Ihave to confess that two weeks ago, I didn’t know much about “The Hunger Games,” the latest young-adult-lit sensation. Before reading the book and going to see the film last weekend, all I had heard was that the story was about a bunch of young adults in a grueling competition that leaves them hungry, sleep-deprived and even hallucinating, all for the amusement of a live audience. So naturally I thought it was about Spring Sing.
But thanks to a friend’s invite and a 12-hour reading-and-watching marathon, I’m now up to speed on the first part of the mega-trilogy that has lately eclipsed March Madness, the Supreme Court battle over health care and the release of “Angry Birds Space.” As it turns out, the novel by Suzanne Collins takes place in a dark future, when a ruthless central government keeps the surrounding districts in line by demanding that each give up two sacrificial volunteers — between the ages of 12 and 18 — to participate in the annual “Hunger Games.” This fight to the death can only have one winner, and the savagery in the wilderness plays out on live TV.
Mythology buffs will recognize the legend of Theseus here. He’s the Athenian prince who is sent — along with six other boys and seven young maidens — to the island of Crete, from which no one ever returns. As tribute to the Minoan king, who demands these sacrifices every few years in retribution for the killing of his son, Theseus and company must fight the as-yet invincible Minotaur. In case you don’t know, a Minotaur is a man with the head of a bull. Which, of course, sounds redundant.
So “The Hunger Games” is a dystopian tale that not only satirizes autocratic regimes and the cruel things they do to stay in power, but also skewers the sick entertainment that people will watch in the name of reality television, where attracting sponsors is almost as important as staying alive. Collins also parodies the mega-event — the overhyped, over-glitzed media bonanza (of which her book is ironically an example).
Or, to put it more concisely, it’s “1984” meets the Superbowl meets “Gladiator” meets “Brave New World” meets “American Idol” meets “Lord of the Flies” meets “Survivor” meets “24” meets “The Truman Show” meets “Clash of the Titans” meets “Extreme Makeover” meets Nike meets “Crocodile Dundee” meets “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” complete with a glass elevator and rotten kids who are bumped off one by one.
I was a little disturbed at the movie theater to see so many pre-teens cheering on what can only be described as an adolescent bloodbath. Some parents seem not to mind that this is a story about children killing children. But I guess as long as there’s no cyber-bullying, it’s OK. Thankfully no one dies of low self-esteem.
It may be that adults are just too distracted by the idea of people from different parts of the country slugging it out until one mangled, half-dead victor crawls across the finish line. I wonder if Mitt Romney has read it.
But I do worry about the consequences this fad will have on America, which is already so saturated with reality TV competition that we turn everything — from singing to dancing to clipping coupons — into a spectator sport where voyeurs rubberneck to see who will be eliminated next. And I shudder to think of all the paintball theme parks that will spring up after this.
To be fair, the story is also about loyalty and sacrifice, as the teenage heroine, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers to join the games in the place of her 12-year-old sister. As this plucky female David goes up against the Goliaths who have trained for the games their whole lives, we do cheer her on. That is, until we learn that she’s also caught between two men who love her. Then it’s “The Bachelor” meets “Twilight” meets “Wuthering Heights” meets “Glee” meets “Dangerous Liasons” meets “Harry Potter” meets “Dr. Zhivago” meets every other love triangle we’ve suffered through in the past 200 years. Will there be more romantic tension in the rest of the “Hunger Games” series? I’ve not read them yet, but I’m afraid that the odds are not “ever in our favor.”
