Within the arena of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins explores the ways in which the need to survive moves humans to commit acts of violence, cruelty, and ruthlessness. The establishment of the games' brutal environment allows Collins to then enlighten readers on how such brutality exists outside of the arena as well.
The national televising of the games allows viewers to garner entertainment by watching the tributes die one by one, thus normalizing the ruthlessness that occurs on the television. For example, sponsors have the opportunity to bet on tributes as if they're racing horses. The betting system even causes tributes to alter their reactions to the deaths of their opponents, like when Katniss says, "I have to bury the real pain because who's going to bet on a tribute who keeps sniveling over the death of her opponents" (308). Her need to conceal her grief shows that for viewers of the games, it is unnatural for a tribute to display sympathy unless there is an explicit alliance. Additionally, the televising of the games causes viewers to seemingly forget the reality of the tributes' deaths. Viewers often solely focus on their reactions to the games instead of their consequences. Katniss even observes, "[e]verything is about [the viewers], not the dying boys and girls in the arena" (354). Thus, the entertainment aspect of the games desensitizes viewers to death and strips them of empathy and compassion.
Although reality programs with participant deaths do not currently exist, Collins' assertion that the entertainment industry often leads to desensitization and a lack of empathy holds true. When examining modern-day reality television, a 2011 Girl Scout Research Institute study reported that "78% of girls who watched reality TV thought gossip was a normal part of a relationship between girls, while only 54% of girls who didn’t watch it did" (Christensen). The effects of media on our tolerance of harmful actions can even be seen in readers' common responses to The Hunger Games itself. As of March 29, 20203, TikTok videos with the hashtag "teampeeta" have nearly seventy million views, and videos with the hashtag "teamgale" have about fifteen million views. While Collins' writing indeed fuels the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, it cannot be ignored that this aspect of the novel draws more of the target audience's attention, rather than the societal commentary at the heart of the novel.
The last sentence of the blog post is one that stuck out to me and I cannot help but agree on that statement that the love triangle is what powers the audience’s attention. When thinking about this, what the reader’s do is very similar to what the Capitol does during the games. The Capitol focuses on the romance between Katniss and Peeta rather than the fact that there are children getting forced to murder each other. The Capitol is so hooked by the “star-crossed lovers'' theme that Katniss later states that, “[o]ne kiss equals one pot of broth” (Collins, 348). Similar to the Capitol, the audience focuses on the love triangle instead of the themes of society. This aspect made me realize how as a society, we look past the things we do not want to see. It feels as if the Capitol’s overlooking of the whole Hunger Games and focus on the romance is a coping mechanism and it showcases the harsh reality of becoming desensitized to violence and brutality.
ReplyDeleteNot only does the Capitol become desensitized, but the outside districts as well. Gale sees no difference between killing animals and killing people. When he is wishing Katniss farewell he even asks “[h]ow different can it be really?” (46). From the annual watching's of the Hunger Games, Gale thinks that a human and animal life weigh the same as he is forced to watch the innocent killing of 24 people every year furthering the point on how entertainment has brought down a sense of morality and humanity.