The Hunger Games (Sci-Fi Conventions)

     The Hunger Games is a clear adventure film, but has clear conventions of the Sci-Fi genre. The narrative theme of anti-establishment is present within the film. This is seen in a particular scene when the children of District 12 are being forced to sign up for The Hunger Games, with guards surrounding the outskirts to ensure no-one escapes. A film is then shown discussing how the 'minors' fought back against the higher living and the government, and The Hunger Games are more or less their punishment for going against them. A low angle shot is often used to show the children looking up to Effie up on stage, and then a high angle shot to show Effie looking down on the children, this is done to show that Effie and the government have the power, emphasising the ideology and theme of anti-establishment. The guards surrounding the children of District 12 all had weapons, ensuring they would do as they told them, a similar usage iconography is used in the film District 9, where the humans are forcing the aliens to leave their homes by threatening them with weapons. The usage of this shows us that this is a polysemic narrative, a passive audience can simply watch the film and enjoy, and an active audience can decode the film and see that it is about corruption of the government and them abusing their power and treating 'minors' badly.