The Hunger Games - When Inequality Becomes Entertainment

Viral TikTok challenges, dangerous stunts for clout, or creators sharing personal struggles for views all raise the same question: why do people enjoy watching others struggle? This obsession with spectacle mirrors the world of The Hunger Games, where suffering becomes entertainment. Just like TikTok’s For You Page pushes whatever is shocking, emotional, or dramatic, the Capitol broadcasts the Games to keep citizens distracted and entertained. The line between entertainment and exploitation becomes dangerously thin.

The Divide - Inequality and Disillusionment

In Panem, the Capitol lives in luxury - bright colours, high-tech homes, and endless food. Meanwhile, the districts face starvation, long working hours, and no real freedom. This divide is at the core of the Games. The wealthy watch children fight to the death while the poor are forced to sacrifice their own.

If you look at modern society, the same kind of inequality exists. While it is not as extreme as Panem, TikTok often exposes it: creators showing mansions, private jets, and designer clothes right next to creators documenting life in overcrowded apartments or struggling to afford essentials. The contrast is impossible to ignore. The platform unintentionally becomes a window into the global wealth gap, much like the Capitol watching the districts without ever understanding them. Just like Panem, we celebrate the wealth gap without questioning the inequality behind it.

Yet, Hunger Games are not just a competition. They are spectacles. Every costume, interview, and fight is edited to entertain the Capitol and distract the districts. The goal is simple: keep everyone watching so they stop thinking. We are constantly left viewing people's suffering for entertainment - the algorithm pushes trends that are funny, painful, dramatic, or emotionally charged because they keep viewers hooked. People post “storytimes” about trauma, participate in risky challenges, or turn real hardships into content because that’s what the algorithm rewards. The more extreme the content, the more attention it gets. It creates the same ethical question that exists in Panem: when does watching become harmful? When do we stop seeing people as humans and start seeing them as entertainment?

Katniss and Digital Resistance

Katniss never intends to become a symbol, but Panem needs someone to challenge the system. Her small acts of defiance - helping Rue, refusing to play by the Capitol’s rules - spark a movement she never asked for. Her strength comes from awareness: she sees through the spectacle and understands the power behind it.

Modern activism shows a similar pattern. TikTok can spread awareness faster than any traditional media. Videos about climate change, worker rights, racial inequality, or political corruption reach millions within hours. Young people use their platforms the way Katniss uses her voice: not to entertain, but to expose what the “Capitols” of our world want ignored. The same tool used for distraction becomes a tool for resistance.

What We Choose to Watch Matters

The Hunger Games warns us that inequality and media manipulation thrive when people are too entertained to care. TikTok isn’t Panem, but it raises the same questions about what we watch and why we watch it. Collins’ novel pushes us to notice who benefits from the stories we consume and who is harmed by them. If we want a fairer world, we have to look deeper than the screen.

Like Katniss, we must question the spectacle before cheering from the sidelines.