Today I’ll be discussing two different representations of dystopian societies in films. The term “dystopia” comes from ancient Greece (meaning bad place). It is used to describe a society or community that is considered to not follow the typical structure of an efficient society and instead reflects the possible lives we could be living if the worst-case scenarios did ever occur. The three representations I will be discussing are:
- The Hunger Games
- The Maze Runner
The Hunger Games is a trilogy set after the destruction of modern civilization in North America. It’s unknown what exactly caused the end of modern civilization, but many major landmasses had reformed as the sea level rose to unknown heights across the globe. The country has been renamed Panem; derived from the Latin phrase “Panem et sciences” and the phrase itself is 'used to describe entertainment used to distract public attention from more important matters.' The foundation of Panem seems to be set at least seventy-five years into the future. Panem is eventually divided into thirteen separate districts, each responsible for producing goods and services of a particular industry under the orders of the Capitol to help expand their nation. The country is run by a single-party dictatorship led by President Snow.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
Before the events of the Hunger Games, the country was thrown into “The Dark Days”, due to various districts rebelling against the capital. In the end, the Capitol had come out victorious; defeating twelve districts and obliterating the thirteenth. As a result, the Capitol established the Hunger Games to demonstrate the overwhelming power they had over the districts by taking children against their will and forcing them to kill one another in a competition that had little to no rules. The games were proof that the Capitol's control over Panem was inevitable. They had also created the games for their own entertainment, as the games were nationally televised and portrayed as reality TV shows.
The Capitol is the biggest city in Panem and serves as the nation’s central set of government. It’s located in an area previously known as the Rocky Mountains and is surrounded by twelve districts. Residents of the Capitol are the wealthiest of all Panem and the city’s prosperity is operated through the forced labor of the districts. Similar to the slavery experienced in America in the 1800s, where individuals who refuse to work or obey instructions would get beaten into submission in public to make an example by the peacekeepers.
The rest of Panem have the sole purpose of manufacturing, obtaining, or refining goods in a particular industry as dictated by the Capitol. All districts are subject to the merciless will of the authoritarian ways of the Capitol and don’t seem to have any known influence concerning the politics of Panem. The majority of the districts live in poverty; barely scraping by without any help from the Capitol. Many of the wealthier districts such as Districts 1, 2, and 4, known as 'Career Districts', have a more positive orientation toward the Hunger Games. To them, being a tribute is seen as a great honor. As residents do not generally face extreme poverty and malnutrition as they do in more disadvantaged districts, their tributes are generally healthy and strong.
The Maze Runner is a series that’s post-apocalyptic/ dystopian future taking place after a worldwide catastrophe occurs. The 2136 solar flares destroyed most of the planet, causing polar caps to melt at such an alarming rate that it caused violent monsoons and lead to a rise in sea level. As a result, many parts of the world, including most of Europe, were flooded. The solar flares ravaged the planet and turned the area between the two Tropics, Cancer, and Capricorn, into the wastelands known as The Scorch. Approximately 4.5 billion people died within the first 15 minutes of the catastrophic event. Whole cities at or near the equator were destroyed. Billions more would die in the subsequent firestorms, extreme heat, and tsunamis that ravaged the planet in the weeks to come. The Earth's magnetic field was also greatly disrupted by the event, allowing for increased radiation to reach the surface. Survivors of the catastrophe are controlled by WICKED; a flawed government organization that was created in an effort to save the planet, but uses malevolent methods to do so. Post-Flare Coalition; an international organization whose goal was to find solutions to the various problems in the world caused by the Sun Flares created the lethal pandemic known as the Flare; a virus initially created to aid in population control as they could only support 70% of the population that survived the catastrophe. In an attempt to eradicate the virus, WICKED kidnapped immune children and experimented on them in order to study their brain patterns and produce a cure. The virus itself was also airborne; the infection rate was reaching global levels. The virus had spread throughout the globe, affecting city-safe areas, and infecting the majority of the population.
The rest of the population that wasn’t “immune” or infected, struggled to survive as there was no government assistance, and could only rely on themselves to rebuild their society. Without any authority to guide them, they had to survive on their own; making their own rules along the way in an effort to change things back to what they were. Rebuilding towns and creating safe havens to protect each other from the infected; as well as the dangers created by the solar flares, such as sand storms
In both representations, the government attempts to control and enforce its rules on the population and is willing to do anything to stop those who choose not to follow these rules. They even go as far as to kill them in order to maintain dominance over the population. The majority of the population ends up suffering as a result of having a corrupt government that does not prioritize the safety and well-being of citizens.
Stuck on your essay?
