I recently stumbled upon a CNN article titled "Is The Lottery More Dangerous Than 'The Hunger Games'?" which, as the title so nicely states, compares the recent $640 million dollar lottery to the event of the Hunger Games in the popular book series "The Hunger Games." As the author Dean Obeidallah neatly puts it, "Issues like the presidential election, the economy and the Rush Limbaugh controversy faded to the back burner." Every time I logged onto my Google account, the top CNN story would often be one covering the $640 million dollar lottery. Here's my question America: Who really cares about the lottery? Sure it's nice to day dream about how you would spend the ridiculous amount of money should you win, sure it's enjoyable to get wrapped up in something larger than yourself every now and then; but newsflash, you aren't winning it, and there are real news stories to be covered. For example, in the past few weeks, while the lottery news boomed, Romney essentially won the Republican nomination, Syria hasn't done anything to appease the world, tensions obviously continued to rise with Iran, and, surprise surprise, the Economy hasn't gotten any better.
The author compares the Hunger Games to the lottery in several ways, while also comparing the Roman Gladiator games to the two. He claims that, "Our lottery, along with the "Hunger Games, " share similarities with
another game of chance: The gladiator games of ancient Rome. Despite the
stakes being obviously different in each of these three types of games,
all are state-sponsored forms of entertainment. And all three not only
amused the citizenry, but lead the public to ignore -- however briefly
-- the more pressing issues of the day." In "The Hunger Games," the actual event of the Hunger Games distracts the citizens of Panem from their oppressive and horrible regime by pitting the people of each district against each other. The Hunger Games switches the people's focus from the real issues of starvation, death, and "let's overthrow the government," to issues of "who's district is better."
The American lottery is nothing more than a game to distract the masses from the real issues of the world. It's a game that, as Obeidallah puts it, that "is not just a distraction -- it's an opiate for our masses." He claims it allows people to believe they can circumvent real work and essentially cheat their way towards money and the American dream, and he's completely right. People sit idly by hoping to win a game who's odds of winning are more unlikely than being struck by lightning while reading this long ranting post, instead of getting out in the world and personally fixing their negative situations. Yeah, it's easier to sit and complain about our economy's poor state or the huge disparity between the rich and the poor, but hopelessly waiting for your 6 numbers to show up on a television screen will never actually change your situation.
While it is true that both the Hunger Games and the lottery serve to distract the public from their major problems, there are some distinct difference. In the lottery, all participants over the age of 18 have the choice to partake in the activity, and the lucky ones win. The only thing that distracts them from their own poverty is the HOPE that they win.
ReplyDeleteThe Hunger Games is an entirely different story. The tributes force participants between the ages of 12-18 to enter the "lottery". The "lucky" ones enter the Hunger Games and fight to the death. The factors that distract the people from their own poverty is merely watching the Hunger Games unfold and hoping they don't get any loved ones entered into the tribute.
While the lottery distracts by providing a more positive, potential outcome (winning big money). The Hunger Games distracts by providing a worse outcome than their current state of poverty (losing loved ones, dying). The Hunger Games controls the masses by fear. The lottery does so with low probability hope.
The gladiators of Rome were entirely different as well. Participants were usually prisoners and did not share bonds with the audience. Here, gladiator fights were entirely entertainment; whereas, The Hunger Games were threatening reminders. The districts would look on in horror as they watched people they KNEW die in the games. Sure there were the competitive districts (1 and 2, the better-off districts), but the rest only fought for survival. They did not want to compete.
The people in The Hunger Games are reminded of their poverty everyday. If anything, The Hunger Games reminds people of their state of poverty and amplifies their despair. I feel like the lottery and The Hunger Games only share the fact that they can serve as a distraction from more significant problems.