Lessons from The Hunger Games Part 1

If somebody put real Hunger Games on tv or a webcast, would you watch it? Would you feed the monster and help it grow?

Suzanne Collins put, in my opinion, an allegory to our time in a book and on a screen. Ironically, it may only be lost in the mix of media messages for most people.I offer some thoughts on how the world of The Hunger Games is really parallel to our own. There are a lot of questions here to ask yourself, I am not really looking for people to give me their answers, some of these are quite personal. Just answer them to your God and yourself.



In the beginning, the game master, who has presumably climbed the ladder to that position over years, expresses how he rationalizes what he does. "It knits us all together," So the Hunger Games knit the people on Panem together, At what cost?
Whatever psychological positives Panem experienced with the games, the negatives were by far worse. They were "knit together" by the loss of their children, They were bound together by the fear it could be them, or a sibling, or a friend next. time. "Knit together" by the nagging possibility that it could be one of their children next year, When theyhad achild, theylived with the possibility tht child could be ripped from them and sent to the Hunger Games to - more than likely - die in pain and terror on live TV. Yes, strong bonds can form through tragedy, but that is no reason to deliberately put people, or oneself through tragedy.
The Lesson: What are you part of that you shouldn't be? What do you have to justify and rationalize in order to be a part of, perhaps to keep your job, a relationship or an identity? In what areas do you need to revolt?

Ellie was much the same as the game master. She stood before a crowd of people, mostly children, two of whom were about to be basically sentenced to death, at random, when she pulled their name out of a bowl. She lied to herself, and to all who saw her, by putting on a grand show, smiling and speaking as if it was a drawing for a grand prize. She saw a little girl screaming for her sister and a tearful sacrificing of one life for another. She smiled, looked on, made up a way to save face, and continued on with her act.
The Lesson: Is there anything in your environment you are intentionally ignoring? Is there anyone whose pain you justify by not looking at it? What about your own?

"May the odds be ever in your favor," Catchphrase. A tradition, "Culture," Something familiar. A joke, but powerful because of the emotions attached. It binds people together in the worst way, It binds people together on denial, in oppression, and in a type of willful, active complacency. They know the odds are never in anyone's favor. They know this show is an atrocity, they know there are victims living in the very same town.
The Lesson: What traditions do you need to question? What cliches do you need to stop being attached to and begin to move on from?

"They just want a good show."
The Lesson: What are we complicit with, in the name of receiving a "good show?"
Anorexia, emotional abuse, ravages on our own and others self-esteem, Brainwashing, sucked into a world of material obsession, and shallow standards passed off to us as "what we really need," by advertisers. Are you waiting for pop culture to change,and complaining about it,while continuing to consume it? Are you looking in the mirror hating what you see, reading all the magazines,wishing you were rich so you could buy all the junk to"fix" your perceived flaws off the shelves? Are you sizing up people around you by those standards? If so, Panem's not as mythical as you think - you live there.
Another Lesson: Who knows what kind of undue pressure we help place on the of entertainers who are far to young to be able to process it? How many child stars need to have breakdowns, before we realize the price they pay for our amusement? I want to see the day we can get used to having the children in shows be played by animation, like a lot of animals are now. No more Miley, Cyruses or Jonathan Brandises (he committed suicide) please.

"Crystal Chandeliers" Ellie seems to shift her focus to the pampering the kids get while they are awaiting their nearly certain death. What's pampering you to death? An abusive boyfriend? A drug dealer? How about a boss who is never actually going to promote you for the sacrifices you make? A lifestyle you know is wrong but are not repenting of anyway? Maybe a job that gives you tons of money and "stuff" while keeping you from your children or your life purpose? A credit card you can't put down, and soon will not be able to payoff? Panem's deception comes in many forms in modern life. Be honest and check your own.

"I understand what you're saying, I just can't afford to think like that."
What are you complicit with? What do you need to reevaluate. Anything? How certain are you about that answer, if you thought of one? Turning from some of these things is not to be taken lightly, any more than facing down the juggernaut of Panem's ruling elite was for Katniss, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.


More to come.
Godspeed