A fantasy movie that’s sparking a real-life revolution? That’s what
some people are saying about recent events in Thailand, where some young people
are giving not the finger – but three fingers – to the military establishment,
while covering their mouths. The movie is the most recent installment of the
Hunger Games series, and the Thai college-aged kids are giving the three-finger
salute made popular in the first two movies – their symbol of resistance and
unity.
In the Southeast Asian country with a long history of
internal revolutions and power shuffling, the military took power coup d’état
on May 22 of 2014. Interestingly, Thailand has 80 coup attempts – but is also
the only country in SE Asia never to have been conquered or colonized. The coup
toppled the established leadership and installed pro-military Prime Minister
Prayuth Chan-Ocha in power. With the new regime, there have been crackdowns,
arrests, curfews, meetings of more than 5 demonstrators outlawed, and some
strange mandates that have hurt the tourism industry, but no mass violence.
But with the release of the Hunger Games Mockingjay – Part
1, students and young people have adopted the three-finger salute of rebellion
from the movie as their own. Last week, five students were arrested at a
theater in Bangkok after flashing the Hunger-games salute at the likeness of
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, and three more were arrested outside the
cinema, some escorted by plainclothes Thai police.
The Hunger Games salute was officially banned by the Thai
military government after the demonstrations. "At this point
we are monitoring the movement," said Colonel Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak,
speaking for the ruling regime. "If it is an obvious form of resistance,
then we have to control it so it doesn't cause any disorder in the
country."
Subsequent showings of the movie were cancelled in Bangkok
cinemas, as management and police were alerted to a planned mass demonstration
by 200 protestors. The Bangkok Post also reported that major movie chains in
the capitol city were pulling the movie from their screens in order to avoid
uprisings, though the movie was still being promoted on the Thai distributor’s
Facebook page.
The symbol of rebellion has grown, especially among the Red
Shirt supporters who oppose the government’s More arrested students were
wearing t-shirts emblazoned with “No Coup” on them as they turned their backs
to the Prime Minister as he gave a speech, and flashed the three-finger salute in
a country where the that position demands a reverence and respect even more
profound than royalty.
With more than 6,000 police and soldiers dispatched to
monitor a public protest against the regime on Sunday, things are heating up –
with the fictional symbol from a blockbuster Western movie the unifying totem.
Or is it fictional? Hunger games nerds and aficionados speculate that the
three-finger symbol actually comes from the French Revolution’s trinity of
liberty, equality and fraternity.
As for the arrested students and protestors, they were
reportedly transferred to a police station then military facility for
questioning. But officials say they will not be formally charged, just spoken
too and released – good news is a country with notoriously barbaric prisons and
a history of human rights violations.
But will the movie-land salute help spark a mass uprising against
the Totalitarian regime, following the plot lines of Hunger Games and echoing
much of Thailand’s history?
As for the makers of Hunger Games, the general response has
been mixed between feeling honored, disbelief, but mostly cautious support.
“I find it moving
that our movie has become part of a language of resistance,” said Producer Nina
Jacobson. “That’s really powerful and incredible.”
And director Francis Lawrence added, “There is definitely an
intention in the movies … where you can see that even one person can make a
difference,” he said. “And so [if it is] for something you really believe, by all
means, go out there — do it. But, there could be a cost.”
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