Tomorrow's world of "The Hunger Games" doesn't just showcase
the reality TV spectacle of teenagers battling to the death -- it also
features futuristic hovercraft, force fields and bioengineered "Mutt"
creatures.
Those technological marvels represent tools of oppression for the
dystopian nation of Panem, where the Capitol elite live in high-tech
luxury supported by the old-fashioned sweat of district coal miners,
farm hands and factory workers.
But the popularity of the "Hunger Games" series has not stopped some fans from eying the technological imbalances of the story.
Some question why a post-apocalyptic North America filled with
futuristic technologies would still rely upon coal for its electricity
needs; others wonder about the
unsecured loans story's complete absence of the Internet.
One character in "The Hunger Games" books complains about "forgotten"
military technologies such as high-flying planes, military satellites
and robotic drones, even as he rides inside a hovercraft.
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Such "gaps" in technology don't necessarily represent plot holes,
according to historians of science and technology. Real societies have
adopted or rejected technologies based on whether they suited their
particular economic, political or cultural circumstances.
"Technology is not pre-determined as "better" -- it becomes better when
a society deems it to be better or more advanced," said Joline
Zepcevski, a researcher with a Ph.D. in the history of science and
technology at the University of Minnesota. "With respect to "The Hunger
Games," there is no reason why a new society, rising from the ashes of
an old society, would necessarily re-invent the same technologies."
Technology has come and gone throughout history, said Marie Hicks, an
assistant professor of history of technology at the Illinois Institute
of Technology Chicago. Electric cars appeared on U.S. roads
at the start of the 20th century, but disappeared for almost a century
before making their recent comeback. Supersonic civilian jetliners made
their debut with the Concorde in 1976, but ended up grounded in 2003.
Even high-speed trains that took off in Japan, China and Europe have
mostly failed to catch on in the U.S. (the Capitol rulers of "The Hunger
Games" still have a high-speed rail system).
Technologies of Terror
So why does Panem in "The Hunger Games" feature some technologies and
not others? The Capitol rulers may be focused on technologies useful for
social control, said Eden Medina, assistant professor of informatics at
Indiana University.
For instance, the bioengineered "Mutt" creatures
bad credit loans become weapons of psychological terror in the Hunger Games
-- an annual event that forces each of Panem's 12 districts to provide a
boy and girl tribute for a televised gladiatorial battle.
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The Capitol also puts televisions in every home and big screens in
public squares to broadcast the hateful Hunger Games and other state
propaganda to the masses. That act echoes both George Orwell's dystopian
"1984" story and real totalitarian societies such as North Korea
(although North Korea relies more on radio).
By contrast, the Capitol rulers strictly limit phone communication
between districts and don't have anything resembling the Internet. Their
choice to avoid the Internet seems like a no-brainer, because its
ability to give voice to the masses makes it much more difficult to
control than television.
"It's hard to say because it's a fictional world and we'd have to ask
Suzanne Collins (author of "
The Hunger Games"), but it's not outside the
realm of possibility that this society would make those decisions,"
Medina told InnovationNewsDaily. "I'd imagine it might be harder to keep
news of a district uprising secret if there's many-to-many Internet
communication."
Some Are More Equal Than Others
The technological imbalances within "The Hunger Games" also highlight
the story's emphasis on social and political inequalities. The
repressive Capitol enjoys instantly prepared food, smart household gadgets
and obsessing over the latest Capitol couture, Medina points out. By
contrast, the "District 12" home of heroine Katniss Everdeen located in
today's Appalachia has a poor, starving population that works in the
coal mines and suffers from electricity shortages.
"Uneven technological development is a staple of science fiction
because it implies a society, and a government, that has lost its way or
has mistaken priorities," Hicks said, "And as a result unjustly divides
technological resources, or uses those resources to control the
populace in inappropriate ways."
By drawing a contrast between the futuristic Capitol's wonders and the dangerous, dirty work of coal mining,
"
The Hunger Games" may be prompting readers to sense that "some
underlying element of this society is in disorder," said Bernard
Carlson, a professor of science, technology and society at the
University of Virginia.
"If you're (the Capitol) producing energy to make the houses of elite
comfortable, and they don't pay the environmental or safety price for
it, you might as well use coal as opposed to something else," Carlson
said.
In the end, "The Hunger Games" does not celebrate the progress of
technology -- an idea that historians of science and technology see as
overly simplistic anyway. Instead, the books show how a society's
technological choices reflect its political motivations and social
priorities.
Still, even the historians who have picked up "The Hunger Games" don't
judge the story too seriously based on its technological choices. They,
too, want to be entertained.
