How can young teenagers be introduced to politics? Maybe
through The Hunger Games. The sequel
to last year’s nearly-$700m blockbuster success is upon us. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire again
tackles political unrest in the districts as the 75th Anniversary of
the games is due to begin. In the same manner as The Hunger Games, the opening moments of Catching Fire reveal our heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer
Lawrence) waiting for the mysterious Gale (Liam Hemsworth) - her real boyfriend.
The end of The Hunger Games set up a
false relationship between Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) – a love that
meant both teenagers won their Hunger Game – and so a love-triangle is forged.
Gale loves Katniss; Peeta loves Katniss; we think Katniss loves Gale…
But this is not the heat of the story (though perhaps the
core of the series), and the minor role of President Snow (Donald Sutherland)
in The Hunger Games is expanded upon.
In Catching Fire, President Snow is acutely
aware that Katniss is a threat to the dystopian world he controls. “You fought
very hard in the arena, but they were games” he tells Katniss – which is
strange because, the whole point of The
Hunger Games was that though named as ‘games’ they actually were life or
death. But we’ll ignore that because President Snow is an arch enemy. He is the
Goliath to Katniss’s David. Stakes are higher and Peeta and Katniss are bound
to each other as they travel the districts and witness the brutal state of the
world. They see an old man raise his hand in support of rebellion before
faceless militia murder him in front of the populace (though not in front of
us). The tour comes to an abrupt end when President Snow announces the unique
set-up of the 75th Quarter Quell … involving our favourite duo
again. This time, rather than fighting random players from across the districts
they are against the toughest and dangerous players of the previous games: the surviving
winners.
Former friends of Katniss re-appear in Woody Harrelson’s ‘Haymitch’
and Lenny Kravitzs’ shamen-like fashion-designer Cinna, while Philip Seymour
Hoffman’s game-maker has such a commanding presence, we pray he survives the
film. Some moments almost give a sense of deja-vu as Katniss has a dress that
bursts into flames while sat upon a Ben-Hur
chariot and even the players are expected to be interviewed by Stanley Tucci’s
eccentric game show host Caesar again (His pearly white teeth have never
glistened so brightly). Indeed, recalling the first film, the vast majority of
the film is spent prior to the games. By the time Katniss arises to stand
amongst the players in the simulated environment, you only wish it could’ve
balanced its time better. Learning from its predecessor, Catching Fire could’ve immediately started within the game (possibly
flashing back to answer the ‘how’ question). Teenagers will surely watch the
two films back-to-back and notice the similar structure.
Catching Fire
will inevitably be appreciated almost-exclusively by the teenage target-market
it intends to reach, but despite this, it tries to raise larger issues. In a
world whereby an ex-presenter of reality TV-show Big Brother has touted an idea about rebellion while a Conservative
Government runs the country, the relevance cannot be ignored. Fans of Katniss will
hopefully connect the dots between the media, the government and rebellion –
and its relevance to 21st Century politics. In that manner, Catching Fire, though openly playful
about its connections to fantasy in man-eating baboons and skin-burning gas, it
will start a dialogue and light a match in the minds of the young. Let’s hope
Hollywood handle this carefully though, as Catching
Fire only raises the questions – the further sequels will answer them.