Subtle and Shocking

Rating: Null/10 (8 April 2012)

To appreciate "The Hunger Games", one has to recognise that it works on quite a few different levels. Sadly, some people seem unable to see beyond the superficial and to appreciate the clever subtlety and complexity of this film. On its most basic level, of course, "The Hunger Games" addresses many issues relevant to adolescents, such as taking responsibility and dealing with a world dominated by adults. It's about finding one's way and standing one's ground even when this world of adults is utterly unable to provide role models for even the most basic ethical behaviour.
On further levels, however, it also deals with totalitarianism, a lack of ethical frameworks and modern exploitative mass media with its total disregard for privacy. The beauty of "The Hunger Games" is not just that it addresses such diverse topics, but that it manages to bring them together in a single and coherent commentary on our cultural and political situation. It's a delight to see how today's politics and television shows are cleverly exposed for all their totalitarian tendencies as well as for their stupidity, manipulation, hypocrisy and cruelty. And the totalitarian state of Panem provides the film with a setting in which all the adolescent's concerns, such as growing up and taking responsibility, become especially urgent and relevant.
Some people criticise the film's love story, claiming that it detracts from the cruelty of the games and banalises it. If one fails to recognise that this film is more than a story for teenagers with some random violence and action thrown in, this might seem accurate. But nothing could be further from the truth. This love story is primarily about manipulation, about a brutal intrusion into the emotional life of teenagers. Those in power try to instrumentalise the potential love story to strengthen the totalitarian system both by providing the audience with a clichéd image of "young love", thereby disencouraging them from revolt, and by weakening Katniss's emotional power over the audience. On a different level, Katniss herself instrumentalises this love story (to a certain degree) in order to make her (and Peeta's) survival more likely. In the end, their relationship seems fragile and ambiguous, abused and violated by the manipulative and totalitarian system. Therefore, the film's love story further emphasises the brutality of the games.
I believe that "The Hunger Games" is an important film for all adolescents struggling with this world and trying to find their place in it, encouraging them to disagree, to criticise and giving them the hope that change for the better is possible.