The three fingered salute from The Hunger Games trilogy has surfaced across protests in the movements in Thailand and Myanmar. How has this symbol been adopted into the resistance movements? Why is the symbol significant?
Discussion
If We Burn, You Burn With Us
Now that you’re familiar with dystopian fiction, The Hunger Games, the salute, and the protest movements, let’s examine how they all connect. Both of the anti-government protests in Thailand and Myanmar respectively have adopted the three-fingered salute from The Hunger Games. Surfacing first in Thailand in 2014 (The Story, 2020), the salute has since spread to Myanmar protests and present day. Following the 2014 coup in Thailand, anti-coup protests broke out across the country, and people began flashing the three finger salute from The Hunger Games (Quinley, 2021). As one Thai protester explained, “when this person started [to flash the salute], others followed. So it automatically became an anti-coup symbol” (Quinely, 2021). This salute was later adopted by later protests in Thailand and current protests in Myanmar, becoming a symbol of resistance and solidarity for democracy for countries in Southeast Asia. In Myanmar, the salute was first used by medical professionals in a civil disobedience movement and was quickly picked up by youth protesters in a broader opposition to the military coup (Bostock, 2021).
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It has taken on a similar meaning to that of the books, a silent symbol of opposition to inequality and tyrannical rule. Both a way to signal support for greater democracy and display anger toward the military establishments, the symbol has quickly spread throughout Southeast Asia. In Thailand, protesters label the three fingers as “No Coup, Liberty, Democracy” (Varghese, 2019) and say the fingers represent the demands of the people for “the dissolution of parliament, ending intimidation of the people, and the drafting of a new constitution” (Rahman, 2020). These same statements have spread to the movement in neighboring Myanmar. Protesters even offered roses to military police officers (El-Mahmoud, 2021), a reference to President Snow offering roses as a threat to Katniss in The Hunger Games. At the peak of the usage of the salute, the phrase “3 fingers, 3 times a day” was well-known (Varghese, 2019). This symbol has only risen in prominence and popularity, and protesters in Southeast Asia continue to flash the three fingers in hopes of change. What were the underlying reasons for its adoption, and how is it significant?
Identification and the Adoption of the Salute
While it’s clear that the three-finger salute has been fully adopted into Southeast Asian protest movements, how it was adopted is less clear. The ideas of identification and the reflective tendencies of dystopian fiction are essential in understanding this process. Identification is a mechanism through which the audience experiences and interprets a text “from the inside, as if the events were happening to them” (Cohen, 2009, pg. 245). Identifying with characters in fiction and the media provides the opportunity to experience social reality through a new lens and is essentially in shaping the development of self-identity, emotions, empathy, and attitudes (Cohen, 2009). This can occur more often when the audience feels more similar and connected to a particular character or media figure, and this identification can lead to more aligning with the character’s beliefs, attitudes, and struggles (Igartua, 2010, Broom, 2021). Exposure to dramatic and emotionally charged fictional content in particular exerts effects on beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors (Igartua, 2010). Research has proved that the greater the identification with a fictional character, the more likely that one’s self-beliefs, attitudes and behaviors will change to become more similar to those of the character, and the character can become entwined with the self (Broom, 2021). As Furman and Musgrave (2017) found, “‘synthetic experiences’ that accompany media consumption can alter beliefs, reinforce existing views, or displace existing knowledge from other sources. This occurs because when people consume fictional narratives, they process stories in part as if they were actually witnessing them, despite their fantastical content.”
