Power And Resistance:a Foucauldian Critique Of The Hunger Games Film Series

American writer Suzanne Collins’ trilogy The Hunger Games was a huge success and once became the best-seller.In 2012,Lionsgate brought it to the big screen,which also set off a craze.The Hunger Games is a typical dystopian work set in a fictional,highly centralized nation of the future North American continent,the country named Panem.The story is set in a “rebellion” 74 years ago in 13 districts under the jurisdiction of the Panem,which eventually ends up with the disappearance of District 13 and the suppression of other districts.In order to punish rebellion and maintain rule,the totalitarian government holds a tournament called the Hunger Games every year,and stipulates that each district must select a pair of boys and girls aged 12 to 18 as tributes to enter the wild arena to participate in this inhuman killing program,and all citizens are forced to watch the live broadcast of the program.The rule of the game is that only one person can win in the end,and the winner can enjoy great material wealth from then on.In the 74 th Hunger Games,Katniss,who voluntarily takes the place of his sister in the game,insists on personal will and principles,does not succumb to the rules of the game,and eventually forces the rulers to modify the rules of the game,setting off a wave of rebellion in the Panem,eventually overthrowing the rule of the totalitarian government.Although both novels and films focus on the theme of rebellion under a dystopian society,film,as a different cultural form,uses its unique film language and visual effects to show the dystopian society and people’s rebellion.This article will borrow Foucault’s power-related theory to interpret The Hunger Games film series,trying to reveal how totalitarian governments use power to oppress citizens,and how citizens rebel against power to lead to the collapse of totalitarian governments,thus exploring the harmonious relationship between people and government in an increasingly developing society.This article consists of five chapters.The first chapter mainly introduces the main content and the difference between the form of the novel and the film,as well as the literature review of film at home and abroad and Foucault’s theory of power.Through Foucault’s theory of micro-power and the theory of power discourse,the second chapter reveals the operation of totalitarian government power,that is,the discipline of the people through a series of disciplinary techniques,so that the people are reduced to docile bodies,and at the same time,through the manipulation of discourse,the government defines history and create truth,so that the people internalize it into a self-restraining consciousness.Chapter three shows how the populace,led and inspired by Katniss,rebel against totalitarianism under totalitarian rule,thus overthrowing totalitarian rule.Chapter four exposes the enlightenment of the collapse of totalitarian governments.Chapter five concludes that although The Hunger Games is a movie series set in the future,it has the value of innuendoing reality.The government must exercise power reasonably,since only a democratic,egalitarian society can develop in the long run.At the same time,in the current era of increasing technological development,it is also necessary to pay attention to the coordination of the relationship between people and people,people and nature.