Medina 1

Efren Medina
English 114B
Professor Lawson
4/16/2014
Word Count: 1,210
Reality T.V. in Hunger Games
On average, people spend about four hours a day watching television. In The Hunger
Games by Suzan Collins, the entire plot revolves around reality television. The games are
supposed to be a celebration of the union of the districts with the Capitol and to many people the
games are a form of entertainment, a big sporting event that the tributes train for. Although
citizens from the capitol believe it is something good, the reality is that the games are primarily
used as a constant reminder of the rebellion that was put down many years ago and to show how
weak the districts really are. Throughout the trilogy we see how important television is to the
cause of both the Capitol and the twelve districts. Television is used to inform, threaten, and
persuade throughout the war; something very similar as to what television is currently used as in
the real world.
In the beginning of the games we learn how the tributes are picked and how everything is
televised to the people from Panem. All of the emotions of getting picked, learning to fight, and
tributes realizing that theyre appearance in television mean everything to their survival. As the
games progress tributes find themselves trying to attract sponsors and fans to them. Not
surprisingly, the games start to sound a lot like many of our current reality television shows that
currently air. One important thing to note about this is that because it is television and people
enjoy watching it, many stunts and drama are encouraged. In The Hunger Games, a lot was
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controlled by the Capitol when the television became boring. Some if the things that they would
do were to alternate the battlefield, introduce tracker jackers, and have a mist that kills
contestants. These were put into the games so that there would be more action to keep the
viewers entertained. In the reality T.V. show The Bachelor, we find out that although many
claim it is all unscripted and there is no outside intervention, two participants state that there
was little food but bottomless glasses of wine. When producers judged the proceedings too
boring, they sent out a production assistant with a tray of shots. This goes to prove that reality
television in todays day and in The Hunger Games is not much different in the sense that there
is intervention to the show in order to entertain the audience.
Reality television can make people become dehumanized in the sense that everything is
just seen as entertainment. The goal of the hunger games was to show the suffering and brutal
deaths of many tributes yet keep it as a form of entertainment that everyone wanted to watch.
Most of the people who viewed it as a form of entertainment liked all of the drama and deaths of
the games; something that if they were to see or experience with their own eyes would forever
change their lives. Studies have shown that watching violence on television can lead to much
more aggressive behavior in people. Caroline Knorr argues that heavy exposure to violent
media can be a risk factor for violent behavior. Not only do we lose a lot of our morality by
watching a lot of violence, but we become more aggressive by doing so.
Throughout the story we also learn how influential reality television can be. From
clothing to personality, everyone who watched the games were influenced a certain way. Many
people saw the games as a sort of fashion and tried to mimic what they saw on television. Others
liked the way certain people were and tried to become just like them. In the book of The Hunger
Games: Mockingjay, a lot of commercials are made to be televised to all the people in Panem.
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They televise everything from private conversations to showing actual battles from the war. For
example, at an event Katniss attended many people wore mockingjay pins on their clothing as a
fashion statement. In the third book of the trilogy, Mockingjay, many commercials are made to
be televised to all the people in Panem. They televise everything from private conversations to
showing actual battles from the war. Another way that television can influence children is by
corrupting what they see as right and wrong. The way people live in reality television can give
children the impression that everything they see is normal and that there is nothing wrong with it.
Reality television can add some annoying if not downright dangerous new ideas to kids
imaginations. It also shows kids a distorted view of reality, since these television programs dont
bear much resemblance to actual reality of daily life. In the show Jersey Shore, it gives the idea
that premarital sex, smoking, cussing, fighting, and dressing in a reaveling style is normal. This
is something that will never be normal in the average household, but because of television it is
seen as normal and entertaining.
Audiences usually believe many of the things that they hear on reality television. In The Hunger
Games, it is televised that Katniss is pregnant. Although she really wasnt, the rebels needed
people to believe that because they felt closer to her and it would make people love her even
more. There were also a lot of commercials that were being filmed that featured fakes scenes in
order to convince people to join her cause and side with her. In reality television, gossip is one of
the things that audiences love. Real or fake, it does not matter as long as the audience is
entertained. In the reality show Jersey Shore, it was discovered that many of the rumors that
were said throughout the show were staged. Whether gossip like that is good morally does not
matter to them because their ratings went up after the stunt. Reality television is filled with lies in
both The Hunger Games and the real world for a variety of different reasons.
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Television has a big role in the lives of both real people and the people from The Hunger
Games. Although they are two different worlds, the way television is used are both similar. We
are given a warning as to what is becoming of reality television and what it can do to the people
who watch it. The Hunger Games can be seen as giving a warning of what reality currently is
and how bad it dehumanizes us. Reality television is taking to an extreme in The Hunger Games,
although far from reality still relevant. It can also be seen as a ridicule of reality television
because it shows how people can be entertained by some very gruesome things.