On Tyrants & Tributes : Real World Lessons From The Hunger Games discussion

[I've included no spoilers for Mockingjay in the following post!]

Suzanne Collins chose District 12 as the birthplace of her heroine and a main wellspring of the rebellion against the Capitol. District 12 represents current-day Appalachia in the United States. While I'm not native Appalachian, my husband grew up in rural Appalachia, and we currently live in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Appalachia. In fact, much of the first Hunger Games movie was filmed just minutes away, practically in our backyard. (If you're interested, you can find my personal photos of the Henry River Mill Village, which was used as the set of District 12, by clicking here. There are pictures from both before and after filming. Kindly ignore the goofy ones!)

The "look" of District 12 in the films was based on Appalachia and appears quite authentic, since the filming took place here with genuine locations (as opposed to created sets). Another inspiration for the District 12 "look" was the Great Depression. It doesn't take much imagination to see echoes of this iconic photo from the Great Depression in the District 12 citizens.



(On a related note, I recommend LearnLiberty's video Top Three Myths about the Great Depression and New Deal to those who are interested in this period.)

Why is Appalachia the appropriate home for the Girl on Fire/Mockingjay?

Interestingly enough, D. Robert Worley, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced Governmental Studies, argues in his essay "Freedom or Liberty? A Democracy or a Republic?" that there are perhaps three strains of libertarianism in the United States, each with its own regional origins.

(Worley's argument draws explicitly on Colin Woodard's recent book, American Nations, to identify the cultural regions at play. There's also the clear influence of Daniel Elazar's theory of three political cultures: the moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalist.)

The upshot is this: Worley identifies Appalachia as the U.S. home of individualistic libertarianism. I doubt this comes as a surprise to many who know the region/culture.

What do you think? Is this another example of Collins giving added texture and meaning to her work? What do you think about how the films have portrayed District 12? Is the historical Appalachian tradition of individualism one of the factors responsible ultimately for revolution against the Capitol?

What are your thoughts?

One (perhaps obvious) comparison I would make is to Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia," in which he ties his ideas of freedom and liberty to the government, culture and - yes - land of that State, which includes part of the Appalachia region. Given Jefferson's clear impact on the development of American ideas of liberty and the ideals that modern libertarian glean from his writings, I think it makes sense to see a strong correlation with that region and the development of libertarian ideas in general.

P.S. I realize that Jefferson also provided a defense of slavery in "Notes" and espoused some non-libertarian ideas about the equality of different races. Even with such evident contradictions, Jefferson's influence on ideals of freedom is hard to dispute.

What other things beside the video can I look at to explore this subject? I'm really interested.

Jacob wrote: "What other things beside the video can I look at to explore this subject? I'm really interested."

Great question! My first recommendation would be to look at the Learn Liberty Academy archived course Making Sense of the Great Depression. If you'd like other resources, let me know!

Curtis wrote: "One (perhaps obvious) comparison I would make is to Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia," in which he ties his ideas of freedom and liberty to the government, culture and - yes - land..."

Great connection, Curtis! Wonderful. FYI, Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia" is available online here.

[spoilers]
I think the rather horrifying thing is that the strain of libertarianism that is clear in Katniss and Gale-- as they poach illegally in the forest and sell their goods at The Hob-- isn't what ignites the rebellion in the districts. District 12 may have individualists, the traders and the hunters but it's kept in check in Catching Fire by an increase in Peacekeepers and a crackdown with the law. It's one of the districts that doesn't rebel.

In the end, it's not just that the rule of the Capitol has become to constraining for people that persuades them to revolt. It's when The Capitol is defied on their TV screens and Katniss becomes an icon that they are spurred to fight. Collins shows that people are rather tribe-like, that way.

I believe it is. She must of drawn upon inspiration from it based off what I have read and the town chosen.
The films have portrayed it well as it is almost the roots Appalachian tradition I will say.
I'd say it is a reason against the capitol the beliefs that are held of individualism there as Katniss was taught that by her father.
Thanks for the photos by the way! That was nice to have a look at what we are talking about and a nice behind the scenes of the area too.

A region or place is usually would have to have some type of symbolic reasoning on why it was so important. To this knowledge, I don't know anything about that area but if it were me, I would ask does the Appalachian area be the appropriate place or ground for liberty or is it the only reference the author could think of for a place of liberty? The knowledge that I do know is the liberty in east Asia where the Korean people were fighting for their right to be free from the Japanese during the 1910. Also, the March 1st movement that turned pretty ugly for everyone but was a great movement that stuck in history. As the for the Chinese, the liberty movement for them would probably be the fight against people who are trying to colonize China during the early 1900s. The Chinese would try to alley with groups that were against the British at the time when forces became evident that the British wanted more of their land. When the kingdom of China fell, there were plenty of bidders who wanted to colonize China but a person from whom studied in the US by the name of Sun Yat Sen tried to reclaim China for to be independent for themselves with the price of allying with the US. The only thing with their struggles was with the Japanese colonization period when they would move up to China after colonizing Korea. With that, it would be way to long to explain the independence people want from each other and soon ended with disparity between all parties in East Asia. The most important is that people has been fighting their governments in China and South Korea even during the cold war era. China has been slowly going to the liberty route and South Korea has protested until they got a more freer society. I would think that in these examples, people fight for freedom in many places and if they have to remember or reflect to a place to remind them that, then it should be encouraged but also people should also seek the truth about the area as well. Nothing pretty ever happens in a particular area all the time but pretty things happens in small dosages everywhere, every time.

