Secret Sisters singing duo — Church of Christ members — break out on ‘Hunger Games’ soundtrack

Rolling Stone reports on the Secret Sisters, a duo who got their start singing a cappella in church and still can be found in the pews of the North Carolina Church of Christ in Killen, Ala.:

Two years ago, Laura and Lydia Rogers had no expectations for a life as professional musicians . Then Laura floored a producer at a Nashville audition and they became the Secret Sisters, a bluegrass duo in vintage dresses out of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, who have recorded with T Bone Burnett and Jack White, toured the world, and last week walked the black carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games, which includes their haunting folk ballad “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder.”
The song was produced by Burnett for his soundtrack of soulful Americana and distopian rock for the highly anticipated film, which opens nationwide on March 23rd. “It was the first movie premiere that we had ever gone to, so we were like a deer in the headlights,” Laura Rogers, 25, told Rolling Stone of the scene, which had the sisters mingling with actors Jennifer Lawrence and Donald Sutherland, and singers Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift. “Of course the crowd weren’t screaming for us, but they were still screaming. We were like, Wow, what are they yelling about?”

Read the full report.

• Feedback
  I wonder if they had a choice if their song appeared in this film. The plot of the film is this: The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive. I don’t think we want to celebrate this film in any way as Christians. The dulling down of our convictions is chronicled in the book The Destruction of Faith.

  Kenneth Morvant

  March, 27 2012

  Maybe not celebrate the “killing” part of the movie, but in the grand scheme of things–this movie is incredibly clean (regarding sexuality and vulgarity). Much more than most prime time series on TV..do we also reject them and all sporting events? Somewhere around 6+ million people saw this movie on the first two nights. I rather doubt they had to convince anyone to purchase rights to a song sung by two such angelic voices. Also a major emphasis of this movie is an older sister laying down her life for her younger sister & searching for a way to end the games. Instead of ignoring it–I suggest we engage, read, view it…and then use it as a connection with our friends and neighbors to speak of the ultimate sacrifice.

  Mike

  March, 27 2012

  Amen to what Mike said!

  Linda Doyle

  March, 27 2012

  I would rather celebrate the multitudes of innocent christians who were slaughtered by the gladiators and wild beasts without fighting back in the early days of Christianity. Their sacrifice did more for the survival of Christianity than any movie might. See it if you will, but I don’t think we can celebrate this movie as some Christian example. We have enough young people hurting and killing others in the real world without creating a generation numbed to the concept of murder and death.

  Kenneth Morvant

  March, 27 2012

  Besides adding another “amen” to what Mike said, I would also add that this movie should provide food for thought for many issues facing our society. Having seen this movie, it raises issues about reality games/TV that are so prevalent today as well as the impact of war upon the individual forced to fight. I hope that the issues the movie raises do become part of meaningful discussion and reflection.

  BJ

  March, 27 2012

  I saw the movie and liked it. Killing isn’t glorified in it; caring is. I also bought the soundtrack and am happy to read about these sisters whose music is being heard. I love that track!

  Beth Dickey

  March, 27 2012

  I wanted to throw some support Kenneth’s way. Pure religion includes keeping ourselves from the world’s corruption (along with taking care of widows and orphans) according what James wrote. Also, Romans 12:1-2 talk about breaking out of the “group think” established by the world. I’m not gonna fault any of you who think through your decision to go. Just make sure you’re thinking. Don’t be a lemming and let Hollywood decide what is entertaining. I’ve heard groups both Christian and secular question the wisdom of junior high school field trips to see the movie. One day we’re worried about a pre-teen blasting his classmates with a shotgun, then the next we’re taking kids to a violent movie with kids killing kids. Say the violence not glorified or whatever (that’s a judgment call, and I fear our senses are numb to violence), but it is really inconsistent.
  SIDE NOTE: The reason I say our senses are numb to violence comes from an experience I had after my dad’s death about 10 years ago. (I was 36 at the time.) It was very difficult on me, didn’t know you could hurt so bad. I went to the movies in an attempt to break my train of thought. I went to an action movie, which was a bad choice although I didn’t think it through since usually I would enjoy such. In one shooting spree early in the movie I kept thinking to myself (screaming on the inside), “Don’t they know these guys have families that will miss them so bad?!!!” The emotional state I was experiencing based on mourning the loss of my dad made me sensitive to the violence more than usual. Been trying to keep that in mind since then.
  Anyway, I’m probably getting “preachy” so I’ll stop. I just wanted to throw some support Ken’s way. Even if you don’t agree with him or make a different decision regarding your patronage of this film, the points he raises are quite valid and should be given a proper consideration instead of the quick dismissal they seem to be receiving as people rush along to see a movie they’ve pre-decided they’re going to see.
  The tomb is empty!
  One day mine will be too.

  Gerald ‘G’ Franks

  March, 28 2012

  Yesterday, because of all the hubbub, I viewed “The Hunger Games.” I was completely blown away by the theme of teenagers slaughtering one another and the suicide pact at the end. When youth watch violence, they tend to act out violence. In the past two weeks we have had a two copy- cat crimes in our area directly related to the teen movie, “Project X.” Teenagers took over a foreclosed property and threw a massive party with invites sent through Facebook and twitter. Alcohol- laced punch was served and hundreds of teens showed up. Before the party was over, one teen was shot and killed. Last week in Magnolia, a young man killed his parents and brother. He had been killing animals and studying the Columbine high school killings and was intending to attack a Magnolia high school.
  Christ followers should not willingly fill their minds with this type of reading and viewing. It is a dulling of our minds to the evil in the world. God tells us that we are to think and see things that are good for our minds.

