Politicians’ commercials have finally come to an end, yard signs are finally being cleaned up, and the midterm election’s results are in. I’m 21, so I’ve only been registered to vote for three years. However, after some conversations I’ve had with classmates, customers, and peers, I’ve learned that this recent election may be the one that finally makes a difference in our country. This recent election may be among the most important ones, and with a new Hunger Games movie coming soon to theaters, the result of what comes next may be clearer than we think.
Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel to the first four Hunger Games movies that will be released later this month. The story focuses on one character, Haymitch Abernathy, a tribute from District 12 who won the 50th Hunger Games. In the process of coming out of the arena as the winner, his main priority was to rebel against the Capitol and stop the Hunger Games from ever happening again. Despite his victory, Abernathy was punished by the Capitol for his actions, the games continued for another 25 years, and he was mandated to train and guide the District 12 tributes each year. After trying to make peace for humanity and failing, he lost hope.
“The story of this film and this book, most of all, is about a hope for a future that you might not be able to see yet,” said Ben Wang, who plays Wyatt Callow in Sunrise on the Reaping, in a recent interview. “It’s hope for a future that’s not immediate, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth working towards.”
In the first Hunger Games movies, we see main character and District 12 tribute Katniss Everdeen succeed in her rebellion against the Capitol, eventually ending the Hunger Games for all. Despite experiencing heartbreak and loss, the result that came from her actions was what Abernathy was trying to achieve over two decades prior. In regard to the recent midterm election, I think that can be looked at through the same lens as Everdeen’s victory.
In November of 2024, Donald Trump (Republican) and Kamala Harris (Democrat) ran against each other in the presidential election. From what I could see on my social media algorithm, many people were excited to finally have a female president for the first time in U.S. history. After seeing what Trump did during his first term from 2016 to 2020, it seemed as though a good amount of U.S. citizens were ready for a women to be in office and make changes. However, Donald Trump won the election with both electoral college votes and popular votes.
“Sometimes the fight takes a while — that doesn’t mean we won’t win,” said Kamala Harris during a speech at Howard University after losing the presidential election.
The midterm election gave U.S. citizens the chance to vote for their state governors, senators, and other political leaders. Once the results came in, a “blue wave” was visible on the U.S. map. Looking at my social media algorithm now, the hope that Wang talks about in his interview is visible in real life as well.
I don’t think it’s any secret that movies and television portray real human lives. Though we may not be sending children to fight to the death, Suzanne Collins has said that she only writes when she has something to say. Therefore, with the new Hunger Games coming to theaters soon, I hope people use it as a reflection of experience we had two years ago, and are a little bit prouder of the progress we as a country are making.