What Sunrise on the Reaping Shows Us About Propaganda

Like most of Gen Z, I was radicalized by The Hunger Games. So it goes without saying that as a sociology and film nerd, the release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes re-ignited my love for the series but attractive actors played these characters also led me down a rabbit hole of thinking. How does a series pointing out the flaws in the media and government propaganda keep making money off of fans that don’t understand it. Looking at social media we see hundreds of people thirsting over President Snow or Finnick Odair when the reason these characters were played by attractive actors was to make a point. Suzanne Collins says she only writes when she has something to say so with the recent release of Sunrise on the Reaping, we know that the masses misunderstood something huge about the series. I’m here to theorize and make some educated guesses on what we missed.

I’m assuming she wanted to call the masses out on assuming the true meaning of her stories. The Hunger Games movies are phenomenal, don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t able to dive into the politics of Panem in the same way the books are. They minimize the trauma and abuse the citizens face because the medium of film is unable to do it justice. When making a book to movie adaptation directors and producers have a lot to take into account. People usually say the books are better than the movies for a reason, the books don’t have to worry about catering to the masses in the same way movies do. Readers tend to be more tolerant of violence and horror than viewers are. Also bringing a universe to life through writing is less expensive than bringing one to life with CGI or practical effects. While The Hunger Games has a massive budget, there are still some things that were cut out that minimize the story and the universe in a way that fans who haven’t read the books won’t understand. Something Sunrise on the Reaping brought to my attention was how the capital edits the games to pacify the public. Without spoiling Sunrise on the Reaping, I can tell you that the book paints a vivid picture of Haymitch’s games and personal experiences that the original series misses, showcasing all of the government propaganda surrounding the games and how the capital shaped District 12’s reputation. 

In the original series, we see this manipulation through the fake love story. While we know through Katniss’s thoughts that her feelings are complicated, most of the books show her discomfort with having to act for the cameras. The capital chooses the star-crossed lovers narrative and forces Katniss and Peeta into a situation where that is their only option. Things come more naturally for Peeta but still, the Hunger Games are first and foremost A SHOW. The tributes are ACTORS. These kids are put in dangerous situations for the entertainment of the capital but mainly as a form of propaganda. The games show the district children at their worst to prevent the capital citizens from seeing them as people. This was also shown in the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

 Looking at the history of the series, the Hunger Games we see in the original trilogy are very unlike the earlier games we see in the prequels. In the prequels, the games are less popular among the public. The popularity of the games showcases how passive the society is, the capital included. The editing of Haymitch’s games shows how difficult it was for the capital to maintain this passivity and how their society got to be as messed up as it was. The censorship of information effectively rewrote their history. The division of districts divided them and the Hunger Games gave them reason to hate each other. If you haven’t picked up on it, the games were always rigged. Odds had nothing to do with it which is why the districts with the best working relationship with the capital, had the most victors. District 12 was at an inherent disadvantage as the poorest district, and the one Snow had the most beef with (through his bitterness from his situationship with Lucy Gray). Needless to say, all of the District 12 victors have one thing in common, they learned how to use the propaganda machine to their advantage. That is what made them so dangerous. 

I don’t want to spoil anything further but I would highly recommend that you read the books, if you haven’t already, just for the history of the country. Watching the movies is fun and all, but the medium of film can’t do the message justice in the same way the books do. Through the different perspectives of Coriolanus Snow, Haymitch Abernathy, and Katniss Everdeen, we see the power of propaganda and the power of a well-placed strong message. We see the politics behind the scenes as much as we see the drama and action-packed nature of the series. 

Overall The Hunger Games series has so many different facets, readers and viewers can be entertained even if they’re oblivious to the philosophical and political nature of the story. Suzanne makes it easy for us to see the politics of Panem in the most recent release and I for one appreciate it. As a longtime fan of the series, I think it's about time that we focus on the propaganda and how the media shapes stories. This post is in no way dissing on the Hunger Games movies, which are fantastic, but I just wanted to ponder the idea that any form of media has its faults. Nothing, no matter what will be as detailed and true to the original story as the original story. Anything that's edited out can be by chance but is most likely something that was intentionally omitted. In the case of Haymitch's games, it was to pacify the people. In the case of the Hunger Games movies, it was most likely to ensure that the series could reach a wide variety of people While there is usually some truth to everything we see, we’ll rarely know how much of a story is untold if it isn't our own.