Blog Post 5

The Hunger Games; Hegemony in Dystopian Societies due to Surveillance

Thesis: In this paper I will explore the question of how power and control are constructed and deconstructed within The Hunger Games book one and film one. Both adaptations gives a great examples of what Michael Foucault’s panoptic outcome was said to be; the surveillance placed on the districts causes a structured behavior among all of Panem’s inhabitants. It also explores the idea of a synopticon, the games serving as entertainment for the many to watch the few. Although the film is not a complete “Panoptic” society, the result from the hegemonic tendencies and the games themselves forces the outlying districts to be in full compliance, without any resistance or challenge. It is not until one young girl unknowingly challenges, and continues to resist the power struggle the Capitol has placed on the country of Panem.

Rough Draft

In the film The Hunger Games, the post-apocalyptic society called Panem, which in Ancient Roman times stood for “bread and circuses”, comprised of twelve districts is completely controlled by the Capitol, and the districts blindly follow in that control due to the powers that have been put in place. The film explores a dystopian society that is powered by this Capitol; it is thriving and glamorous, and solely reliant on the other twelve districts. The turning point is when Katniss Everdeen, tribute in the games, unbeknownst to her, causes an uprising with the smallest of acts. This then challenges the power of the Capitol and puts in motion a force that neither she nor anyone could have expected.

            Jeremy Bentham originally created the idea of the Panopticon, an all seeing, all knowing, power structure that would induce good behavior among those being watched due to the watched not knowing when exactly they are being watched. While Bentham’s idea was structured more for prisons, schools, and places of work, the idea had transcended its original function into a power system. This system has been utilized in film, TV, and novels, over the years which helped to convey a message about what surveillance can do to societies. George Orwell’s Nineteen-eighty-four is a great example of a heavily surveilled society in which “Big Brother” is the ruling entity, the all seeing power that no one is ever aware of. Unfortunately the panoptic society triumphs and the main character ultimately succumb to the will of Big Brother. In a more recent rendition of a surveillance society, the synopticon is utilized. A synoptic society is where the many watch the few, opposite of the few watching the many. The Truman Show released in 1998 tells the life of Truman, who is born, raised, and lives in a society that revolves around him. His every movement and action is recorded and televised to the world, unbeknownst to him. It isn’t until a woman falls in love with him and tells him of the lie that is his life that he begins to challenge the hegemony that fights to keep him within the confines of the television show. Ultimately he succeeds and exits the broadcasted world he’s known and been a part of his whole entire life.