Fanning the Flames (a Catching Fire reaction paper)

Fanning the Flames (a Catching Fire reaction paper)

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Catching Fire has finally hit the big screen. People everywhere are excitedly rushing to the cinemas with their barkadas and families to watch. As audiences watch the action and drama unfold, one can’t help but wonder if this truly is just for entertainment or if it holds a deeper, darker truth of our reality.

                I consider Catching Fire as science fiction. The post-apocalyptic setting is a mark of sci-fi. The futuristic technology like the arena, force fields, hovercrafts, holograms, genetic manipulations, and weather control systems are still not feasible and don’t practically exist today. There may be prototypes but none are comparable to the ones shown in the movie. Although they may not exist today, the rate at which science is progressing will possibly make them a reality in the future.

                The film’s events have a similarity to what has happened in the past. The idea of undermining lesser civilizations through the use of advanced weapons and technology is not entirely new. The Mongolians, Romans, Spaniards, and many other large civilizations used their military strength to conquer and enslave people, like the Capitol. The Capitol represents the conquerors while the districts represent the conquered. Furthermore, like the Capitol, the conquerors forcibly took the resources of the conquered, as tax for their “kindness”. The rebellion of the districts, led by District 13, against the Capitol is a reflection of the rebellions of other groups of people like in the Philippines, where the revolution against the Spaniards was led by the Katipunan.

                Our own present day society is reflected in the movie as well. The enormous gap between the wealthy and marginalized, the social hierarchy, the various discriminations, and the bizarre trends are all things that can be observed in our current world. What is most notable is the lavish and wasteful lifestyle of the rich compared to the day-to-day survival of the laborers. The wealthy squander valuable resources for their own entertainment and leisure in spite of the fact that everyone else is suffering.

                If modern society doesn’t change over the course of time, I believe that this film may become our future. A future after a thermonuclear war between the world’s superpowers, leaving but traces of humanity forming a country much like Panem, where power and luxury lie in the hands of those who have the technology to control others.

                Science and technology without a doubt succeeded in Panem. The leaps in the fields of science eventually resulted in a technologically advanced society seen in the movie. However, human society failed in this world. Advanced technology was not used for meaningful purposes but instead was used for wasteful occasions, like the Hunger Games. Precious time, effort, and resources were wasted on the lavish lifestyle of the Capitol. In the world of Panem, where the people of the Districts were viewed only as beasts of burden, society has degraded so much that it has lost its humanity. A human society deprived of humanity is no longer fit to be called so.