A History Lesson

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2016)

The basic premise of this movie is that a decadent society, supremely ruled by one man, forces two children from each exploited and harshly controlled district to battle to the death in an arena for the entertainment of the rich and privileged capitol residents. They battle in an arena where animals and other environmental/climatic conditions can be altered to ensure the action is continuous and dramatic.
The movie itself is well made. The acting performances are good and the visual effects and music are excellent. I haven't read the books but movie adaptations rarely match the standards of books so I'm sure this would be true in this case.
So what is the history lesson embedded in this film? If you think that this society could never exist think again. It has, or at least it did exist about 2000 years ago.
The ROMAN EMPIRE had many similarities to the society depicted in the hunger games.
A gloriously rich and decadent capitol, Rome - Check. A supreme leader or Caesar - Check. A rich upper class of citizens in Rome - Check. Outlying settlements exploited for their resources and brutally controlled - Check. Poor exploited workers in those outlying settlements - Check. Gladiators forced to battle to the death for the entertainment of Rome's elite - Check. Brutal weapons used to make each death particularly dramatic and gory - Check. An arena or Coliseum where the battles take place - Check. Lions on chains to introduce other hazardous and dramatic twists to the action - Check.
Perhaps this movie could be used in the school history curriculum.