The concept of Utopia, Heterotopias and Dystopia has been introduced to us from the very beginning as seen in the bible, the ideal Utopia is the Eden Garden - where there's no pain and suffering and every species live together in co-existence. However, the word Utopia poses two underlining meaning - first is the obvious meaning of "good place" while the second meaning "no place" - or a place that does not actually exists, nevertheless, it allows us to understand ourselves better. A contemporary example of this concept can be seen in the Hungergames, a famous novel which has been put into films, The two main settings the capital and the districts are vastly different in terms of the way they operate yet, there are subtly related and we can see this more importantly in the annual Hungergames, where participants from different districts dual to the death for the entertainment of the rich in the capital. To the workers in the districts, where life is about making money to live by each day and working for the capital - the idea of the capital is almost like Utopia, it is grand with people who don't need to worry about anything walking around in glamorous clothes and riding in fancy rides - the luxurious lifestyle seems alluring yet untouchable by the workers in the districts except for that this seemingly Utopia is in fact, real and the way to actually experience it is to become a participants in the brutal Hungergames and that is what Katniss Everdeen, a girl from district 12, got to experience.
For Katniss, she got to experience the capital in the form of a Heterotopias, where it is touchable and real, yet it is representing and reflecting the vast difference that the capital has in relation to her hometown, district 12.Infact, through the Hungergames, where the game is broadcasted to the workers in the districts - it becomes a heterotopias for them - as in their world - it exists and with this existence it emphasis the harsh reality of living in the district. In a simpler word - the capital is the heterotopias of the districts where the image of people living in luxury , not having to work hard or worry about anything reflects the harsh reality and the struggles of lives in the districts. Katniss got to experienced this heterotopias first handed, but more importantly she also realizes that underneath of the glitters and luxury of the capital lies a world which is so twisted and cruel, as if the capital is not real, such place could be describe as being almost like a Dystopia.
A dystopia is a "bad place" of non existence which is sort of what the capital in the Hungergames is to us, in reality. The capital is a bad imagination of our world in the future where people will be separated by classes and that the rich would be powerful to the point of death of the poor or the insignificants are viewed as a source of entertainment. In fact, there is similarity between the culture of the capital in the film with our society that made it even more so a good example of a dystopia that display the bad vision of the future of our world, In the past we have the gladiators in the Roman time, where death would be viewed as a source of entertainment for the rich and the display of violence is counted as a heroic act, and thus, today we would like to think that we've moved beyond that act, which is viewed as cruel and inhumane, however, the film reminded us that humankinds are still filled with this dark desire and this influenced a dystopian view of the capital in our mind since it made us realize that there's actually a possibility that the "capital" could become our future.
To sun up the concept of utopia, heterotopias and dystopia can be seen in the "capital" in the "Hungergames" where, from the character's point of view, the capital is real and hence, it is a heterotopias which helps the witness able to reflect on themselves and understand themselves better, meanwhile to us in the real world, the capital is sort of like a dystopia which is waiting to come true as we see some possibilities as it depicts what would the world be if justice and kindness is overtaken by greed and selfishness. the capital being something unreal yet, it warns us about our future and made us more aware of who we are, making it, an example of a dystopia.
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| The capital (Capitol) in the Hungergames seems grand and luxurious at a glance it appears to be like a Utopia for us the viewers but for the character, its a Heterotopias that helps emphasizes the vast difference between it and the districts. Also, as it turns out - we later realize that the capital is more like a Dystopia - a bad imagination of our society in the future.... |
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| The district seems almost like its from another film - in fact, the character Katniss Everdeen will get to experience this vast difference when she visitted the capital which in return - made her more aware of the condition in her district |
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