The Hunger Games - a Blockbuster action movie or social realism?
A blockbuster movie is widely known as a film which is successful with widespread popularity, it is used describe a movie with a production budget of at least $100 million. This compares with a typical studio movie which often has a much lower production budget, between $30 to $60 million. Blockbusters are large in scope, scale and most importantly, they are entertaining. They feature huge thrills, spills and visual effects, but they ultimately ensure audience engagement through the micro elements of film form. Blockbusters typically fall into the action genre.
The Hunger Games is a film based off the first book of a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. It is a story which revolves around a 16 year old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who by fate or choice, is thrown into the Hunger Games to fight to the death with 23 other competitors. The summary of the film would suggest that it is a blockbuster action film, rather than social realism because it is a fictional battle to the death and expect to see long fight scenes as well as the murders of 23 individuals, all signs suggest this is an action film. The narrative of a film looks at the story as well as the plot. This film's narrative follow's Propp's Spheres of Action and so some would argue that the film is definitely a 'Blockbuster action movie' rather than 'social realism'. For instance, the film features a villain (President Snow, Seneca Crane), a donor (Cinna), a helper (Hamitch), a princess (Peeta Mellark), the dispacher (Iffy Trinket) and the hero (Katniss Everdeen). Another way that the film appears to be more of a blockbuster action film is the use of Todorov's structure. Furthermore, the film begins balanced, the audience watch Katniss look after her family whist living in abject poverty, then there is a disequilibrium - Katniss is thrown into the Hunger Games and must fight for her life, and eventually it seems that balance is restored as she and Peeta win the games, thus completing the Hollywood three part narrative arc, this therefore proves that the film can be considered a blockbuster action because it follows this structure which is so often used in big-budget Hollywood Blockbusters. However, others may use Strauss's Idea of binary opposites to explain how the film is social realism, binary opposites were central to the narratives, the film explores good vs. evil, rich vs. poor and strong vs. weak, the film is considered a metaphor for the great,clear divides in todays society.
Representation, when looking at film, considers the construction of people, events and places and how they are interpreted by different audiences. This film represents a variety of groups and events, including the portrayals of different genders and their stereotypes. Firstly, Katniss Everdeen, the female protagonist, poses as a positive representation of women, she is strong, defiant, intelligent and independent, qualities which challenge female stereotypes, qualities which are often perceived to be 'masculine'. Katniss is a hunter, she doesn't display her emotions and she rarely shares her thoughts, this differs from the princess of the movie (according to Propp's spheres of action) - Peeta. He is considered the princess because he s rescued by Katniss (the hero) throughout the movie, we see that he is vulnerable, more openly emotional and appears more romantic, all of these ideas are obvious when looking at the dialogue of the characters, as well as their expressions and movements. Some would argue that Peeta appears to be more 'feminine', the film has disregarded the stereotypes and gender domains which we would normally see in an action film where the hero is a male and the female is saved by the hero, so in this way the film challenges the typical blockbuster action film conventions. Furthermore, the films villains (for instance, Presdent snow and Seneca) have a high position of power, and tended to be men. This reinforces the male hegemony and patriarchy which is prevalent in many of todays societies, this supports the argument that The Hunger Games is social realism, it highlights
the inequalities within society, between men and women which are often ignored in big-budget Blockbuster action films where the protagonist is a man/ a hero who saves the rest of humanity. The patriarchy, which although may be discreet to some, puts the audience into a position where they disagree with the violence and force which is used by the Capitol, which is essentially the elite Bourgeiose which exists in todays capitalist society, it shows the exploited lower class (district 12) and the inequalities that they face on a day to day basis. Again, Strauss's idea of binary opposites demonstrates this idea perfectly where the audience are able to feel sympathy for district 12, and a dislike and distrust for the capitol who hold all of the power, in this sense the film is clearly social realism.
When looking at the audience of a film, we consider who watches the film, how they watch them and why they watch them, the genre of a film has a very big impact on the audience, for instance, a blockbuster action film have a different audience compared to the audience of a social realist film. The Hunger games was the first film to hit box office revenue of $350 million with a female action lead.
