I did not read the book before watching Hunger Games but I have to say that I was a little underwhelmed after hearing all of the hype. This film was created for a younger audience which was apparent with its watered-down violence and cheesy love scenes. Nevertheless, I was able to take in some of the religious themes in the film. At first, and to some, the film appears to lack religion because the characters live in such a hopeless world. However, there exists self-sacrifice when Katniss takes her sister’s place as a tribute. This act is similar to Jesus sacrificing himself for the sins of humanity. In some ways, the control of the capitol over the 12 districts reminds me of the book of Genesis. Each of the 12 districts has to contribute one male and one female between the ages of 12 and 18 as tributes for the televised fight-to-the-death. This horrible tradition was put into place after those districts rebelled against the capitol. In the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the tree of knowledge. When God found out that they had disobeyed his order, they were punished by being banished from the Garden of Eden. There is the commonality of one man and one woman, food, rebellion, and punishment. In keeping with the idea of Genesis, there are a couple of lines that really resonated with me and reminded me of how existential the people in the 12 districts must have felt because they have lost so much control of their lives:
“By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
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