Contextualizing ‘Survival of the Fittest’ and American Politics through Young Adult Dystopian Cinema

Abstract

This research aims at contextualizing YA dystopias as powerful media agents that articulate our realities. The work opted for two case studies, The Maze Runner Trilogy and The Hunger Games series, both of which are categorized as Young Adult dystopian Science Fiction in which the emphasis of this thesis is given to the way these movies tap into the political landscape and precisely that of the United States. Hence, the research follows a poststructuralist approach and a semiotic contextual study. It examines concepts such as ‘survival of the Fittest’, white supremacy, biological tyranny, neocolonialism. All these concepts are analyzed within the films to reflect real-life issues. This thesis also explores the intersection of politics, film, and television, and examines how young adult dystopian media transcoded messages including, colonialism, capitalism which were circulating at the time. By reading two popular objects, the complete Hunger Games series and The Maze Runner Trilogy, this project suggests that these cultural artifacts, and the young adult dystopian genre, provides a space for exploring issues of concern in our own society.