Prophetic Significance of The Hunger Games - Part 9
In the second Hunger Games film, Catching Fire, just as the Games are starting, we see Head Gamemaker Plutarch, and the media powers who are controlling the Games, in the same building with President Snow. The head of the media and the head of the political system are clearly working together. To go from talking with the President to controlling the Games with the other media powers, Plutarch simply walks into the next room.
President Snow was not a member of the media, but represented the political establishment—the corrupt system that was in place. His words and actions in the Hunger Games films indicated that the political establishment was working in cooperation with the news and entertainment media to manipulate the results of the Games.
How accurately did that mirror the situation in America at the time of the 2016 presidential race? Was there cooperation between the political establishment and the media to manipulate the presidential election process?
During the 2016 presidential campaign, possible conflicts of interest seemed to be overlooked as people with clear political biases were put in charge of various media events involving major candidates. But it went further than that. Emails have revealed that former CNN commentator Donna Brazile shared debate questions with the Clinton campaign prior to the debates. She explained it this way, “My job was to make all our Democratic candidates look good, and I worked closely with both campaigns to make that happen.”1
As another example of the ongoing media bias, when I was researching this topic online, I didn’t depend on either Google or Bing to give me complete information because their search results seem to be biased in favor of Democratic party candidates. Try it yourself. If you use Yahoo or other search engines to search for the term “Hillary Clinton,” suggested search terms will include words like “indictment” and “email scandal.” Google’s and Bing’s suggested terms will not include those words. They seem to filter out the most grievous negative references to the former Democratic party candidate.
Highlighting the manipulation of the Games by the political establishment, in Catching Fire President Snow lamented the fact that Gamemaker Seneca Crane had not blown Katniss to bits, and said to her, “but here you are, and I think you can guess where he is.”
Seneca Crane, Head Gamemaker, was forced to kill himself or be executed after he failed to manipulate the results of the Games to the satisfaction of the political elite. In the same way, heads rolled as a result of the 2016 presidential campaign, after those involved in the political process failed to manipulate the campaigns to successfully achieve the results that they wanted. Most notably, Debra Wasserman Shultz, whose emails showed evidence of manipulation of the Democratic nomination to favor Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, was exposed and removed from her long-held position on the Democratic National Committee. After she was removed from her position, she was not shamed and shunned by the leaders in her party, as you might expect, but was instead appointed to chair an honorary position in Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Revelations of these manipulation efforts disgusted many within the Democratic party and may have turned many voters away from supporting Hillary Clinton.
Even as I am writing this, there is renewed uproar over even more evidence of manipulation of the election process that has come to light as a result of revelations from former Democratic National Committee interim chair (and former CNN commentator) Donna Brazile, which have been published in her book, Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.
Protecting and Perpetuating the System
In the first Hunger Games film, Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane had a conversation with President Snow in which the president asked, “Why do you think we have a winner? Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is fine, as long as it’s contained. So… contain it.”
It was obvious in the Hunger Games films that the political establishment was willing to allow the citizens to have a limited involvement in the process, as long as control was maintained by the elites in the political system.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney and John McCain both publicly denounced Donald Trump as a danger to democracy. This was unprecedented and shocking because it was an attack on a candidate in their own political party! And not just any candidate, but the leading candidate, and the one most likely to win the presidency for their own party! Neither Mitt Romney nor John McCain were candidates in the election, so you might think that they would throw their support behind the candidate most likely to win the nomination for their own party. Instead, they denounced him. This action was shocking because it almost certainly cost votes for the Republican party. The New York Times described it in this way, “For a party that prizes unity and loyalty, it was an unheard-of onslaught against a figure who is marching toward the nomination, highlighting the widening and seemingly unbridgeable gaps between Republican elites and their electorate.”2
Were John McCain and Mitt Romney really concerned about protecting the American people, or were they more concerned about protecting their control of the political system from the interference of an outsider who was not under their control?
America’s founding fathers established the presidential election process just as they established the foundations of all of the processes of US Government. They sought God’s guidance diligently through prayer and study of the Scriptures as they laid the foundation for the American governmental system. Since that time, Christian principles that guided the development of the presidential election process have been neglected, the process has become corrupted, and a few political elites seem to have tried to control the presidential election process for their own purposes.
In his 1796 farewell address, President George Washington warned us of the dangers of neglecting the Christian principles upon which the American government was founded:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”3
But control seems to be shifting. Despite all of their efforts, there is evidence that the political and media powers may be losing their grip of control of the presidential election process. At the same time, this is not primarily a political struggle. At its core, this is a spiritual struggle.
Near the end of Catching Fire, Johanna cuts out Katniss’ tracker, symbolizing her liberation from the controlling media. As the media and the political elites lose some of their control of the political processes, we seem to be entering a time of governmental transition. Our prayers are crucial to determine which direction our country will be taken in the near future, and what kind of country we will leave to our children and grandchildren for generations to come.
References:
1Scarry, E. (2017, March 17). Donna Brazile finally admits she shared debate questions with Clinton campaign. Retrieved December 28, 2017, from http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/donna-brazile-finally-admits-she-shared-debate-questions-with-clinton-campaign/article/2617742
2Burns, A., & Barbaro, M. (2016, March 03). Mitt Romney and John McCain Denounce Donald Trump as a Danger to Democracy. Retrieved December 27, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/03/mitt-romney-donald-trump/
3Washington, G. (n.d.). Washington’s Farewell Address 1796. Retrieved December 27, 2017, from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
