The Hunger Games

This book and film are very hot at the moment, so I decided to read the books, and see what the fuss was about. I recommend it, because the first book at least is a good read.

However, I was also intrigued to see that the story, while being set in the future, is just as true today. Today, we are living in the era of the hunger games.

In the story, the less privileged  have to fight harder for food than the more privileged. Which is completely true in the world - and even in the UK - today. The less you have today, the more difficult it is to provide for yourself and your family. The poorer you are, the harder it is to eat well, to therefore be healthy. And even where there is supposed to be a level playing field - as in the number of entries into the pot - the more common it is that the poor are the ones who suffer.

Even across the districts, the poor ones suffered more than the richer ones. Poverty - and the problems that it produces - goes from generation to generation, in a spiral. Those districts who do not win cannot provide the support for their winners in the following years. So their chances are reduced. And so it goes on.

The parading of the young people before the media is so reminiscent of freak shows like Britain's Got Talent and X-Factor - they get dressed up, they pretend, but this is a show, not them.

And the core message that the Hunger Games gives - that to win you need to kill your opponents - is one we far too often give out. Katriss shows the alternative, that sacrifice is another way. If we sacrifice, if we deal with others as human beings, then we beat the system. Just like Jesus did.