They Will Not Use My Tears for Their Entertainment

Chances are you’ve seen promotion for the November 20 release of Sunrise on the Reaping. The adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s 2025 book of the same name is a prequel set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games. Taking place during the 50th Hunger Games, it provides the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy, a major figure in the rest of the series. Although propaganda has been a key theme throughout the blockbuster series, Sunrise puts a laser focus on our modern age of misinformation. “I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,’” Collins said in a statement when the book was first announced back in 2024. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.” Sophie Hanson at Junkee writes about the repeated discourse that arises online whenever the franchise sees a new adaptation. It’s a worthwhile read, especially for its searing final line: “It’s worth noticing when the way we talk about the story starts to look less like a response to it and more lik...