The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes: An Exploration of Social Class

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes:
An Exploration of Social Class

Isabelle Catenaccio (T00660180)
VISA 1500-01
Professor Terryl Atkins
November 26, 2025

Introduction
Released in 2023, ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’, was welcomed by fans, receiving $361,791,134 worldwide in the box office. Serving as a prequel to the original 2012 ‘Hunger Games’, audiences are introduced to a young Coriolanus Snow. His character is a vast difference from the cold-hearted President Snow fans were once familiar with. The role of a prequel such as this is to portray knowledge about social class and similar issues in order to accurately provide a story arc that is understandable to audiences.
Mise en Scene
The photo I have chosen shows Coriolanus hunched over Arachne Crane, a fellow mentor who was stabbed after taunting her tribute with food and water. As they are positioned right against the cage, the camera angle offers us the perspective of a tribute within the cage. The viewer’s eye is instantly drawn to the mentor’s red coats against the natural muted-grey background. Red being indicative of intensity and danger perfectly suits the dire situation Coriolanus finds himself in. His body position reflects a sense of urgency and protection, while his facial expressions exhibit distress and panic. As Arachne lays unconscious, Coriolanus takes the powerful position acting as a savior. However, the stance of the soldiers in the background pulls back in that sense of imprisonment and social class. Viewing the soldiers from a low angle shot reminds the viewer of their superiority. By not showing their faces, the soldiers become a symbol of violence and power rather than individuals. This is because, “… low angle shots- shooting upward at a character from below increases their stature, i.e., it makes the person look more imposing” (4). Through framing Arachne with a high angle, a sense of inferiority is felt towards her character, possibly due to the fact that she bullied her tribute whereas Coriolanus tutored and cared for his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. Similar to this scene, many of Coriolanus’s shots have been done through a low angle. This constant use of low angles is able to, “make a character(s) seem threatening and powerful… we are collapsed in a position of maximum vulnerability – pinned to the ground, dominated”. (4)
The seamless editing of this movie allows for simple and easy viewing. Within the scene the photo is taken from, 19 camera cuts can be seen. Leading up to the photo, Coriolanus can be seen talking to Lucy Gray through the cage. POV over the shoulder shots are used to pull in the audience as a nosy third party. When the assault happens, we witness it through a Dutch angle as if we are Coriolanus watching the attack unfold. A pan shot is used to show the urgency Coriolanus feels as he rushes to save his fellow classmate. Coriolanus is viewed from a Dutch angle with a close up shot to show his emotions. Arachne is viewed with an over the shoulder POV. The speed at which the attack occurred was quick, going from a pleasant exchange to a crazed attack. By having the camera jumping from frame to frame, showcasing the heightened emotions of each character, you are able to keep the audience spiked with adrenaline, heightening the uneasiness the scene is meant to invoke.
Social Class
The previously mentioned attack was one done by tribute to a mentor. This power dynamic mimics real world events where the bourgeoisie holds control over the proletariat class. The bourgeoisie are seen as, “the owner of the capital and the culprit behind the exploitation of labour power for the expansion of the capital.” (3) We can relate this interpretation to the Capital members who use the Hunger Games as a way to keep the districts powerless and afraid. Social class can indicate a person’s lifestyle. While the Capital members spend time in lavish environments, dressed to the nines with friends, district members are left to work for bare minimum. (2) If we apply a Marxist lens, viewing, “class domination in the economy as a tool for control and the means of production” (3), we can understand that with constant mistreatment and domination, an uprise against the system is possible. We see this uprise brought to action by Katniss Everdeen years later.
The graphic use of violence between the Capital and the districts is a reminder that violence is a tool for power. We can relate this to police brutality and military force against marginalized communities. District members who are fighting for their lives are viewed as savages, fitting the stereotype that, “a typical criminal is seen as low-socioeconomic status.” (2) Due to their status position, their rights are limited, sadly reflecting real world experiences. When exploring the topic of survival, one can only wonder where the line will be drawn between humanity and savagery. Ultimately, the struggle for survival exposes the fractures in society, revealing who suffers the most.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Box Office Mojo. “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes – Box Office Mojo,” 2025. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt10545296/?ref_=bo_tt_tab#tabs. (1)
Durante, Federica, and Susan T Fiske. “How Social-Class Stereotypes Maintain Inequality.” Current Opinion in Psychology 18, no. 1 (December 2017): 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.07.033. (2)
Hafiz, Siti Nur Ain Natasya, Siti Normala Hamzah, and Izra Inna Md Idris. “Analysis of Social Class in the Ballad of Song Birds Snakes (2020) by Suzanne Collins.” International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 14, no. 10 (October 7, 2024). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v14-i10/22940. (3)
Lucía Cores Sarría. “The Influence of Camera Angle in Film Narratives.” ResearchGate, October 2015. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23950.69444. (4)