You’re right, so much of this series speaks to our situation.
Gale ‘what if we didn’t watch’ I say what if we didn’t watch Ferguson? This was a comment on the vicious circle between the media and their blood-thirsty audiences, can’t turn away.
Collins captured so much of the propaganda and class warfare of today. And I thought the third book, final twist was brilliant. RINOs??
There are some spoilers in this post, but here is a synopsys if you haven't seen them:
The story involves a country that consists of a rich capital district and subservient districts which are kept in poverty and exploited. There was a revolution 74 years previously, but the capital district won, and kept the others under totalitarian control. The capital knows it is totalitarian and unfair, but fears revolution more, and so it justifies its actions to itself. But the country is always on the brink of revolution.
As a sign of its complete domination, the capital holds annual "hunger games" which is a game where two kids from each district are drafted to an arena to fight to the death until one survives. While on the surface the rules are fair, in fact the kids from the capital district have tremendous advantages, and are usually the winners. This is done deliberately by the government to prove the futility of revolt.
The story concerns a young woman named Katniss Everdeen, who is thrust into the public eye when she volunteered for the games when her younger sister was drafted. She eventually wins the games, but in a way that is seen as a middle finger to the government. She did not want fame, and in fact runs from it, but more and more becomes a symbol of resistance and revolution.
President Snow visits Katnis Everdeen
After she wins, she is dragged around the country to make speeches about how great the government is: