Mark D. Roberts
I don’t know if you caught it in the news, but it turns out the Hunger Games films inspired a protest in Thailand – against the government:
Months later, with Mockingjay, Part I, the newest Hunger Games installment, out in theaters, the galvanizing symbol is back in the news. On Wednesday, five Thai students were detained for using the salute during a speech by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. According to the Bangkok Post, the five, who were wearing anti-coup apparel, were pulled away by military police. Parroting the language of The Capitol, they were remanded to a military camp for an “attitude adjustment.”
On Thursday, three more students were detained in Bangkok after they handed out free tickets to a screening of the film. As Reuters reported, one student, after using the salute in front of the movie poster, explained: “The three-finger sign is a sign to show that I am calling for my basic right to live my life.” She was then taken away.
“We are just inviting them to talk,” said Police Colonel Visoot Chatchaidet.
Following the incident, the movie was pulled from a Bangkok theater chain.
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