Greetings Friends and Fans of the Unreal! Magically Real HQ (consisting primarily of me, myself, and I) has been observing the HUNGER GAMES movie phenom with increasing interest. As of today, the movie has shattered box office receipts, and while that’s interesting, what is equally interesting and certainly more inspiring is the anti-hunger project launched by the Harry Potter Alliance and involving do-gooders from Oxfam to the American Jewish World service.
Can art and specifically fiction change the world? Plato said no, but folks like progressive philosopher Martha Nussbaum and leftist cinema scholar David James say yes. Slavoj Zizek thinks so too – I suspect – and he sees in mass media its ability to express “unknown known” – the unbearable truth that a culture knows but can’t quite bring to consciousness.
Magically Real invites you to share your experience of the Hunger Games, Harry Potter, or any unreal story that has changed your politics in a progressive direction but before you do that, we ask you to make a contribution to the charity of your choice. Please include info about where you contributed in your narrative.
To get the ball rolling, Magically Real has contributed $50 to the American Jewish World Service.
For more information on fandom and activism, go to the Imagine Better Project.
You can donate to Oxfam here:
or you can donate to end both hunger and dependence on foreign aid to the American Jewish World Service
Feeling really ambitious? Write or phone Lion’s Gate ( (310) 449-9200 or e-mail general-inquiries@lionsgate.com)
and Suzanne Collins (C/O Scholastic Books, Scholastic Inc.
557 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
(212) 343-6100)
and ask them to donate a big chunk of the proceeds to end World Hunger and Thirst.
Now — tell your story! Can’t wait to read.
Stephanie Barbé Hammer Writing (Un) Real 
While the Hunger Games may seem like a far fetched fantasy, there are clearly undertones which speak to the many egregious acts of world government today. It gives a peak at those living high on life vs the many who struggle just to put food on the table or receive basic health care. Is a yearly game in which children needlessly slaughter each other for the entertainment of the wealthy so much different than placing a gun in the hands of a 12 year old in the Congo? I can’t say it swayed my political views, but it certainly caused me to think of the many blessings I have, and the freedoms I often take for granted. (and of those who do not) In our country the people still have a voice…which is why I made a small donation to the Jewish World Services. Not everyone on our planet is so lucky.
Debi! Thank you so much for this beautifully written post. If all of us lucky ones just shared a little of the “surplus” we’d go a long way to helping out the world. YAY!