Okay. So, here is what I find
utterly absurd about the kind of attention the
Hunger Games has gotten, the fandom, et cetera, and why buying
Mockingjay-pins made in China is so horribly contradictory. Here we go.
We, here in the developed countries,
are the Capitol. Ever thought about who plucked the fruit you eat? Who sewed
your clothes? Who put together your computer? I’ll tell you who: the people in
the Districts (aka the developing countries). In that way, one of the multiple
issues of our society that the Hunger
Games deals with is just that. At least, it is something that I thought of
while reading the series, and it made me realise how very wrong it is. Sure
enough, one can get a tank top at H&M for virtually nothing, and people are
happy because we’re, for some reason, obsessed with money. But have you given
any thought to how it can be that
cheap? Well, because the workers have to work 13 hours a day, seven days a
week, with minimal pay, of course. But hey, who cares? As long as it’s cheap,
we’re happy. Except I’m not, because it’s so very wrong.
Let’s get back to the Hunger Games. I don’t think I’ve
seen a single fan who doesn’t greatly dislike the Capitol and supports Katniss
and those people. Yes, that’s all fine, I do that too, but what is not fine is not realising the connection
between Panem and the world we live in today. Because the Hunger Games is not merely an awful story set in the future,
but it also contains a shitload of critique toward our current world order, and
I think that it’s important that we bring attention to that as well. I don’t
think it’s wrong that it has a love-triangle and such elements, because if it
wouldn’t, it probably wouldn’t have reached its current fame, but now that it
is as famous as it is, it’s very important that we see beyond the love triangle
and bring our focus to the actual, real life problems that the series deals
with; one of them being how we let people work as slaves while we idly fret, not
giving them a single thought. Seeing a label with the texts “Made in China” is
so common people don’t even think to think on’t anymore. I can’t say for sure
that this is something that Suzanne Collins is trying to tell us in the Hunger Games, but to me it is pretty
damn plain and I’m surprised that more people doesn’t seem to see it. So, when
buying a Mockingjay-pin that has been produced in China, rather than supporting
Katniss, you contribute to the continued oppression of her and all the other
people from the Districts. (Well, their contemporary counterparts, anyway.)
“BUT WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO
DO THEN?” you might think. Don’t buy clothes from H&M, for example. Always
choose Fair Trade. Buy second hand. Give a fuck about where the things you consume
have been produced. Bring attention to this tragic world order. Do everything
and anything. At least do something.
But, by all means, continue to buy
clothes from District 8 while discussing the amazingly intriguing love-triangle
that is, of course, the essential part of the series. (Psst: I’m being sarcastic
in this paragraph. Don’t do that. It’s wrong.)
