The Hunger Games: more than just a game
The Hunger Games (2012) starring Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen was nominated for forty-eight awards and took home thirty-three. The reason The Hunger Games is still relevant eight years after its release is the themes that are shown throughout the film. The Hunger Games explores a rich versus poor narrative through the themes of love and rebellion.
When The Hunger Games came out it inspired change and people to stand up worldwide. People were moved by the film and couldn’t get enough of it. The movie has a 84% review on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2 audience review on IMDb, which goes to show just how popular it is.
Author of the novels the film is based on, Suzane Collins, has announced that she will release a prequel to the franchise called Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in May 2020. This book will follow a young 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who goes on to become the tyrannical President of the Capitol and the antagonist of the original trilogy. This book, returning to the world of Panem five years after the release of the last film, makes now the perfect time to look back at the start of The Hunger Games craze.
Warning: spoilers ahead!
The film is set in a dystopian future where one city, called the Capitol, controls various other districts of people and keeps them in poverty as punishment for a past rebellion. Part of this punishment is an annual event, the “Hunger Games”, which sees a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 selected from each district to fight to the death in an arena until one victor remains, all for the amusement of the Capitol. The film begins in the 74th year of the games, on the day the tributes headed for the arena will be selected.
The movie opens in the hollows of district 12, our hero Katniss Everdeen’s home. Katniss’s family is very poor, and she has to hunt illegally past the district border in order to feed her family. The Hunger Games‘ rich vs poor narrative has the Capitol on top with the higher districts such as 1 and 2, while all those in the lower districts like 12 are impoverished. We see that despite her difficult upbringing of starvation and the loss of her father at eleven-years-old, Katniss is a strong and caring person. This is shown through her friendship with fellow illegal hunter Gale (Liam Hemsworth) and her protectiveness over her 12-year-old sister Prim (Willow Sheilds). As viewers, we see all the injustice Katniss faces and it helps us root for her as the protagonist. We want to see her rise up against the oppression she faces.
On reaping day, where they select the two children who will be sent into the arena, Primrose Everdeen is selected. In an act of love, Katniss volunteers in the place of her young sister. The other tribute selected is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a 16-year-old like Katniss. Love is one of the strongest themes in the film, and this scene highlights it’s importance. Without even hesitating Katniss offers up herself so her sister can live, believing it means her own death. The rich vs. poor divide in the society means that District 12 tributes are at a major disadvantage.
Peeta and Katniss leave their district for the Capitol to prepare for the arena, and find themselves in a world they’ve never known. When they arrive they discover that the Games are celebrated in the Capitol, and the tributes treated as celebrities. Katniss and Peeta are given more food than they have ever seen in their lives, going from almost starving to death to having more food than necessary. As viewers, the differences between the Capitol and District 12 couldn’t be clearer; the Capitol rakes in everything so those in the districts are left with nothing.
Throughout the brutal fight to the death, Katniss makes a friend with a young girl from district 11 called Rue, played by Amandla Stenberg. When they first meet in the games Rue helps Katniss escape from being trapped in a tree with deadly opponents waiting below to kill her, by pointing out a tracker jacker nest and telling Katniss to drop it on the tributes below. After this act, Rue and Katniss become friends and start to hunt and survive together, and viewers see again Katniss’s capacity for love. Despite knowing that only one of them can live, Katniss takes on a very small ally because she cares for her and wants to keep her safe. This in itself is an act of rebellion, choosing to help the girl that the Capitol wants her to view as an enemy to be killed. Rue is killed during a fight, Katniss sings to her and once she passes away, covers her body in flowers. This moment is another example of Katniss’s love for others overcoming the society that oppresses her by forcing her into poverty and into the Games.
Just as Katniss is mourning the loss of Rue, the Game Makers announce a rule change. Two victors can be crowned if they are from the same district. This means Katniss and Peeta can win together, she just has to find him. When she tracks him down she finds him dying from blood poisoning. The only way he will survive is with a medicine they have no hope of getting in the arena. When the Capitol announces that they have the gifts for each district and to get it the tributes will have to meet to get their various packages, Peeta doesn’t want Katniss to go. They both know that the gifts are only to get the tributes together so more will die. Katniss, determined to keep Peeta alive at the cost of her own safety, leaves while he is asleep to get his medicine. It nearly costs her life, but she shows no regret with her decision. She shows only love for those around her, in rebellion of the Capitol’s wishes.
Once Katniss and Peeta are the only tributes left, the Capitol revokes the rule allowing for two victors. The Gamemakers are once again demonstrating their absolute power over all their subjects. In an act of love and rebellion, they decide to eat poisonous berries at the same time so the Games would have no winner at all. This act of rebellion resulted in the Gamemakers allowing them both to win and go home, but left the Capitol infuriated with their actions. This is a very powerful scene as it changes the Hunger Games forever, making a statement to the Capitol that tributes are not just pieces in their games.
I agree with the themes displayed in this movie and how the movie portrays them. Using love as one of the strongest themes throughout the entire movie is what kept me hooked right from the start. It gave the viewer a reason to be invested into Katniss and Peeta and bite your lip, hoping they both survived the unlucky odds. The rich vs. poor theme didn’t sit well with me, having to watch district 12 and everybody in it be destroyed by the Capitol. The Capitol gave little to no care or support to the lower districts as they were less fortunate. Although the theme and the way it was portrayed didn’t sit well with me it was displayed accurately. It shows the reader how unlucky some people are in real life and how people with less money are treated by people who have everything. The movie really emphasised this theme by showing their power and control.
Watching the poison berry scene for the first time compared to watching it now I experienced the same emotions, which shows the power and emotion portrayed in this scene by using the themes of love and rebellion. Overall, The Hunger Games is a great all-round movie with strong and powerful messages that everyone can benefit from. The Hunger Games shows it doesn’t matter where you live or how rich you might be, anyone has the power to overcome injustice and win their personal battles.
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