WEEK THREE December 12th, 2014
'The Hunger Games': A Commentary on Society
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexander-vassiliadis/hunger-games-commentary-o_b_1385223.html
Vassiliadis, A. (2012, March 29). 'The Hunger Games': A Commentary on Society. Retrieved December 11, 2014
"Many book critiques today would agree with the assumption that The Hunger Games is more than just a story about two young heroes that face various challenges and eventually fall in love. It can be obviously recognized that The Hunger Games as a novel is Suzanne Collins's successful commentary on modern-day society," said Alex Vassiliadis of HuffingtonPost.com. The Hunger Games is quite a controversial series, and the first movie premiered in theaters in early 2012. There were many mixed reviews about the movie, most of them expressing their feelings on how the story resembles modern-day society, as well as the dark themes included in the film, such as various aspects of present-day culture. "Some of these aspects include the obsession with outer beauty, obsession with reality television, and of course, wealth versus poverty." The Hunger Games is about a dystopian world that is under control by what is called "The Capitol," and they are the richest of the rich. Their world is called "Panem" and there are 12 districts that exist in this country. There was a war just short of 100 years ago, and after the war came peace, but at a price. Every year, a male and female tribute from each district is sacrificed to the Capitol, where they will fight to the death on national television in an arena created by the government. The last one standing becomes the victor, and goes on to live a very wealthy life.
Many people have expressed their views on this story, as it has really amazed them. "The Hunger Games take the concept of "reality TV" and successfully blows it up in society's face. The book depicts a culture whose most epic form of entertainment is watching teenagers brutally kill each other. What is Collins trying to tell us? Are we blind to the very fact that our entertainment today is elevating due to popular demand, and soon we won't have control?" The film shows young teenagers brutally killing one another, because they're simply forced to, so they can live another day. What does this mean? How is this supposed to be received by the public? This is definitely not supposed to be taken lightly. This story is quite dark, and I definitely believe that there are hidden elements in this film that are supposed to be received as a wake-up call for us to realize how dangerous our society is becoming.
Personally, I loved this movie and I love this series. It's different. There have been countless other novels and movie adaptations of stories about dystopian, futuristic worlds (Divergent, etc.) but this one definitely stand out. The world described in this story is just fascinating, and it really just makes you think. I truly believe that this movie is supposed to resemble how frightening our world is becoming. When I start to think about it, I realize that Suzanne Collins, the author of these books, is really trying to tell us something. We all know that reality television is taking over, and it's getting worse and worse by the minute. "People need to take a step back and realize that if these types of exaggerated media were to evolve into something bigger and a bit more ludicrous -- based on historical data showing the magnitude of violence in films and video games today -- who says that a reality TV show in which kids come together and fight to the death is really out of modern-day society's reach?" I whole-heartedly agree with this statement. Our world is so violent. Who knows what could happen in the future? When I think about the reality television shows that exist today, it feels awful to know that this trash is being put out into the world so other people can get some pleasure out of it. Our society has been changing for years now, and it doesn't show any signs of stopping. Movies like this, that have hidden messages in it to try and tell us something, are actually a good thing. It makes us think about what's happening. Nothing is more frightening than simply the fact that people could be completely unaware of all the horrible things going on in the world.
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