and 4th graders, are way too young to really understand what is going on here. This story has boiled down to bows and arrows, and I doubt if many are discussing the context. Further, this is a lot like the situation where a few Americans are fighting our wars while the rest sit around, watch it on the news, and play soldier in video games.
@Cap'nJim.. It's not so much his complaint as his use of the words 'we' and 'ignorant'. If he wants to voice his opinion, then he should not include everyone else in his distorted reality.
Anyone notice that not one of these kids is wearing a wrist guard? Sooner or later they will learn the joy of the string scraping their arm. Not a fun thing especially on a compound bow.
Looks like someone has been preaparing for the hunger games.
If you have proper form you don't need a wrist guard when shooting a compound bow.
Rofl @ the girl in the orange shirt :D
Sorry Americans are not ignorant, and Archery is a great sport, that many teens are involved in, it teaches discipline and self respect. It is a great sport, just google archery tournaments and you wil be surprised to see how many archery tournaments there are every wekend.
So MSNBC has this picture on the front page and they are fine with the program? When a kid has an arrow sticking thru his hand or worse, they will be having their staff edit video to make it come off as some republican NRA show and everyone should boycott the sponsors who let kids near weapons.
Kids get hurt when they fall of their bikes, fall off their horses, get hit in the nose with a baseball, or cut their feet on glass at the beach. It's called LIFE. I'd worry more about things like cell phones, computers, and video games - and the negative effects that those things can have on their minds and ability to socialize - than I would about accidents related to the sport of archery.
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I was apalled at the book, so obviously a corporate young adult marketing program, well designed and executed, someone is happy, but that the youngsters suck it up is a reflection of parents inability,sadly, to provide their children with analytical skills. I am the youngster and I am the parent who only did his best. That the corp. released such a dumb Katlis the Archer photo is testament to the artificiality of the organization(Scholastic) and their effective use of marketing to the "lowest common dominator". Politics is the same.
Jim Johnson - you're probably right, as I'm sure you believe you are always right.
You shouldn't be "...apalled at the book". Pehaps being "...appalled by the book" would serve you better. Fix your sentence structure and punctuation, and even Katniss (or as you refer to her "Katlis") would be happy. But what do I know? My parents didn't provide me with the proper analytical skills.
There's nothing wrong with introducing kids to an individual sport that involves parental supervision.
Native Americans and folks the Far East have been using and teaching these skills for hundreds if not thousands of years.
If a kid manages to stick an arrow through his hand, something has gone seriously wrong.
Bill M. With a silly comment like that, you sound like you have never picked up a bow in your life......
Try it sometime.
that movie sssssssssssssssssssssssucked
I'm shocked at how outraged everyone is. I remember at the summer camp I used to attend, we got to try archery a couple times. None of the kids were trained at archery (except for the little lessons from the counselors) and the safety training consisted of, when we tell you to put the bow down, put it down, don't retrieve any arrows until we say so, and don't shoot when someone is even in the vicinity of the targets. As far as I can tell, no one's died yet and the camp is still going strong. Despite the fact that I never continued with archery, I always found it enjoyable to try. Give these kids a break and the organization a little credit. They're not allowing them to run around with loaded bows trying to shoot each other. Jeez.
My daughter is a nationally ranked competition archer. I am a certified archery coach. I am also an officer of our local JOAD (Junior Olympic Archery Development) We have been a part of this program for years and have attend competitions where there were over 1,000 youth archers. I have never witnessed an injury, not saying that it does not happen but archery has a lower injury rate than any other sport. Also, archers are held to a higher dress code and code of conduct than in any other sport. Any one who would like more information about youth or adult archery programs should go to the USA Archery web site.
There are A LOT of worse things kids can be doing out there than archery. Good for them. AWESOME MOVIE!
Bill Moron, Morin, whatever, go put your head in the sand and come out when you have learned some common sense.