The Hunger Games: A Problem/Solution Essay
Violent media is a serious issue in the Hunger Games universe because of how it affects the citizens of Panem. Those who are victims of the violence, commonly from Districts, are brutalized for the entertainment of the Capitol and used as the dressed-up control group of the country: a distraction. This, in turn, objectifies them in the eyes of the Capitol citizens, who treat the District people as if they are circus animals instead of human beings. This is shown in the Hunger Games, an annual entertainment showcase of violent media. The violent media of Panem is designed by the Capitol Government and their very own President Snow to encourage apathy from the Capitol citizens and humiliation/fear from the Districts. Violent media promotes the cycle of shame, human rights obstructions and puppeteering in Panem, which gives President Snow total control over a country that shouldn’t be his.
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A solution to the normalized violent media of Panem would be to end the main source of material – the Hunger Games. If the people of Panem unified against the Hunger Games, the Capitol Government wouldn’t have the largest source of violence for the media anymore. So how would they end the Hunger Games? Well, it might be more obvious than ever; like Gale said in the movie, if everybody – primarily Capitol citizens – stopped watching the annual bloodshed, they would be taking away the demand for violent media in Panem. As shown in the first movie, the Capitol audience thinks as one, easily influenced by each other and, unfortunately, the Capitol Government. Taking away the demand for the Hunger Games would equate to taking away the power in violent media. Mass erasure of violent media via ending the Hunger Games is a method that unites Capitol and District against Snow and his tyrannical Government.
Another solution to the violent media in Panem is to overthrow the mind behind such a concept. President Snow, the dictator in charge of Panem, maintains control over the country using fear-mongering, violent media influence and a cat-and-mouse game of poverty and salvation. Violent media such as the Hunger Games is his way of keeping claws dug into the Districts, like said in the first book by Katniss: “‘Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there’s nothing you can do.’” and “ this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion.” Overthrowing and/or potentially killing President Snow frees all of Panem from his dictatorship at the root of their problems, taking his cruel entertainment with him.
A different solution to end most violent media in the world of Panem is to educate the Capitol citizens on the value of human life, providing empathy to people hardwired against feeling for those ‘inferior’ to them. Over the years after the rebellion the class system of Panem has strictly divided its people, physically and mentally; the Capitol citizens do not regard District people to truly be ‘human’ like them. Exemplified in the very nature of the Hunger Games, the Capitol people think of District-borns as purely pageant characters on a screen, or even animals sent to slaughter- and through the brainwashing of violent media they have zero empathy for these humans forced to kill or be killed. As Katniss monologues, “To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others”. The Capitol citizens simply see them as annual entertainment. However, teaching Capitol citizens empathy and care for the District-borns would break the cycle of violent media demand, thus freeing future Panem citizens from the same brainwashing.
In conclusion, three solutions that would solve the violent media problem in Panem are ending the Hunger Games, overthrowing President Snow and teaching empathy to the citizens of the Capitol. So which solution is the best? Ending the Hunger Games is possibly the quickest, using the thousands in the Districts willing to unite for their children to help snap the Capitol citizens out of their absent minded following of the Government and gain individuality, giving both sides of the division freedom. District and Capitol uniting might be difficult and unsavory to some, but it would corner the Government – or at least reduce the number of puppets they can use against the cause. Terminating the Games while ending violent media means destroying the cycle Panem is running through that keeps Snow in control, while being the quickest method, which makes it the best solution to Panem’s violent media problem.
