Hunger Games: Catching Fire Reaction Paper

Maria Felicia Naguiat
2011-17398

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the second installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy. The story picks up after Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark had already won the 74^th Hunger Games. The film is science fiction adventure. The many scientific and technological advances shown in the film play a crucial role the dystopian society the protagonists live in.

I believe the film may be viewed as a commentary of the past, present and the future. The dystopian society the film portrays is a reimagined representation on the societal issues we have had in the past and what our society faces currently. One of these issues is the stratification of the social classes. The Capitol is inhabited by the upper class that seem oblivious to the sufferings of those who are less fortunate than they are. They throw lavish parties and binge on food while there are many people in other districts who are dying of hunger. This is parallel to what has happened in the past and what is continuing in today. Another example is the Captiol’s use of the media and propaganda to control the masses. The Capitol may represent the government but I also believe that it can also be a representation of the conglomerates that profit from the ignorance they have instilled in the masses. The real life parallelism of the Capitol’s control on the media is what is currently happening in North Korea. I believe the film is also a commentary on the future because it serves as a warning to the present society. For me, the film is a glimpse into a future our society is heading towards to if we do not change.

Science, technology and society failed in the world of the 13 districts. Advances in science and technology were supposed to improve society however they were used to do the opposite. The advances in science could have been used to keep people alive longer and healthier, instead science was used to device ways to suppress the masses and kill people. Advances in technology could have been used to build a more efficient way to connect people to each other and access information easily but instead it was used to keep people in the dark. Society failed Panem because it used all of the advances of science and technology to pull back any improvements humanity could have had.