OB Based Analysis of The Hunger Games
Document Type:Essay
Subject Area:Cultural Studies
The film deals with these themes in a non-patronizing way which does not avoid the nastier features of the film’s subject matter. The setting of the film is on a North America which has been transformed wholly by civil war. It is centered on Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old. Katniss ends up having to participate in the hunger games, which is a deadly battle that is broadcast on the television to entertain the population. Every district countrywide must provide a boy and a girl to fight in the battle, and a good prize promised to the winner. To get this, they have to be as likeable as possible. Peeta realizes that they have to pretend that he and Katniss is a couple to achieve this. There is uncertainty as to the degree of the affection the two have for each other.
This makes this film a sort of a love story. However, there is some ambiguity and darkness to this, which makes the weight of the relationship between the two deeper. It is subjected to the rule of a minority group that is privileged. It can be argued that this is not about fear for the future but about a reflection about the present. The film represents tension and class struggle. The games that the boys and girls play are meant to entertain the upper-class people living in the capitol. There is a binary opposition between the independent people in the rural districts and the rulers. This puts Katniss in opposition to the president because she is able to command crowds. This is setting up the viewer for the struggle to dominate between the two and what is represented by them.
The president represents old, male hegemony while Katniss represents a youthful rebellion of a female. This is a characteristic feature of dystopian science-fiction, in that is shows the visions of a possible future and shows the idea of resistance to that future. As such, this is a film that encompasses all one can wish to see. The final interesting feature about this film that I noted in my reflection is that the film has no descriptive sex or violence. Part 2: Critical Analysis The Hunger Games shows a country that is ruled by an authoritarian regime that exploits the people in the rural areas in favor of the people in the city. Two children, a boy and a girl, have to be chosen from every district to participate in a war where they are expected to kill each other.
The person that remains alive of all the 24 that participate in the battle is regarded the winner and is given a special gift of wealth. The purpose of this part of the paper is to use the concept of power in the analysis of this society to show how the activities that take place in this country due to the influence of the people in power can be articulated. The main character in this film, Katniss, gets into the game as a volunteer to replace her young sister who had been chosen to participate. The fact that she is trained is why she is not chosen to take part in the hunger games. In analyzing the concept of power, the Marxist approach investigates all the social aspects. It considers human rights and freedom as the most important things in a society.
The Hunger Games is a story where the struggles of the poor lower-class people are shown as the rich who live in the city feed on their sweat. The districts got poorer and poorer from the first to the twelfth. The hunger games themselves were a depiction of the dominance and the power of the upper class. However, in the end, the lower class it is they that showed who was superior to the Capitol. Social mobility among the members of the lower class is hampered because of the idea of social dominance orientation which holds that inferior groups should stay where they are. This means that it is not possible for one to do anything to improve their status in the society. References McQuarie, D. Spaulding, M. The Concept of Power in Marxist Theory: A Critique and Reformulation.
Critical Sociology, 16(1), 3-26. Pratto, F.
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