Hunger Games and Barthes Wrestling

“The World of Wrestling” and “The Hunger Games” In today’s world, sports are something that most people not only take very seriously, but obsess over. They consume and influence a big part of everyday life. Some sporting events even have more aspects of a show being put on for the spectators instead of just a game. Instead of a winner and a loser there is more of a hero and a villain. This is exactly what Roland Barthes tries to display in his essay “The World of Wrestling.” Barthes says, “Like the theatre, the public watches wrestling for the “great spectacle of Suffering, Defeat, and Justice. As in the theatre, wrestling presents man’s suffering with all the amplification of tragic masks.” He calls wrestling a spectacle and describes the way of the wrestlers taking on a tragic persona all for the benefit of the audience there watching the event. He also thinks wrestling has no winner, and the wrestler is to “go through the motions which are expected of him”. The villain suffers and is defeated by justice like the audience wants to see. Barthes foremost point he is unfolding is that it is not about the skill of the competitors, but what they represent and what the story behind them is.

Roland Barthes’ ideas have shown up in many different things in social media in today’s pop culture. A great example would be the popular novel “The Hunger Games” written by Suzanne Collins. This well-known book takes place in a new country Panem in place of North America and is inhabited by 12 districts run by the Capitol. Every year there is the annual Hunger Games where a male and female tribute are chosen from each district and all fight to the death in an outdoor arena as punishment for a rebellion from the now destroyed 13th district. The main character, Katniss Everdeen, lives in the 12th District and is chosen as tribute from her district along with the male tribute Peeta Mellark. The duo goes through much trial and tribulation as they fight for their lives while