Reaction on Catching Fire

Science Fiction – a genre of movies/books that revolves on events that don’t happen and can’t happen in the present, however it does not involve any form of magic. This is my personal definition of science fiction. Hence, I consider Catching Fire as a sci-fi film. I don’t think the hunger games is held in any country at the moment; and I doubt that there are any hovercrafts lurking above the sky right now.  There are a lot of elements in the film that don’t seem plausible in the world we live in right now that it is just right to consider it as science fiction.

However, I do think that there are some parts of the story that represents the past, present and future of human society (not so much as commentary). For instance, the hunger games proper is a representation of the past. It represents the time of the “survival of the fittest”. In the hunger games, only the fittest (the person who killed every other tribute) can walk out of the arena alive. Much like the time before, only those who have the most suitable traits/characteristics for the environment can survive. As for the present, it took me a hard time to think of its representation in the movie; but if I had to point my finger to it, it must be the mining in District 12. The citizens of District 12 work in order for them to survive and most of them work with the material that is abundant in their place, coal and minerals. That is pretty much like the present where countries main source of labor comes from the resources that are abundant to them. Like the Philippines, agriculture is our primary source of income since we are an agricultural country. Lastly, for the future, I think the hovercrafts, lavish dresses that burn without hurting the wearer, sickening medicines enable you to eat excessively and all the eccentric elements in the film represented the future well. I believe that with the pacing of technological advancement that we have, there will come a time where there will be hovercrafts, fire-blazing dresses, holograms, etc.

Finally, I mustn’t forget to talk about the failure of science, technology and society in the world of 13 Districts. Yes, I think that all these three failed in the world of 13 districts. I say this because I believe that the true purpose of science, technology and society is to give better lives to human beings. Those three must be used for the betterment of the human race and not to hurt them for it to succeed. But, as shown in the movie, the three things were only harming the citizens of the 13 Districts. The science there was not used to help people live longer, it was used to kill them. The society’s system was unjust and the technology were predominantly war weapons. The three brought danger and fear to the human race, when I believe that it should’ve protected them.