Suzanne Collins recognized the human fascination with such drama for the basis of The Hunger Games. In an interview with the author she stated that she had both classical and contemporary inspirations. She borrowed some material from Theseus and Minotaur, a story in Greek Mythology. The ideas from the stories are quite parallel. In both children are sacrificed in the name of freedom; in Hunger Games it is to remind the villagers that they are not free and in the Myth it is to keep the people of Athens free. Collins also used the Roman Gladiator games for ideas such as the all powerful government, contestants being forced to fight to the death and everyone being involved, even if their roles were so minimal as simply viewing. Some of her other thoughts came from contemporary references. She explained in her interview that she had been flipping between channels and came across both the war in Iraq and Reality TV shows. I find it very interesting that she focused on the two. In Iraq we have people fighting for freedom, and participants/contestants are giving up that very freedom by being on Reality TV shows. Ironic, huh?
I really feel that it all boils down to us, as humans, wanting our fifteen minutes of fame. We don't care how or what we have to do, just as long as it is ours and everyone is watching. It's sad that we live in a society that people crave so much attention. But maybe the people on these shows and in Hunger Games weren't the people craving the most attention, perhaps it was the audience? The 'game contestants' play up to whatever will give them and their shows the best ratings. Shows with the best ratings are talked about by the viewers, the real attention junkies. Nearly all of us are sucked into these shows and think that we have the upper hand, but really the participants are playing us. They know what our reactions will be to certain things, they know what sells. Sex, fights, bloodshed, death..any type of gory or steamy jolt and they have our attention and allegiance to further publicize them.
I initially had similar feelings about our human nature when we go into this topic. However, at a time when we didn't have a structured society, one might have had to be able to cope with violence. It's quite possible that the one's who liked violence the most, those who would seek out violence are those who would survive, therefore promoting this characteristic. I can't be disgusted with evolutionarily favorable traits because I think that it is a reflection of the nature of all things. I can however be disgusted with the exploitation of this characteristic. I don't like that the media has used this to their advantage and in many ways has made us think that violence is still useful in our society today.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you note that people enjoying violence is mortifying. I personally am not a fan of violence, I see no need for it; especially recreationally. I see violence needed in the past for survival, but for the most common violence in today's society it is unnecessary. There is no need for people to be killing other people in today's society... people can have whatever they want if they have the means to do so, why should people be killing others to get what they want?
ReplyDeleteYour sentence "They know what our reactions will be to certain things, they know what sells," really stuck out to me. I agree that the characters base how they act and what they look like on what they think the audience will think of them. In American Idol like we have been discussing in class, they dress and sing songs that they think the audience will like. Also in Hunger Games Katniss actions towards Peeta are determined but what Katniss thinks would make Haymitch proud. She also repeatedly think about the audience and her family watching on the TV and acts accordingly and I doubt this is different with reality TV shows today, they probably do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I find it sort of disturbing that we enjoy watching others drama when you think about it. Which sucks because I love reality shows. But maybe the reason why we watch the shows is because our lives are better and we don't have to worry about things like that so we enjoy watching other people going through it.
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