Sacred and Secular Places

 The Hunger Games (2012)

The movie The Hunger Games is a prime example of secular place. The movie takes place in a futuristic country called Panem which is divided into 12 districts and a capitol. Each year, 2 representatives of each district are chosen to fight in the hunger games which is essentially a fight to the death game which is broadcasted for everyone to watch. Most people in Panem disagreed with the hunger games and the arena is considered a secular place because the government is controlling this space against their will and there are negative feelings towards that space. 

This movie is comparable to the movie Agora because of the secular places and the relationship between the characters. In Agora, Patia's secular place is the Library of Alexandria where is practices philosophy and sits in deep thought about how the Earth revolves around the sun. Because of her beliefs, she gets pitted against her past students and she gets stoned to death. Comparing that to The Hunger Games, Katniss' secular place is the arena where she is in deep thought on how she is going to survive the game. She is also pitted against 23 other people who she does not want to kill but has to in order to win the game.

This movie also compares to the movie Martha Marcy May Marlene because they both include negative secular spaces and the main characters have internal battles .  In Martha Marcy May Marlene, the secular place is the cult house where Martha was given a new identity and was taught to just exist in the world while also being tortured and manipulated. Martha's line of right and wrong gets very blurred and is essentially incurable. Similarly in The Hunger Games, the arena is the secular space where Katniss is somewhat given a new identity since she has never gotten so much attention before. She is also being tortured because she fears for her life and struggles to kill the other tributes off because she feels that it is wrong to do so.

Reality TV is the Opiate of the Masses (Robert Ebert)

The Hunger Games: Film Review (Hollywood Reporter)