Burning Thoughts

This November, one of the most phenomenal movies of all time has set all the cinemas on fire. Anyone who is anybody has got to see Catching Fire, the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy. According to a news report from “Box Office Mojo,” it has currently earned $304,674,286, breaking records and beating films such as “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”  But the film isn’t all about action, revolution, romance, and earning large amount of money. The film has shown how science and technology could shape and change the world and everything in it.

For a movie to be considered science fiction, it has to have futuristic science and technology and futuristic settings, it has to be set against a society that is different from our own, it shows consequences of scientific innovations, and it shows political and social issues.  The setting in Catching Fire is obviously very futuristic. It has very advanced technology seen on the space crafts, the control room for the Hunger Games, and the trains. The whole place where the story was set, which is Panem, isn’t even real. Also, the flow of the story highlighted the people’s struggle against a very repulsive government. So basically, Catching Fire was set in a fictional world that differs from our everyday world in a way that it importantly involved science or technology.  All these factors point to Catching Fire as a science fiction movie.

Also, the film is commentary on the past, present, and future of the human society. Science and technology do advance as time progresses, but the problems we have in the past, such as political and social issues, still continue up until now and even until the future (as seen in Catching Fire). This just shows that even though we focus on improving human society, we are only changing the “physical aspects.” We are ignoring the things that should really be changed such as the government and its way of leading. Panem is where the people are slaves of the state; where people are working against each other and thieving against each other. It isn’t much different from North Korea at present. Individuals are working against one another and even killing one another in order to survive. The dystopian world in the film was shrouded with misery, starvation, and fear of the state. It isn’t much different from the world we have today and the world we had before.

         

       I also observed that in the world of the 13 districts, science, technology, and society, are failing. Technology itself is not labeled as something “better.” It becomes better when the society deems it to be better or more advanced. In the film, only the Capitol looks advanced. The other 12 Districts are all slaves to the government. So Panem revolts against the government, where the science and technology is centered. How could science, technology, and society succeed when one is working against the others? This is the reason why the world of the 13 districts is failing. Science and technology are abused. If it was used to help the districts, no one would have suffered. Society would have flourished.

         

       Catching Fire isn’t just a source of entertainment. It also brings people a bagful of realizations. I got to realize that science and technology are two powerful tools. If they are in the hands of the good, a well-constructed future could be imagined. If they are in the hands of the evil, our future is otherwise doomed.

by Nicole Ann N. Tesoro

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