DYSTOPIA IN THE GAMES

Dystopia in the Games

Morgan McCarthy
4/16/16
State College of Florida: Bradenton Campus

Author Note
This paper was prepared for Written Communications I (ENC 1101), taught by Professor
Bojanowski.

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Dystopia in the Games

Dystopian film genre is used to show audiences a very much possible, futuristic outcome
of the world as we know it. This genre explains the failed utopia and degeneration of a near or
far-off future that is dystopian (Booker, 2012). The Matrix, The Purge, and all of the Star Wars
movies are dystopian films. They focus on the vision of having a world where the complete
opposite of a perfect world, is the world that is lived in each of these films.
The In The Hunger Games (2012), the Capital (which is the government) hold an annual
game to entertain the richer people of Panem, where a male and a female from each of the
districts is chosen to participate. Katniss Everdeen is forced to participate in this battle that only
one person will survive. During her journey through the games she realizes that she has the
power to manipulate the games and makes sure the capital is aware of that.
Director Gary Rosss The Hunger Games, pinpoints all the necessary characteristics of a
dystopian film. There are certain scenes in the movie that emphasize the symbolism of an antiutopian world. The film shows us the struggles of surviving in a world where the rich are
entertained by the expense and poverty of others.
To begin, a negative utopia, is a society that is non-existent and that is described in
significant detail. The author normally writes these book for readers to view the society in the
book as significantly worse than the one they currently live in (Booker, 2012). The scene that
best explains this type of dystopia, is the one towards the beginning where Katniss goes for a
walk before the Reaping. She calms her sister, Prim, after she wakes up screaming from a
horrible nightmare, and she leaves to go for a walk. As she walks through her town, the camera
shows images of how horribly they are living. At first we see two children peeking out of a small
hole between two wooden panels, their faces all dirty and they watch Katniss as she walks past

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them. Also, there is an old man, who looks as if he has not taken a shower in weeks, sitting on
the ground, leaning up against a house, eating every little bit of meat off of the bones he has in
front of him. Also, we see an electric fence with warning signs all over; however, Katniss walks
straight through it, without a shock or flinch from the fence. Beyond the fence is where Katniss
hunts for food to trade, to supply her family with the necessities. She and Gale, her best friend
who met her out there, hide though when they see the giant ship overhead. They are afraid of
being caught and have to protect themselves by hiding.
Secondly, the terrors of the twentieth century are largely to blame for this type of writing.
Genocide played a major role in the creation of this literature (Booker, 2012). In The Hunger
Games, the video that is shared at the Reaping symbolizes the terrors of genocide in this film. At
the beginning of the video, people are shown in pain. Men and women are crying over lost loved
ones. The showed the destruction of the districts, with peacekeepers destroying homes and
setting fire to different structures, beating anyone who got in their way. It also showed clips from
previous games, where tributes are chasing each other around the arena trying to be the one to
kill the others. More specifically, a young man is shown violently beating another tribute in the
head with a brick, until the skull of the tribute is dismantled. The young man sits over top of the
brutally murdered tribute, with blood all over his face and clothes. As the video goes on
President Snow speaks about the betrayal of the districts to the Capitol and the reasons why these
games take place annually. Snow says the people of the districts are the traitors and that they are
to be punished. One man and one woman from each district, are chosen to fight to the death and
the Victor will stand as a reminder to the districts of the Capitols generosity and forgiveness.
Additionally, the cinematography for this scene helps the audience realize the terrors of
the games. As the scene starts, it shows the opening of the video, with skulls from those who

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have passes, giving the audience a sense of discomfort. The camera pans off into the crowd of
children, who live in District 12, frighteningly awaiting the announcement of the two tributes
who will be representing their district in the games. Showing the childrens fear gives the
audience a hint to just how terrifying the games are. When President Snow mentioned that
people rose up and helped rebuild the nation, the camera went to Gale, showing his distaste in
the video and all of its entirety. Some children are shown crying in, in fear, while the choosing of
the tributes and the winning of the victor is described.
Furthermore, degeneration is the theory that instead of moving forward to a place of
peace, you are moving backward toward a life of savagery (Booker, 2012). The director used this
view of dystopia in the scene where they prepare Katniss for the Capitol. In this scene, Katniss is
brought to a room where the fix her imperfections. Along with all of the other tributes, she has
to be presentable in front of all of Panem. In the room she is taken to, they lie her down and wax
her body clean. She is primped and pampered, and made to look like she is of equal worth to the
people who live in the Capitol. The Capitol has standards, which are of importance to them to
keep up with. Even the tributes who come from living with almost nothing, have to be reinvented
before they are allowed to show their face in the Capitol. She is shown to the Capitol in a
drastically different outfit from when she first arrived. Her face is full of makeup to make herself
look like she belongs in the Capitol and her clothes are like those that you see in a fashion
magazine on some celebrity, clothes that people with her financial state would never be able to
afford.
Moreover, the failed utopia in which ideals have been replaced by repression, violence,
and rampant inhumanity (Booker, 2012). The director shows this in a scene where the Capitol
tries to force two friends to choose whether to kill, or be killed. The scene begins with Katniss

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and Peeta standing alone in the arena as the last two tributes alive. The new rule the Capitol had
made in the middle of the game, was to allow two victors from the same district to win, if they
were the last two tributes remaining; however, as they both awaited the announcement of their
victory, they were shocked when they heard the news that they were revoking their previous rule
alteration and there was only to be one victor. Katniss would not allow either one to kill the
other, so she came up with a solution that would keep the Capitol from having a victor. She and
Peeta were going to eat the poisonous berries that she had picked up for a fallen tribute. Though,
before they could eat them, they announced them both as the victors of the game. They had to
have a victor and therefore gave in. For once, the Capitol was not in control.
In addition to the failed utopia, the camera angles and music of this scene help make it
more dramatic. During this entire scene the camera is at a close up of either their faces, or
particular things that are significant in the scene. For instance, during the announcement they
have the camera going back and forth between Peeta and Katnisss faces, to emphasize that their
thoughts are going from confused to frightened. When Katniss pulls out the berries from her
pocket, the camera closes in on her hand, showing the audience how unwilling she is to let one of
them kill the other. The music in the background lets the audience know that this act they are
about to do is sad, yet courageous. As they each bring the berries up to their mouths, the
intercom comes on and forces them to stop, the cameras show their muddled faces to help the
audience have an understanding of how unexpected the announcement was. When they are
announced the winners, the camera is closed in on Katnisss face, showing her relief, as she hugs
Peeta.
In conclusion, according to the guidelines discussed above, The Hunger Games fits into
the dystopian film genre. This movie contains all the elements of a dystopian film and in fact

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brings the audience to a futuristic look on the world. The poverty of the poor and the games,
serve as elements to the dystopian genre. This movie lets viewers see how crazy and over-run our
society is.

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References

Booker, M. K. (2012). On dystopia. Critical Insights: Dystopia, 1-15. Retrieved from

web.b.ebscohost.com.
Jacobson, N. & Kilik, J. (Producers) & Ross, G. (Director). (2012) The Hunger Games. [DVD].
United States of America: Color Force.
Washington, P. C. T., & Washington, D. (2015). Film review. Humanity & society, 39(3), 351353. Retrieved from http://resolver.flvc.org