  Judy Warpula

  March, 28 2012

  Haven’t read the books nor seen the movie, but I found the Plugged In (Focus on the Family) review insightful. The reviewer suggests that the movie critiques our cultural tendencies toward violence and is “a scathing indictment of our often manipulative and crass media culture.” I’ve also read elsewhere that this movie is a call to thinking more about where the growing interest in “reality” television programming might be taking us.
  http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/hunger-games.aspx

  Greg Fleming

  March, 28 2012

  Since we’re speaking of movies, I want to put a plug in for “October Baby.” If it’s showing in your area, please go see it. It’s a wonderful story of life, love, and forgiveness, and you won’t have to worry about foul language or violence. (And too, the little baby shown at the end of the movie is my granddaughter!) Go to www.octoberbaby.net to see the trailer and more information. The Lord bless each of you.

  Donna R

  March, 28 2012

  Reading the comments, I am beginning to think that the underlying issue is more than the intrinsic value(or lack of value) of the movie Hunger Games but rather the question of how much engagement in our culture is appropriate for a Christian. Do we totally isolate ourselves from the culture we live in or do we participate in such a way that we are the “light” and “salt”. And if so, what does this participation look like? Will it or can it be the same for every Christian since each of us have different susceptibilities to the various temptations around us.

  BJ

  March, 28 2012

  Donna: You may not have seen it, but we have a <a href=”https://christianchronicle.org/blog/2012/03/review-upcoming-film-october-baby-tackles-abortion-without-politics-or-condemnation/” rel=”nofollow”>review of “October Baby”</a> by our Reviews Editor, <a href=”https://christianchronicle.org/staff136~Kimberly%20Mauck” rel=”nofollow”>Kim Mauck</a>, on our blog now.

  Erik Tryggestad

  March, 28 2012

  I have three teen/young adult daughters and have read the book because they are interested it in. The oldest has seen the movie and thought that it was well done and I will probably go see it when it gets to a cheap theater. Our young people are faced every day with violence, sex and pretty much everything ungodly–I would rather that we read/see things like this than refuse to face the reality of the society that we live in. It’s naive to think that our kids won’t see or hear of things like this (and mine have been fairly protected as we homeschooled them and have not allowed R rated movies to be in our home). Raising kids these days is hard, so parents have to pick and choose what their kids are exposed to. I read that the author of the series was watching sports and a reality show (flipping back and forth) when she came up with the idea to write of a future where we are so hardened to violence and death (sin) that it results in a reality show involving killing each other to survive. This has been a great starting point on discussing with my kids how we as Christians should act differently. I agree that we need to try to stay pure, but unless we move to a desert island, we will have to dealth with the realities that are all around us.

  Lynne

  March, 31 2012

  I haven’t yet seen the movie, but the book was excellent, and actually did not glorify violence. To the contrary, the main characters are shown as being disgusted by the process. They are forced by their government to view these ‘games’ and no one is interested in ‘playing’ the game. The ‘games’ are used as manipulation by the government to control the masses. The two follow up books (which I have yet to read) deal with the populace rising up against the government in reaction against everything that the ‘hunger games’ stand for. As for the ‘suicide’ pact at the end, the book makes clear that it was never the characters’ intentions to kill themselves, but rather to force the ‘game masters’ to make good on their promise to allow both of them to win.
  I actually feel that it is important for mature Christians to see this movie, or read the book so that good discussions can be had with teens who will be seeing it. We cannot withdraw from our culture if we want to be the salt and light that Christ has called us to be.

  Dawn Mathias

  April, 2 2012

  I agree with Dawn Mathias. In the book the children did not want to be chosen as a “player” in the hunger games. They were forced to play by a controlling evil government. As a librarian of an elementary school who found that a previous librarian had purchased these books, it was a concern to me as the kids began to show an interest in the books as to whether the books were suitable material for them to read. So I read all of them and also viewed the movie. There is a dark element in the books and the movie. It is the controlling evil government that forced kids to fight other kids to the death. It was the same evil government that broadcast the games to their entire nation as a way of controlling the poor hungry people in their county while those in power lived in the lap of luxury. The second and third books of the series are about the uprise of the those people who had had their freedom taken away who rose up to over turn the evil government and to seek again their freedom.
  There are scenes of great sacrifice as a sister volunteers to take her younger sisters place in the games. There is the scene of the main character caring for a younger player and trying to keep her safe as well and the touching scene when the young one is hurt and dies and the sadness that is felt by the main character at the young one dies. She honors the fallen player with flowers and honors her district with a salute of love and concern for the loss of their child from their district. So no, I do not think these book nor the movie glorify teens killing teens.
  But because there is some graphic depiction of killing, we decided in our school to pull the books and to have the students to get permission from their parents if they wanted to allow their child to read the book. Personally, I think these books are more suited for older kids or adults who can grasp the under lying themes and see that the main characters opposed killing and did not glorify it. I
  You know there are some pretty graphic things in the Bible like rape, murder and adultery,and killing . These things are not glorified either, but they are opportunities to teach our children about evil in the world.

  June S

  April, 3 2012

  I just finished reading the book (haven’t yet seen the movie) and found it to be a quick read. It’s the kind of book that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go until the end � and leaves you wanting more. (I’ll probably read the other two parts of the trilogy as well.)
  Dawn and June, you make some great points. What really jumps out at me in the book is the contrast between rich and poor. You’ll notice how the author (speaking through the protagonist) goes into long, vivid descriptions of the food she’s served by the wealthy residents of the Capitol, who are preparing her to fight to the death against other poor people.
  After several years of reporting <i>The Christian Chronicle’s</i> <a href=”https://christianchronicle.org/article2159358~Global_South%3A_About_this_series” rel=”nofollow”>Global South</a> series, that imagery really resonated.

  Erik Tryggestad

  April, 4 2012