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Playlist Dystopian Literature 11 videos
Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.
Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...
Are humans civilized, or are we just savages waiting to come out? William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies tackles that question.
The Hunger Games: Reality TV Gone Wrong 4575 Views
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Description:
It’s so upsetting when there's nothing good on TV. No celebrities dancing with trained professionals. No debonair bachelors handing out roses. No young children shooting arrows into their peers. Wait—what?
Transcript
- 00:05
The Hunger Games, a la Shmoop. Some people walk a thin line between fantasy
- 00:12
and reality. For some, that line is thinner than others.
- 00:16
Isn't that right, Mr. Sheen? But then there are those who lie somewhere
- 00:21
in the middle... ...viewers of reality television.
- 00:37
In The Hunger Games, reality TV is taken to a whole new level.
Full Transcript
- 00:42
Though it may seem to us like our society could never sink to such depths...
- 00:49
...we wonder... could it? We don't exactly have the most refined standards for entertainment
- 00:57
in this country. And when it comes to reality TV... come on--
- 01:12
you know you've watched the stuff. Maybe not hardcore reality programming, like
- 01:17
Mob Wives or Bridalplasty... But the simple truth is that there is some
- 01:24
sick part of us that likes to see someone suffer a complete breakdown.
- 01:28
Because hey, at least it isn't us! Of course, the flip side of that coin is that
- 01:37
we also have a chance to see someone succeed against nearly impossible odds.
- 01:42
We are also big fans of elimination-style competition. Look at any sport's playoff structure...
- 01:52
...or how the winners of a talent show are determined...
- 01:54
...or even how our presidential elections are decided.
- 02:01
It's riveting stuff... ...and it seems that an elimination-style
- 02:07
competition with life-or-death stakes might be right up our alley.
- 02:12
But could we really get over the idea of kids killing kids?
- 02:16
Even the spoiled ones, who could maybe benefit from a couple days in the arena?
- 02:24
Rome had a similar sport played in their Coliseum. Gladiator fights were the entertainment of
- 02:29
their day. ...but that was like thousands of years ago,
- 02:33
right? Well today, we do love many forms of competition
- 02:36
in the US.
- 02:38
...but it's doubtful we as a people would ever go back to those Roman times. Back when
- 02:41
we were willing to string up a bunch of young 'uns just to get our fix.
- 02:46
Right? What's your take? How brutal will reality
- 02:49
television get in the future? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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