Courtney Ellison Coleman

Professor Williams

English 102

23 July 2014

Game Changers: Multi Genre Persuasive Essay Cultural Critique

Dear Reader,

I chose the topic of this multi genre persuasive essay culturally critiquing the book to movie
novel The Hunger Games to answer the question: is The Hunger Games a critique of reality
television. In my opinion its a passive attempt at a critiquing of reality television but an
attempt non-the-less to put into perspective this phenomenon we know as reality
television. Television in itself is still in its infancy coming of age in the 1950s and really
gaining traction in the `80s in todays world most people could not envision a world without
television and rely upon it for everything from news to fashion to entertainment. Reality
television came of age at the latter half of the 19th century hitting its pinnacle in about
from 2005-present with variations of reality television spawning across every channel
imaginable. Reality television has catapulted itself from a niche genre into a television
staple that most cannot go without referring to in their personal lives daily. The Hunger
Games Segways this so seamlessly into the storyline it goes unbeknownst to most who
view it and simply gloss over the fact. Essentially this is what helps the audiences connect
with the movie. In several instances throughout the movie one is unassumingly thrust into
thinking that this movie is using or targeting three demographics Whites, Blacks and
Feminists as those three races are the only three represented throughout the movie:
Although black popular culture involves all people of Africana descent internationally and
exists wherever black people are throughout the history of mankind, US black popular
culture is often highlighter because it is part of US culture, and US culture is increasingly
exported to the entire world (Nelson Black Popular Culture 1).


Safe & Sound ( Taylor Swift)


I remember tears streaming down your face

When I said, "I'll never let you go"

When all those shadows almost killed your light

I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"

But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight



Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound



Don't you dare look out your window, darling,

Everything's on fire

The war outside our door keeps raging on

Hold on to this lullaby

Even when music's gone

Gone




Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be alright

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be safe and sound



Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh

Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh

La La (La La)

La La (La La)

Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh

Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh

La La (La La)



Just close your eyes

You'll be alright

Come morning light,

You and I'll be safe and sound...



Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh. [Repeat 'til fade]




In essence, the Hunger Games were taking place in a modern era Roman Empire with the actual Hunger Games
arena in essence taking place of the roman coliseum where they would put slaves, war criminals, and criminals in
the middle of the ring and put them against almost insurmountable odds at beating wild animals, men on
chariots with swords or other weapons. The Hunger Games uses black and white actors as the two dominant
primary races no other races are represented in the movie which by my assumption is because black people are
dominant in sports so the audience will identify the black actors as being the dominant people within the movie
or at least a memorable opponent to Katness Everdeen and her partner: Despite the increased social equality
shown in some recent films, most sports movies made in the last twenty-five years have continued to tell stories
of white, male protagonists, insisting on hard work and determination as the only ingredients that matter for
athletic achievement(Schirmer Page 2 Sports Films ). In the Roman Empire, if the victim were to beat the odds
and live through the challenge he would be rewarded with his freedom as well as a plot of land. In the hunger
games the same spoils to the victor would uncannily ensue after the games were over, the only difference in the
Hunger Games versus the Roman Empire is that the odds were level for almost everyone. The Hunger Games are
a viewfinder into the future of reality television because: humans have a never ending thirst for violence,
everybody loves a warrior champion and money will ultimately drive us to kill each other for the ultimate glory
and high television ratings: The Hollywood sports films in particular have two more important conventions; a
utopian view of the world which assumes that anyone who works hard, is determined, and plays by the rules will
succeed; and a need for plausibility based on resemblance to the actual sports world that qualifies its utopian
outlook with the complexities of social difference. ( Schirmer Page 2 Sports Films)

Humans have a never ending thirst for violence, which is exhibited more commonplace in our ever increasingly
violent television. Modern television started the violence era with televised boxing matches where the
combatants would stand in a ring and deliver severe head trauma to their opponent for 12 rounds usually ending
with the loser being knocked out after 12 rounds or a unanimous decision being delivered by a panel of judges.
In the Hunger Games, the combatants were either volunteers or randomly selected from 12 sectors that are all a
part of the society established by the powers that be. General provisions that we take for granted in everyday
society were scarce in The Hunger Games, so while the combatants were preparing for the games they would be
fed bathed and clothed in nothing but the best that society had to offer for the combatants just like the Roman
Empire. After boxing became a staple in modern television, the violence graduated to mixed martial arts a vastly
more violet sport then boxing where opponents utilize a myriad of martial arts on your opponent until his is
rendered incapacitated. With this escalation of violence, reality/sports were on track to see a real live Hunger
Games taking place before our very eyes.

