So I don’t know if anyone believes that movies are more than just a couple of hours spent watching something that means nothing, but in a lot of my university courses we were taught that entertainment, especially mainstream cinema, is a great reflector of the consciousness of that time.
Now, I haven’t seen Catching Fire yet, but one of my roommate is a dedicated Katniss fans and told me that the film was ‘an absolute delight, geared for any viewer’. Here is a trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAzGXqJSDJ8
After my roommate Bauer went and saw the movie the boys all went and got inebriated in the best way possible and went downtown. At some point in the night, the group of them put their three fingers up in the air just like in the movie, apparently directed at the security staff or some shit; you never know with them.
I know that this is just a drunken act by a bunch of beauties, but I believe that you can take meaning out of any act when you accept that everything happens for a reason. And from what I gather, if a group of twenty year old hockey players with full mustaches identify with what Katniss and the Districts are going through in The Hunger Games Trilogy, then I’m sure a lot a lot of other people must too. Maybe that’s why it set the record for a November domestic debut with an estimated $161.1 million opening weekend.
Even in the trailer, the language and symbolism really is quite profound and the topics very timely for many people around the world. Specifically for example, we can look at the reduction of food stamps for people across the United States as an amazing real-life parallel to the conditions in the Districts. Furthermore, there has been stories about FEMA Camps gathering up American citizens and the United States itself getting prepared to break into 10 ‘super regions’.
So I guess even if movies don’t really mean anything, it would at least be cool to think right? I take a great interest in the meaning and messages of entertainment because in all truth; the producers of it are trying to tell us something. A lot of times we only view entertainment at face value and never actually think about what it is saying when the people who are in the power to produce these pieces undoubtedly operate in multiple dimensions and have been successful for a reason. So, next time your watching or listening to something you enjoy, think a little bit deeper about what it might actually mean and why you enjoy it so much.
Tyler Scott
iamtylerscott 