Ruth wrote: "[spoilers]
I think the rather horrifying thing is that the strain of libertarianism that is clear in Katniss and Gale-- as they poach illegally in the forest and sell their goods at The Hob-- isn't what ignites the rebellion in the districts. District 12 may have individualists, the traders and the hunters but it's kept in check in Catching Fire by an increase in Peacekeepers and a crackdown with the law. It's one of the districts that doesn't rebel.



According to the "Freedom or Liberty? Democracy or a Republic?" article this fits in with the Appalachian individualist libertarians it describes, who "are less inclined to organize for collective action than their corporate colleagues." If we accept this as the culture of District 12 it would make sense that they didn't rebel, in an organizes manner at least.
If I remember correctly District 8 was one of the districts that first organizes. It would be interesting to learn more about their culture in contrast to District 12. Do you think that the fact that District 12 didn't rebel has more to do with the fact that it is a small district with small population numbers or more to do with their culture? Or both?

It was definitely an interesting article. Being from the west it is discouraging that "corporate libertarianism" is the type associated with my region. Personally from how I understood the article I think I would identify somewhere between the individualistic and civil types of libertarians described in the article. It's also an interesting article because I haven't personally identified as a libertarian before so it was quite enlightening to read about different types that might actually resemble my own beliefs, expressed or defined differently though they might be.

With how smart Collins is, I wouldn't doubt it being an additional layer to the story. Katniss and Gale are definitely individualists, and I loved how they used to black market to survive. It seemed very much like an Appalachian attitude.
I loved that article. It made so much sense that I believe what I believe because of where I live. It's like rooting for your home team, or worshiping a local idol.

I think that there is definitely that sense of an individualistic Appalachian theme. I live near the Appalachian area and there is definitely a tradition of individualism that has been alive and well in the region for some time. It definitely gives off that Appalachian vibe in the films.

Kelli wrote: "According to the "Freedom or Liberty? Democracy or a Republic?" article this fits in with the Appalachian individualist libertarians it describes, who "are less inclined to organize for collective action than their corporate colleagues." If we accept this as the culture of District 12 it would make sense that they didn't rebel, in an organizes manner at least.
If I remember correctly District 8 was one of the districts that first organizes. It would be interesting to learn more about their culture in contrast to District 12. Do you think that the fact that District 12 didn't rebel has more to do with the fact that it is a small district with small population numbers or more to do with their culture? Or both?..."

I do think that since District 12 did not rebel, when it is in many ways in keeping with the Appalachian tradition of individualist libertarianism, this may show the weaknesses of the individualistic strand of libertarianism because they do not act as a collective. Having said that, I acknowledge that that's just an interpretation. There is also the issue of the small population size. It's pointed out in Catching Fire that, if the region were to rebel, it would have to be an all or nothing thing, more or less, else they'd be easily crushed by the Peacekeepers.

Looking at District 11 might lend to this view, that the cultures influenced which districts rebelled. Farming is a rather communal effort... when Katniss and Peeta reach District 11 in the Victory Tour everyone is in the fields collecting the harvest. The electrical fences are permanently switched on in the district so it's not as if hunters could strike out on their own. District 11 is one of the districts that does rebel, albeit less successfully than District 8, and I think that is in part due to their culture (although it is more populous so you could as well say that this district rebelled because, unlike 12, it could afford to).

District 11, I've heard, has deliberate parallels with the Deep South and the rebellions there are reminiscent of the slave revolts (in the movies the citizens of District 11 are African-American).

How did you guys like the live presentation?

Amy wrote: "[I've included no spoilers for Mockingjay in the following post!]

Suzanne Collins chose District 12 as the birthplace of her heroine and a main wellspring of the rebellion against the Capitol. Dis..."

This might be crazy, but when reading what you said in your question/post, I couldn't help but think about the fact that the Appalachian mountains were what people had to overcome to continue migrating across the United States. When people first landed on the eastern part of the US, they traveled and searched the land. There were proclamations or laws that restricted colonists from crossing the Appalachia's, but this rule also restricted them from ever making progress and attaining more land.

When thinking about how they eventually traveled threw the area, it makes me realize that the fact that Suzanne Collins placed District 12 in that area is like re-stating that that is where an initial rule of America was broken, or a (in some ways)an act of rebellion or defiance of authority took place.

Just something to think about I guess...since Katniss lived in our modern day Appalachian's and those mountains were the very thing that restricted us years and years ago....

Ruth wrote: "Kelli wrote: "According to the "Freedom or Liberty? Democracy or a Republic?" article this fits in with the Appalachian individualist libertarians it describes, who "are less inclined to organize f..."

I absolutely loved it! It was such an honor to get to listen to the real designer of the movie. She actually answered one of my questions that I put on the list also, which was extremely cool. Not only was the live cast amazing, the entire week was so interesting, and Amy truly did a great job capturing the facts of Suzanne Collins "The Hunger Games". On behalf of all involved in theses weeks program, I would personally like to say thank you for the experience and that I honestly have learned so much and hope to enroll and participate in more online courses in the future!

Great points Ruth. I agree about District 11. The Capitol treated them much worse than the people in District 12, as well, which fits in with the echoes of the Deep South and slavery.
I think the greatest opportunity for collective action in District 12 was the people in the mines. I think Gale even talks about it that way. I think if District 12 had rebelled it would have been organized by the miners.

It is a good choice for depicting district 12 because many of todays urbanites fear a loss of electricity, running water, cable tv. To many the way of life chosen by those in the AP is a horror…. choice is the key difference though. Those in district 12 do not have the option to come down the mountain