Warning – spoilers. The Hunger Games invites comparisons to other totalitarian dystopian movies like Gattica or V for Vendetta, with some Truman Show and Rollerball thrown in. But Sparticus and Gladiator, both set in that real-life dystopia we remember as The Roman Empire, seem like more appropriate comparisons. Characters from the Capitol sport names from the ancient world like Senica and Caesar. The name “Panem” comes from the Roman phrase “bread and circuses”, used by leaders of the empire to describe their strategy for keeping the Roman public happy.
The citizens of the urban seat of government called The Capitol are sheeple who simply accept the games as entertainment and never consider what it would be like to be vulnerable to the lottery. These people have all they need. They cooperate to maintain their well-fed, comfortable, fashionable lifestyles. The government feeds them information and attitudes via media.
The totalitarian government exerts control over the Districts by establishing a cultural/political tradition that calls for each District to offer up two teen “tributes” chosen by lottery to participate in what amounts to a reality-tv-gone-worse death match. The producers of the televised event and the government are one in the same. The government uses the lottery to illicit fear and continue to exact revenge for a nearly 80-year-old attempt at rebellion by the districts. The government also controls the flow of information and resources to the districts. Hunger, poverty, and lack of independence create a sense of helplessness and despair that fuels cooperation.Continue reading
Every life is a story. Blue Like Jazz is the new movie based on Donald Miller’s book, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality. It opens in theaters this weekend.
The movie, Blue Like Jazz has taken considerable license to fictionalize the series of essay and reflections that make up the book Blue Like Jazz, in order to create a narrative story based on the book’s basic ideas. In fact, the movie Blue Like Jazz emphasizes the aspects of storytelling using the acronym SCCR which stand for setting, conflict, climax, and resolution, a device that links nicely to Don Miller’s more recent projects. Blue Like Jazz is an honest, funny journey through conflict towards resolution.Continue reading
Based on the true story of the Oakland A’s 2002 season, Moneyball looks at how baseball accords worth to its players. Faced with the loss of star players and Oakland’s very tight budget, general manager Billy Beane uses a statistical approach called sabermetrics to recruit undervalued players. Sabermetrics was developed by statistician Bill James who challenged the use of individual players’ stats such as RBI’s as predictors of team success. Beane hires economics major Peter Brand to analyze statistics using James’ formulas so that he can make data-driven decisions about players. Brand says “Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players, your goal should be to buy wins. In order to buy wins, you need to buy runs.” Based on Brand’s recommendations Beane recruits players who have the potential to get on base.
Oakland’s managers and scouts feel threatened by the change, and doubt the validity of Beane’s method. Not only do the traditionalists dislike having their assumptions challenged, they fear that reliance on pure analysis undermines the heart of baseball. For them the romance comes from remarkable plays and individual prowess that make legendary baseball heroes. Billy Beane understands. At one time in his life he was just such a hero. He says “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” Continue reading
