What
is the one thing Katniss claims the "Games must not do" during her
time in the arena? Verge on dullness. The people in the Capitol build their
lives around different forms of entertainment: parties, makeovers, and—obviously—the
annual Hunger Games.
The
author of the blog seen here discusses an aspect of the Hunger Games series that I haven’t really looked at in depth: the
idea of extreme consumerism. It’s easy to mock the ostentatious and
materialistic lifestyles of the people in Panem’s Capitol. But when you really
look at the way they live, it isn’t much different from the way we live.
How
many of us watch reality shows on TV? Isn’t that exactly what the Games are, a
reality show? Reality shows are a major source of entertainment for people;
many people watch these shows in order to have a brief escape from their own
reality.
Through
Katniss’s prep team, we learn that the people in the Capitol really are
oblivious to many of the problems that are found in the rest of the country.
Collins basically warns the readers about the dangers of becoming so focused on
things like entertainment that they become ignorant of the real problems in the
world.
As
much as we fans of the Hunger Games
books and movies would like to say we aren’t like the people of the Capitol, we
can’t. A majority of the people in the fandom fit in the “1%” of people who
collectively have more wealth than the other 99%. We live in a society that
pushes us to consume. We want to buy the newest things and watch the newest
shows. Our lives revolve around entertainment—just like the lives of the
Capitol citizens.
Even
our love for the series seems hypocritical in a way. We see the premiers of the
movies, and then we go back to see it again. We become obsessed with the cast,
just as the Capitol people become obsessed with the victors of the Games.
So
I think this is the challenge for all of us: we need to find a way to satisfy
our desires for entertainment without becoming so overwhelmed with them that we
lose the reality around us.
If
our “Games” verge on dullness, we shouldn’t view it as a tragedy; we should
take it as an opportunity to realign our focus on the reality that we face.
I like this concept a lot. It made me think of something else: the fact that Katniss and Peeta come from the poorest district and are considerably the most normal and human. I didn't think about it before but Collins is very much like Henry Thoreau, who wrote that the marrow of life comes from things we can't buy. Well-written! :)
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