Hunger Games is a fictional film based
on the novel by Suzanne Collins. In the movie, there are twelve districts
subjected to the rule of the capital, which had won a war for control 74 years
in the past. The reparations for the war included the majority of the resources
produced and the volunteering of 2 tributes from each district, between the ages
12 and 18, to compete in the annual hunger games. The hunger games are violent
and miserable; in the end, only one of the 24 tributes survives each year. This
story is targeted at teens and young adults, but is relevant to all adults in
our society.
Effie Trinket, the escort of the
district 12 tribunes, is oblivious to the horror and struggle faced by Katniss
and Peeta because of her upbringing in the culture of the capital. While she is
bringing the tributes to the capital she is proud and excited to introduce them
to her lifestyle of wealth and excess. However, Effie is so materialistic and
caught up in her own consumption that she does not even notice the tribunes’
horror at the contrasts between their daily struggles at home and the
consumerism within the capital when they arrive. Effie’s ignorance highlights the
contrasting cultural values in the different societies.
Additionally, Effie’s obsession with
manners and elaborate outfits reveal the triviality of concerns within the
capital. This idea is further developed in a scene where a young boy is gifted
with a sword, like one of the weapons that the tribunes can use to try to
slaughter each other in order to survive in the games. Rather than being disturbed
at the present, his parents laughed and encouraged him as he play-fought his defenseless
sister. This reveals leading societies’ tendency to encourage of indiscriminate
dominance over “weaker” people and governments. Again, the societal disregard
for the tribunes’ lives reveals the disconnection between the capital and the
outside world, in a similar way to the disconnection between first world values
and third world values in contemporary society. The Games themselves represent
the commodification of human lives and emotions. In the movie, the devaluation
of individuals is both a cause and an effect of the instability of society as a
whole. As Effie’s understanding of the world is limited by her culture and the
tribunes are suppressed by theirs, the film depicts the struggle between
individual people and societal machines, such as government and economics.
In the movie, the hunger games are run
by a special group of technicians. Their goal is to amuse consumers in the
capital and placate the citizens in the surrounding districts. The technology
is beneficial because of its entertainment value; however, it also allows
images and information to be edited by President Snow and his staff. Consumerist
interests and governmental control corrupted the media and limited the
information that the general public received. Similarly, in our society, consumer
and corporation funding of news programs limits the biases and relevant
programs produced in our media.
I think this movie choice is a really good one in a scene that it address the some of the stereotypical roles on how girls and boys should act and how they should dress. I agree with you with the fact that in the movie when those two brother and sister where playing and the boy try’s to kill his sister the parents just laugh at in and in this encourages the boy to keep on doing it. That was something that I thought play in the stereotypes that boys are supposed to act a certain kind of way which in this scenes would be being rough and strong and that girls are just to play with their dolls.
ReplyDeleteAwesome movie choice to analyze. I really like all of your points and they way you presented them and backed them up. Your writing flowed extremely well. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think you should also touch base maybe on how the people of the capital just want to be bought in a sense. All of the tributes have to put on a show and sell themselves to the people of the capital in order to have more benefits during the hunger games. Just like when they are hurt, someone who liked them will be likely to send them medicine to help them survive during the games. This shows a connection to society in the sense that society thinks that to get what you want in this world you have to please others.
Insia Ali
ReplyDeleteYou chose a very interesting movie to analyze. Your essay follows through on what you want the reader to realize about the values of society. You might also want to consider how in this movie, the society depicted is secular and Godless. Is it in a way trying to portray the outcome of what our society could become if there was no religion? Look at the value of a human life within this movie. The murder of the participants of the Hunger Game is mere entertainment to the folks of the Capitol. Does this have any connection to our society. So far, your essay is excellent in pointing out key beliefs of the society. Loved the Hunger Games movie by the way!
I am so glad that someone picked this movie! I hadn’t thought about it but analyzing this movie gives you a lot of ground to work with. I think that you did a good job at describing and analyzing Effie Trinket. I think though that you can stick more to what she means to the ultimate storyline instead of discussing the game technicians. You can examine how her presence and meaning reflects on their society as a whole. Effie looks at the tributes as an object in a game. Life of those in the districts is not a concern for those born in the capital. This is an amazing commentary on both what happens in the movie and how it reflects on our society now as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think your strongest point of this entire essay is pointing out the culture differences that the character Effie Trinket has to the main characters, but mainly how you connected it to our culture today in America. That is the most important part is identifying the reasons why we should even care the meanings in the movie if we cannot connected it to our culture today. Good job on that. Also I think you should tidy up the introduction to make it more clear and give it a larger background information and also try to make everything in present tense rather than past tense. Very good job on this draft and connected the dots to make to demostrate the larger picture and relate it to American culture. Also I think it would be wise to further explain values that this movie puts out.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great movie to analyze! I had never thought about the movie being about consumerism. Your analysis of Effie is great. She is extremely proud of her culture and seems oblivious of how different Peeta and Katniss see her culture. This difference can be seen by the abundance of food they are served on the train ride to the capital when food is scarce in their district. Effie doesn't seem to want to accept their behavior. As you said she's always concerned over manners and doesn't seem to understand why Peeta and Katniss don't seem concerned and aren't educated about proper etiquette.
ReplyDeleteFor your first world and third world comparison I would add the difference between the tributes from the capital and the ones from the other districts. The children from the capital are privileged; they do not have to work as hard as the other tributes just to survive on a daily basis. Thanks to this free time they are able to be trained and have an enormous advantage over the other tributes. The tributes from the capital don't seem to be afraid of the game they are about to participate in. From how the capital tributes acted in the movie it seemed to me that they saw the Hunger Games as a test to their skills that they would win; the only other real competition was the tributes from their capital.
The concept of the Hunger Games would be shocking and horrific in modern-day society. However, just as you conveyed within your essay, the amount of parallels between our actual society and the totalitarian society presented within the film is staggering. In fact, the violence occurring within our society today does not place our notions of morality far off from Panem's. Murder is most likely occurring at this very moment somewhere in the world. Just because our society does not publicize it as a television show does not mean it's not happening. Yet, most of us look the other way and pursue our own interests. Clearly, if we do not make serious changes, our world may result in a very similar condition as the Hunger Games. Also, if you're not aware already, check out Battle Royale. It's basically the same concept. Great book and a great film.
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