Levi Wortley
Logan Denney
Discussion Group
9-22-12

Our Society VS. The Hunger Games

Now in the film The Hunger Games there are a lot of themes that mirrored in our society today. First and foremost there is the politics of Panem. The government, or “The Capitol,” is corrupted. Their control over the country “Panem” is very iron like in the fact that they control everything from resources to where you can go and what you can do. After awhile of this the districts get fed up and rebel. The capitol succeeds in quelling this rebellion and then to prevent any more rebellions actions or from being embarrassed, they, the Capitol, ensure their power/superiority over their people through a “holiday” they created called the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is a fight to the death between two tributes from the twelve districts displayed on a television program which is mandatory and to be enjoyed. One of the themes that's present in our society and the movie is the obsession with celebrities and fame. I found myself finding a lot of similarities between the Hunger Games contestants and those on shows like American Idol and The Voice. Both have stylists that dress them up to make them look more dazzling and attractive, and both have mentors that help guide them through the process. There is a spectacle of fashion, makeup and style that has gone wild within the “elite class”. The style and fashion of the “elite class”(people who live in the high-tech cities of Panem) seems to be echoed right out of a modern-day parade. People are adorned with bright, excessive clothing and garnishing, and they're painted up in bizarre makeup and hair color. They literally prance around like frolicking maniacal members of royalty, and they experience great joy from causing others to suffer. The government-worshipping elite class see themselves as intellectually superior to everyone else, yet they lack any real-world skills. They also lack anything resembling ethics, and they see nothing wrong with cheating or lying their way to positions of ever greater power in their warped society. Just like in today society of people doing horrible things to each other just to scrape out a living. One can’t help but notice in this film that the elite class of frolicking government worshipers is the logical extension of today’s irrational worship of government as the savior of society. When government is put in charge of everything, the People are forever enslaved. And that seems to be the goal of the government-worshipers in society today, the ones who desire to make all people dependent on the government, hand over all power to the government, and destroy individual human liberties (and the Bill of Rights). It is no coincidence that the enslaved masses in The Hunger Games are entirely disarmed and only the government is allowed to own high-tech weaponry. This is a key condition of the leftist “anti-gun” group observed in society today, which says that all guns should only be in the hands of government, not individuals. Such a central concentration of weaponry in the hands of corrupt government, of course, only leads to tyranny, as history constantly shows. One of the major themes in the Hunger Games is feminism. Katniss Everdeen is a female hero following in the lineage of model figures in the bible such as Ruth and Esther. Katniss is also seen as defying the norm of gender roles. she demonstrates both "masculine" and "feminine" personality traits evenly in the movie. Katniss is certainly a fantasy figure, but in part what makes her so influential, and what I suspect, makes her so significant to a lot of girls and women, is that she's one of the truest feeling, most complex female characters to hit American movies/books in a quite some time. She isn't passive, she isn't weak, and she isn't some random girl. She's active, she's strong and she's the girl who stimulates this fairy-tale. What I mean is, that character Katniss is an abrupt departure from the clichéd portrayal of women as being innately submissive or helpless. One of the film’s biggest triumphs is a young female protagonist with character who is not afraid to stand up for what she believes is wrong.

The last theme is ubiquitous surveillance. There are cameras and listening devices planted everywhere in Panem. Even before Katniss enters the games, she's aware that most of the time her movements are being observed. After she enters the games she has no privacy; a tracking device is implanted in her arm and every move Katniss makes is broadcast on TV. No matter where she goes or how good she is at running the government or the Capitol will always be watching. One example in today’s society is the show Big Brother. This is a television show that allows the opportunity for regular people to watch and analyze how people react when forced into close confinement with people who lie outside their comfort zone. The results can range from violent or angry confrontations, to genuine and tender connections thus providing entertainment to the public. This is also seen in the Hunger Games but in a much more drastic way instead of just watching people interact with each other, the citizens of the hunger games get to watch what happens when people try to kill one another. When the “big brother” issue come in to play is when the tributes are not fighting and there aren’t any deaths. Then for the sake of the show the Gamemakers have to throw in some sort of threat be it tracker jackers (genetically altered wasps whose venom causes people to go mad) or a forest fire just to keep things exciting. When will this come in to play in real life? From the looks of it soon. It is only a matter of time and then the government will finally decide what I can and cannot do.