Why the Hunger Games Matters Now More Than Ever

The Hunger Games are back as we return to Panem, this time 64 years before Katniss volunteered as a way to save her sister. The series has long resonated with the teens that read Suzanne Collins’ YA dystopia but how does it hold up today? Released shortly after the first ever iPhone hit the market, it’s a wonder that the original trilogy managed to capture the dangers of our cultural sensationalization of violence in the age of surveillance.  With The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hitting theaters, it’s fascinating to track the transformation of Panem from the 10th Games of Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) to the 74th Games of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence). Directed by the man behind the original films, Francis Lawrence, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes dives into just how Panem’s favorite brutal television program became the glamorous monster it is today. As we live in an age of increasing digital surveillance, the prequel and its predecessors teach us is that The Hunger Games has become more relevant now than ever.