Warrior Champions are a beloved commodity in all societies across the world it is a scenario that has been celebrated since t he dawn of man.
The social construction of gender plays a huge role in heroism as numerous great women who have shown acts of uncommon valor have gone
almost unnoticed in society simply because they were a woman. the rise of private property is predicated on the subordinatio n of women to
men, reclaiming womens history is an important aspect of challenging patriarchal oppression, because history has been determined and
written by men in a way that marginalizes women (Schirmer Page 1 Sports Films).Our earliest ancestors the Tribesmen of Africa used to set
out on vision quests where they would have to survive in the wilderness for a set amount of time and return only after they h ad killed a wilder
beast that was deemed acceptable by the tribes elders.

This celebration of heroism is across all races and cultures, even those who do not speak the same language understand a hero when they see
one. This modus operandi for celebrating the victors has been interpreted into modern day decoration for societys warriors o r war heroes. To
separate these medals of Honor from the common man they are distributed to only war veterans who served their country valiant ly in the face
of an existential circumstance. In the old days heroes were sometimes not acknowledged because of their race but in todays t imes that has all
changed. In the movie The Hunger Games the victors of The Hunger Games were rewarded valiantly and referred to by everyone in common
society in great prestige no matter the race: The election of barrack Obama in 2008 led some commentators to speculate wheth er the culture
wars had come to an end and America had entered a post-racial era wherein issues such as race, gender, and sexuality would be less
polarizing across the national landscape (2 Overview American Decades: 2000-2009).

Money is oft referred to as the root of all evil. In commonplace society, money has taken the place of all moral values. Curr ency in essence is all
virtual but has nations murdering each other for just the promise of currency in exchange for goods. Television has crossed a ll borders and all
moral value lines going as far as televising war in live action on the front lines of Afghanistan all for gaining the attent ion of the people in the
broadcasting community: Capitol fulfills crucial metaphysical functions, functions that, up to the advent of capitalist secu lar modernity, only
magic and religion had been able to perform (Kordela 5 Marx Update of cultural Theory ).Advertisers pay big bucks for highly rated shows that
garner a large audience base as the products that they are advertising will reach a larger audience base.

In the movie The Hunger Games, there were no advertisements and the only television that was able to be watched was broadcast directly from
the government so all the money was funneled into garnering sponsors for the combatants so they could buy weapons to help them survive the
games. In this light, the postmodern popular obsession, in academia and mass media alike, with the eternal deferral of meani ng, the never-
ending sliding of the signifier, the irrevocable death of the subject, and the birth of unfixed identities, are yet again symptoms of the overall
secular conceptualization of temporality (Kordela 7 Marx Update of cultural Theory).In todays society were finding out that the better
equipment a combatant has the better they are equipped to win a given tournament.

In contrast to my statements above, one would say that if anything todays television has gotten safer as well as liberal as standards for violence
on television have been raised to almost unattainable proportion. The National Football League would be a prime example for t his statement as
the concussions associated with the sport have been associated with debilitating diseases and life changing situations on the field. These have
led to rule changes that have altered the sport unconditionally, but also have led to better life after football. To those op ponents of my
statements, I ask them to look at what else has arisen and has fallen through the cracks of societys rules and regulations o ligarchy. MMA is a
combat sport that allows the use of legs as well as grappling and choking to submit an opponent. http://youtu.be/Nd-J4AeKS9o There are
hundreds of sports and adverts to get your attention away from what is actually taking place. It is only the top grossing of all the sports or
television that gets sanctioned.

In conclusion, The Hunger Games exist because humans have a never ending thirst for violence, everybody loves a warrior champion and money
will ultimately drive us to kill each other for the ultimate glory and high television ratings. The movie interprets this unc annily at numerous
points throughout the movie where the necessary supplies are planted in the middle of an open field and the last remaining co mbatants are
supposed to battle to the death.

The viewership was at an all-time high throughout the hunger games and the
nation had gained the love and admiration of all the occupants throughout the
Empire creating peace and harmony amongst the divisions early on in the movie
there was civil unrest in the division causing an uprising that almost doomed the
entire empire. The government uses The Hunger Games in helping create a sense
of unity that everyone can relate to and get behind, in a way the media is the 4th
branch of the government.



Works Cited

Duvall, Spring-Serenity. Patriarchy. Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. Ed. Mary
Kosut. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, 2012. 267-270. Gale Virtual Reference
library. Web. 23 July 2014.

Kordela, A. Kiarina. Marx Update of cultural Theory. Cultural Critique 65
(2007):43+. Academic OneFile. Web. 23 July 2014.

Nelson, Angela m. Black Popular Culture (US). Encyclopedia of Race and
Racism. Ed. Patrick L.Mason. 2nd Ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA,
2013. 275-284. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web 23 July 2014

Overview. American Decades: 2000-2009. Ed.Eric Bargeronand James F Tidd,
Jr.Detroit: Gale, 2011. 293-294. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 23 July 2014.

Sports Films. Schirmer encyclopedia of Film. Ed. Barry Keith Grant. Vol.4. New
York: Schirmer reference, 2007. 135-139. Gale Virtual Library. Web 23 July 2014