A blockbuster movie is widely known as a film which is successful with widespread popularity, it is used describe a movie with a production budget of at least $100 million. This compares with a typical studio movie which often has a much lower production budget, between $30 to $60 million. Blockbusters are large in scope, scale and most importantly, they are entertaining. They feature huge thrills, spills and visual effects, but they ultimately ensure audience engagement through the micro elements of film form. Blockbusters typically fall into the action genre.
The Hunger Games is a film based off the first book of a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins. It is a story which revolves around a 16 year old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who by fate or choice, is thrown into the Hunger Games to fight to the death with 23 other competitors. The summary of the film would suggest that it is a blockbuster action film, rather than social realism because it is a fictional battle to the death and expect to see long fight scenes as well as the murders of 23 individuals, all signs suggest this is an action film. The narrative of a film looks at the story as well as the plot. This film's narrative follow's Propp's Spheres of Action and so some would argue that the film is definitely a 'Blockbuster action movie' rather than 'social realism'. For instance, the film features a villain (President Snow, Seneca Crane), a donor (Cinna), a helper (Hamitch), a princess (Peeta Mellark), the dispacher (Iffy Trinket) and the hero (Katniss Everdeen). Another way that the film appears to be more of a blockbuster action film is the use of Todorov's structure. Furthermore, the film begins balanced, the audience watch Katniss look after her family whist living in abject poverty, then there is a disequilibrium - Katniss is thrown into the Hunger Games and must fight for her life, and eventually it seems that balance is restored as she and Peeta win the games, thus completing the Hollywood three part narrative arc, this therefore proves that the film can be considered a blockbuster action because it follows this structure which is so often used in big-budget Hollywood Blockbusters. However, others may use Strauss's Idea of binary opposites to explain how the film is social realism, binary opposites were central to the narratives, the film explores good vs. evil, rich vs. poor and strong vs. weak, the film is considered a metaphor for the great,clear divides in todays society.
Representation, when looking at film, considers the construction of people, events and places and how they are interpreted by different audiences. This film represents a variety of groups and events, including the portrayals of different genders and their stereotypes. Firstly, Katniss Everdeen, the female protagonist, poses as a positive representation of women, she is strong, defiant, intelligent and independent, qualities which challenge female stereotypes, qualities which are often perceived to be 'masculine'. Katniss is a hunter, she doesn't display her emotions and she rarely shares her thoughts, this differs from the princess of the movie (according to Propp's spheres of action) - Peeta. He is considered the princess because he s rescued by Katniss (the hero) throughout the movie, we see that he is vulnerable, more openly emotional and appears more romantic, all of these ideas are obvious when looking at the dialogue of the characters, as well as their expressions and movements. Some would argue that Peeta appears to be more 'feminine', the film has disregarded the stereotypes and gender domains which we would normally see in an action film where the hero is a male and the female is saved by the hero, so in this way the film challenges the typical blockbuster action film conventions. Furthermore, the films villains (for instance, Presdent snow and Seneca) have a high position of power, and tended to be men. This reinforces the male hegemony and patriarchy which is prevalent in many of todays societies, this supports the argument that The Hunger Games is social realism, it highlights
the inequalities within society, between men and women which are often ignored in big-budget Blockbuster action films where the protagonist is a man/ a hero who saves the rest of humanity. The patriarchy, which although may be discreet to some, puts the audience into a position where they disagree with the violence and force which is used by the Capitol, which is essentially the elite Bourgeiose which exists in todays capitalist society, it shows the exploited lower class (district 12) and the inequalities that they face on a day to day basis. Again, Strauss's idea of binary opposites demonstrates this idea perfectly where the audience are able to feel sympathy for district 12, and a dislike and distrust for the capitol who hold all of the power, in this sense the film is clearly social realism.
When looking at the audience of a film, we consider who watches the film, how they watch them and why they watch them, the genre of a film has a very big impact on the audience, for instance, a blockbuster action film have a different audience compared to the audience of a social realist film. The Hunger games was the first film to hit box office revenue of $350 million with a female action lead.
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