WHY IS HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE SO POPULAR?
An immensely popular film at the box office, the film depicts a totalitarian state ruled by President Swan (played by Donald Sutherland), whose Machiavellian adviser Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) thinks that the state can keep people in check by an annual life-and-death contest among two the best fighters from each of 12 districts of the country Panem. But fighters in the hunger games form teams, so they are already cooperating, and there is a hint of rebellion as the film ends. The third in the trilogy, based on the absurd sci fi book by Suzanne Collins (2008), will doubtless be the most interesting politically, as the rebellion might topple the dictatorship. But avoid this one! MH