Prophetic Significance of The Hunger Games - Part 6
The first Hunger Games film, which was released in 2012, may have prophesied, in remarkable detail, the events leading up to the American presidential election of 2016, with the Games themselves representing the presidential campaign.
As the first film opens, and the Games are explained, it becomes clear that the Games operate under a pretense of patriotism, but actually function as a means of controlling the citizens of the country, and imposing the will of a privileged few upon the majority. As the story progresses, it becomes easier to see the Games as a metaphor for the modern American presidential campaign and election.
At one point in the film, Haymitch advises Katniss by saying, “Do you really want to know how to stay alive? You get people to like you.” He goes on to explain the necessity of sponsors. “When you’re in the middle of the games, and you’re starving or freezing, some water, a knife, or even some matches, can make the difference between life and death. And those things only come from sponsors. And to get sponsors, you have to make people like you.”
Later, in the Capitol, as the tributes were making final preparations for the Games, Haymitch tells Katniss and Peeta, “Tomorrow they’ll bring you in one by one and evaluate you. This is important because higher ratings will mean sponsors. This is the time to show them everything… Make sure they remember you.”
In the film, the tributes were paraded in front of potential “sponsors,” and then put on display in pageantry presented to the entire nation. There is a strong parallel here to the 2016 American presidential campaign, in which candidates competed for their own “sponsors,” in the forms of campaign backers and donors who supplied money, resources, and influence, in efforts to help their chosen candidates win the election. Without these “sponsors,” most candidates would have had little chance of competing in the election. As Haymitch taught Katniss, in order to stay alive, whether it was in the Hunger Games or in the 2016 presidential campaign, tributes (candidates) needed sponsors.
At critical times in the Hunger Games, as in the presidential campaign, sponsors made contributions that helped the tributes continue and stay competitive. For example, when Katniss was cornered in a tree by the other tributes, Haymitch made deals with sponsors to supply Katniss with much needed medicine for her wounds at that critical time of need.
In his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump made a point to thank the Christian evangelical community for their support:
“At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical and religious community because I’ll tell you what, the support they’ve given me, and I’m not sure I totally deserve it, has been so amazing, and is such a big reason for me being here tonight. True. So true.”1
You can watch this excerpt from his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKgIeiCyEZY
The Christian evangelical community rallied to sponsor and support Donald Trump during the presidential campaign because many believed that if he had lost the election, America would have entered a dark time during which the protections provided in the Constitution could have been disregarded or radically altered, Christian values would have been disdained and possibly discarded, and Supreme Court justices could have been appointed who would set a very different course for the future of our nation. The country might have never recovered.
The question is, now that the election has been decided, will the Christian community continue to advocate and fight for the future of America, or will complacency set in, or worse… hopelessness and apathy? As we see in the Hunger Games saga, Katniss’ victory in the Games was only the beginning. In fact, the real battle had not yet begun. The real battle was not for an election or for a single victory against other tributes. The real battle enveloped the entire nation and decided the fate of future generations. And the enemy was fully engaged.
Reference:
1McCarthy, T., Bixby, S., Beckett, L., Jacobs, B., Laughland, O., & Smith, D. (2016, July 22). Donald Trump accepts nomination: ‘Safety will be restored’ – as it happened. Retrieved October 25, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/jul/21/republican-national-convention-day-four-trump
