THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 SUPPORTS THE TEA PARTY
Based on the idea that a city is divided into districts under the strict control of President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland), The Hunger Games series has portrayed totalitarian rule primarily for the entertainment of kids, resonating with some of whom grow up in paternalistic authoritarian families. Billed as the “last” in the series, Katniss “Mockingjay” Evergreen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her allies, especially Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), are determined to overthrow Snow. But Snow criticizes the rebels because they “do not share our values,” a line repeated quite often by Barack Obama. That government is evil appears even more clearly at the end when Katniss executes President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), the supposed leader of the rebel alliance, who appears to want to reestablish totalitarian rule. Some sort of democratic rule appears at the end as Katniss, Peeta, and Gale leave the city for the countryside, depicting rural life as free from government influence. Such imagery validates the tea party philosophy, as often has been the case in the end-of-days films that the general public sees but academics dismiss as trash. Yet films have more influence on Generation Y. Suzanne Collins’s novel Mockingjay (2010) was written to show what war is like, but the anti-war theme is trumped by the Tea Party message. MH