Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor.
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
The modern dystopian novel Hunger Games feature the society hosting annual games which can only end by the death of 23 teenagers. The brutal game allows one to be the final winner, who is at the same time the only survivor of the event.
The Hunger Games seem to be a violent but fair game. Every event follows the rule: the survival of the fittest. The crown goes to the most clever, strongest, and bravest of all. Those who have been trained to be the fittest, like the ones from District 1 or 2, are obviously much more suitable for the game. At least this is what the game seems to be.
In reality, the Hunger Games is the survival of the fittest but also run by politics. The players from each district are sponsored from every action made in the game, which is unmistakably also affected by their home districts. All are filmed 24/7, and there is no way to escape the broadcast. The best way to win the game is to be loved by the sponsors, to stay fit, and cruelly deceive others.
Describing it like a life-death matter, the games seem like a distant and barbaric matter. Yet this is not so different from what we see in our daily lives. Placing oneself before the camera has become a prevalent culture. Watching them, commenting, and sharing thoughts are common reactions to it - regardless of platform, on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and etc. A lot of people chose to take the road as their career - in recent years there has been a huge increase in YouTubers and celebrities. And when the broadcasting becomes forced and uncontrollable, that's when the person loses control on themselves.
Though no one is safe from this new 'Big Brother', celebrities would be the most prone to this new Hunger Games. Respected to be consumed, every aspect of life is watched. The places they go, things they eat, words they say are observed and written down, to be consumed again later on. Indeed, it is the path they chose, yet not many end up being satisfied. A lot suffer from anxiety and panic disorder, not to mention that many end up committing suicide.
Although the 'Big Brother' may have triggered this situation, it was not it, but the consumer's actions that led to the status quo.
'Big Brother' only plays the role of broadcasting the games. It is the customers who look for the content, enjoy, and rate them. The fault lies in no one - there are only rights given, no responsibilities. In other words, the celebrity who exposes thyself is the sole person to undertake all the burden created.
In Hunger Games, Katniss tries to commit suicide with Peeta when the director of games would not let both of them live. This public couple's 'fake' suicidal attempt symbols many things - it indeed may be a simple trick to gain public attention and to create the universal sympathy, but it also might have represented the will to escape the situation that they have 'voluntarily' entered.
The Hunger Games may have not intended to devour the lives of the participants, but it is evident that the results are turning out to be fatal to at least, someone in the cycle. Yet, it is evident that real life is no Omelas - there is no need for setting new tributes to the modern Hunger Games.
Though no one is safe from this new 'Big Brother', celebrities would be the most prone to this new Hunger Games. Respected to be consumed, every aspect of life is watched. The places they go, things they eat, words they say are observed and written down, to be consumed again later on. Indeed, it is the path they chose, yet not many end up being satisfied. A lot suffer from anxiety and panic disorder, not to mention that many end up committing suicide.
Although the 'Big Brother' may have triggered this situation, it was not it, but the consumer's actions that led to the status quo.
'Big Brother' only plays the role of broadcasting the games. It is the customers who look for the content, enjoy, and rate them. The fault lies in no one - there are only rights given, no responsibilities. In other words, the celebrity who exposes thyself is the sole person to undertake all the burden created.
In Hunger Games, Katniss tries to commit suicide with Peeta when the director of games would not let both of them live. This public couple's 'fake' suicidal attempt symbols many things - it indeed may be a simple trick to gain public attention and to create the universal sympathy, but it also might have represented the will to escape the situation that they have 'voluntarily' entered.
The Hunger Games may have not intended to devour the lives of the participants, but it is evident that the results are turning out to be fatal to at least, someone in the cycle. Yet, it is evident that real life is no Omelas - there is no need for setting new tributes to the modern Hunger Games.
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