In response to Inky, with book#1 spoilers
Not sure if these qualify as spoilers, but still, better safe than sorry.
The book (I've only read the first one), or movie doesn't justify killing, and its audience knows well that is exactly what makes the system so horrible. The very fact that any system would put children in an arena is sickening.
But as Peeta says, even in such circumstances, he wants to keep something of himself. He wants to show the system that, even though they put him in an arena to kill, he's not going to change to please the powers that be. In the first book she only killed twice, firstly in a fit rage when she saw Rue wounded (fatally) by another competitor, and the second time she kills Cato out of mercy. In the first time it is instinct, and self defense, and honestly, I can't say I wouldn't do the same. Not that it wasn't terrible, but that it was human. And the second time, as tragic as it is, it qualifies as neither evil nor twisted.
I think what's so powerful about this book is that, even though the world they live in is very messed up, the main characters struggle to cling to humanity. For example, even though she knows that only one survivor would be left, Katniss still builds a genuine friendship with Rue.
As for being popular (since you mentioned it in passing), Katniss does indeed cater to the audience of the games, but not because she wants to be popular or because she likes the attention. She does it purely to stay alive.
In a less extreme case, I tend to keep my mouth shut around those who are attempting to shove their political views down my throat, not because I fear being disliked by them, but I'm not one to cause meaningless trouble. I might even nod and smile if I thought that would get me out of the room sooner.
If it were a matter of life and death, I might even be willing to go further than merely nodding and smiling (depending on the situation). Would I be catering to an audience? Yes. Am I trying to be popular? I assure you, no.
Admittedly, the book is pretty dark, and I was initially worried about the morbid concepts behind it. But I thought the author handled it very well, and it is a very human book. Not everyone can read something like this, just as not everyone enjoys action movies, or horror stories. But that does not mean it is not a good book. It is not good for the fact of putting children in an arena of death, it is good because the children strive to be human even in such circumstances. The book does not pardon these circumstances, but condemns them.
As for the trauma that such circumstances cause, I have not read the last two books, so I wouldn't know how well the author handles it. However, in her defense, Katniss is a hunter, and therefore more used to bloodshed. Naturally, humans and animals are on completely different levels, but years of hunting would serve to ... numb her senses. And years of watching the games also. It's a very cynical world they live in, and genuine emotions are a luxury too many cannot afford. But as I've said before, the author does not endorse this world, but condemns it.
Furthermore, emotionally crippling the main character would severely limit the development of the second and third books.
To summarize (and repeat), the books do depict a very dark and very messed up world. But its merit is that the characters remain very human even in such a twisted world, and they still strive to cling to what is right and admirable and beautiful. That's why it's so powerful.
If we cannot admire a book for the fact that it is set in a completely messed up world, I would say that we would be hard pushed to admire any book, since the very world we live in is completely upside down.
And as Mr. Whittaker Chambers said in his autobiography
Witness (I love Chambers and I jump on any chance to quote him
), "Crime, violence, infamy are not tragedy. Tragedy occurs when a human soul awakes and seeks, in suffering and pain, to free itself from crime, violence, infamy, even at the cost of life. The struggle is the tragedy - not defeat or death."
I don't know the ending to the books, as I've only read the first one. But I do know that the books are not about "crime, violence, and infamy," but about the human struggle.
P.S. Forgive such a long rant. I haven't been able to really talk about the movie till now, so pent up thoughts spilled over...