Throwback Read: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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3/5 ducklings

tl;dr: child gladiators duke it out in the world's most brutal game of Survivor and one sociopathic girl manipulates the entire system and the feelings of one cinnamon roll boy to save her life.

This is the first time I've reread The Hunger Games in at least 10 years, but with two new books in the series, I felt it was time to revisit the series so I can finally read them, (and let's be honest, I'm really here to read about Haymitch).

Buckle up, my friends, this is a long one.

Ho-ly crap, y'all.  This is simultaneously way darker and more angsty than I remember and I am convinced Katniss is a sociopath. Literally on page 1 she threatens to drown her sister's cat. 

Reading this book at 34 hits different than reading it at 17. A lot has changed since then, the world looks very different than it did in 2008, and in a lot of ways it looks the same. Nevertheless, Suzanne Collins' social commentary is still razor sharp and as relevant as ever.

We all know the heart of The Hunger Games is a dystopic, fascist state that pits the children of the haves and the have-nots against each other as a way to perpetuate class warfare and control the population. When I read it the first time, the thing that stuck out the most to me was the literal children doing violence and committing murder and the lengths they would go to to survive. I thought it was about being brave, being smart, and standing up against tyranny, all themes that are still relevant today, probably more than ever.

Reading it this time, the thing that struck me most was the entertainment-ification of the news and the absolutely horrific events that happen on a daily basis. Of course there are the televised talk show interviews before and after the Games, the betting and the costumes, but what struck me was Katniss's ever-present refrain of "how will this look for the audience?" 

Once she leaves District 12, and especially once she's in the arena, she makes a lot of her decisions based on what she thinks the people watching in the Capitol want to see and what would make for good TV. It's especially prevalent in her interactions with Peeta, of course, but at one point she moves on from her hiding spot in a tree because she knows it's difficult for the cameras to see her there in the dark.

The only event for which Katniss gives no thought to how she looks to the cameras is when she is singing to and burying Rue.

In 2008, reality TV had been in the cultural zeitgeist for decades with things like The Dating Game and Antiques Roadshow, but it didn't really hit its stride until about 2000. That's when you get shows like Survivor and Big Brother, we got The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, Extreme Makeover, The Osbournes, American Idol, and The Bachelor in 2002. The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered in 2006. 2007 gave us Rock of Love, Charm School, and more talent search shows that I can name. So, yes, reality TV was popular, but it wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as it is today. And even still, Collins felt the need to make that commentary.

But this time around, I kept thinking about the rise of entertainment news shows like Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood. These shows in particular give the illusion of consuming news, but really provide a distraction from events in the real world. I feel similarly about the comedian led news shows like Last Week Tonight and The Tonight Show, they allow us to keep a distance between us and the events they report on so we don't have to feel the weight of them.

Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with watching these shows. I love Last Week Tonight. But they are prime examples of turning news into entertainment.

But the biggest culprit is social media, because Facebook is terrible. In a space that puts engagement above all else, above facts, truth and objectivity, of course news and politics become little more than entertainment. News stories have shifted slowly but surely, to use punchier headlines, snappier writing, network news has higher production value and slicker graphics, more non-hard news segments.

And now, with a reality TV star sitting in the White House, this trend has moved beyond how we consume the news to the news makers themselves. The President makes decisions like he is still on the set of The Apprentice, despite the fact that it has been off air for nearly a decade. American politics has become a game of achieving the biggest, most sensational headline, of winning this news cycle with no regard for the next, let alone any long term ramifications. Every day, we watch atrocities unfold before us online and on TV, and once the During a presidential debate, while we should be asking the highest elected official in the land about the policies, we are instead talking about what they were wearing. We turn them into spectacles, highly produced and programmed, almost to the point of meaninglessness.

This is a theme I have noticed in a lot of media lately. Disney's Andor has a subtle and well executed commentary on this as well, both Star Trek and The Wire make similar commentary. I was talking to another author about their book and noticed it as well, though it was not a conscious choice to include it. I think it's something that is seeping into niche media as a canary in the coal mind, much like how the horror genre reflects societal fears before society understand what it fears itself. By the time it reaches the mainstream discourse, it will be too late.

This is a trend we need to wary of, it's the first step down a path that completely inures us to the horrors of the world, that distracts us so much that we don't notice the complete erosion of the best parts of our society until they're gone. It's bread and circuses. This entertainment-ification is a distraction, it's meant to make us feel like paying attention to news and politics is silly and irrelevant, it's meant to keep us from thinking critically about what our leaders are doing and keep us talking about Hilary Clinton's pants suits instead.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying celebrity gossip or fashion or reality TV, but it cannot come at the cost of engaging with the news and doing your part as a citizen of this country. As a citizen, it is your duty to be informed about your leaders, what they're doing and what they stand for. A democracy cannot function without an informed electorate, we are responsible for informing ourselves about what is going on in our backyards, out country and the world. We cannot hold out leaders to account unless we know what they're doing and how their decision impact our communities. And we know what our leaders are doing because it gets reported in the news.

So, the moral of the story is this: pay attention to the news, know what your elected officials are doing, and don't let the glitz and glam and bombast distract you. We cannot be placated with bread and circuses.

The world of The Hunger Games is not a democracy, Katniss does not get to vote for her leaders, so to a degree, it matters less that the gruesome mechanisms of control have been made into a game show. No one voted President Snow into office, no one chose him. We get a say in who leads us, which makes it all the more important that we see through the distractions to the hard truth that lies beneath.

One last note: if your first reaction to what I've said is anger and you're not willing to think long and hard about why that is, you can see yourself out. There is no room here for ignorance or bad faith arguements.

#TheHungerGames #Breadandcircuses #MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavor #sorrynotsorrythisgotpolitical