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Identification with The Hunger Games by protesters in Southeast Asia contributed to the adoption of the three finger salute; the situation in Panem can easily be compared to that in Thailand and Myanmar. Dystopian fiction, in particular, is designed to mirror reality and force audiences to critically examine their own societies (Soter, 2014, pg. 126), and requires reader identification with the characters (Jerković, 2018). A hallmark of dystopian fiction, The Hunger Games is no different, and it can open the reader’s eyes to conflict in society, encourage identification with the main rebels (Finnsson, 2016), and predispose audiences to political action (Ames, 2013). In Myanmar and Thailand, military regimes, oppression, inequality, and the punishment of dissent are well known; as Southeast Asian specialist Mark Cogan stated, “The Hunger Games salute speaks to what they [the people of Myanmar and Thailand] know” (Wong, 2021). Identifying with the trilogy is easy for the people suffering in Southeast Asia, and it follows that the citizens’ attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs would be impacted. The unequal distribution of wealth and totalitarian leadership are main traits of both the fictional government and those of Thailand and Myanmar. Importantly, the second movie, Catching Fire, was in theaters in Thailand at the time of the 2014 military coup and resulting protests (Wong, 2021). It is in Catching Fire that the three finger salute first takes on meaning as a symbol of defiance against the capital. Identification also occurs on a stronger basis when someone identifies with a symbol (Cohen, 2009), and the citizens of Thailand, where the symbol first arose, felt connected to the salute and what it meant about resistance. The first sighting was at a mall in Thailand, where protesters gathered to show their dissatisfaction with the coup and one suddenly raised the salute (Quinley, 2021). Others followed, and the salute was quickly adopted into the movement. Sirawith Seritiwat, a Thai pro-democracy activist, added that “the anti-authoritarian messaging conveyed in the Hunger Games films resonated with the youth protesters at the time” and the anti-coup movement at the time “felt similar to scenes in the film where people put three fingers up toward President Snow” (Quinley, 2021).
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In The Hunger Games, the salute begins as a sign of respect and evolves into an act of defiance and solidarity against the tyrannical capital. The messaging resonated in Thailand and Myanmar, where people could identify with the struggles in the trilogy, and people began to connect their lives with those of the people in Panem. As the symbol was both relevant at the time, being displayed in theaters, and intimately connected to the struggles the protesters faced, it makes sense that it was adopted as a real symbol of resistance. Just like in the books, the salute has come to represent freedom from oppression and a call against tyranny for people living parallel lives to those of the fictional rebels.
The Significance of the Salute
The three-finger salute is significant for multiple reasons, the largest being the salience of the symbol and of The Hunger Games trilogy. As mentioned in The Hunger Games section, the universe was and continues to be extremely popular. When it was released, it topped the international box office for weeks (Box, n.d.); the same was true for the second movie, in which the three finger salute gained more screen time and significance. The traction continues today, and there are currently 2.5 million posts tagged #thehungergames on Instagram (Instagram, n.d.); on TikTok a platform that rose two years after the final movie, there are 255.5 million views of the tag #thehungergames (TikTok, n.d.). This is not to mention the numerous fan accounts, content, and fanfiction spread across social media. Globally, people recognize The Hunger Games and its related symbols, as well as the terrors of the tyranny from the series. As a result, the usage of the three finger salute both inspired citizens within Thailand and Myanmar and connected to international audiences.
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Within Southeast Asia, the growing use of the three finger salute serves to push others to join the fight. Just as Katniss does not often engage in large, singular actions, but rather “engages in minor acts of resistance that inspire others to come together as a collective and work for change” (Rodriguez, 2014, 159), the more general, subtle usage of the salute encourages citizens to join the movement. Seeing mass groups of people display the salute can motivate others to join the protestors and continue the fight. Further, “fiction can say publicly what might otherwise appear unsayable” (Hamid & Prose, 2015), and the connotations of the salute say more than other actions. The simple hand gesture is peaceful and outwardly harmless, but it functions as a tool to overcome the attempts of the government to silence the protestors. Within both countries, criticism of the government is heavily suppressed and dangerous; by flashing the symbol of resistance, the message gets across to other citizens without involving vocal resistance. Thus, the salute has enabled the movement to spread through Southeast Asia and provided a way for citizens to speak out against the oppression they face and bridge the gaps between protesters and other citizens.
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On a broader scale, the salute is significant because of its international impacts. When analyzing the news trends of the majority of the public, it’s clear that people have increasingly shifted away from typical news sources and sites, contributing to a growing ignorance in political and international issues (Prior, 2005, 2007). Events like what has been occurring in Thailand and Myanmar are less likely to reach Western audiences in an impactful way. By adopting the Western-based three finger salute, however, the Southeast Asian protest movements are able to effectively connect with Western audiences and communicate what is occurring on a level that is familiar to both populations.
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As An Xiao Mina, an internet social movement researcher, explains, “Asia seen through a western lense, it’s often misunderstood. By using a symbol that is popularly understood in the west and then globally, it’s a way of encouraging people to make the connection between something they do understand, which is The Hunger Games, and try to start to say, ‘wait a minute,’ is that also what’s happening in Myanmar? And so absolutely it’s a way to draw attention around an issue” (Wong 2021). As mentioned, The Hunger Games trilogy is well known worldwide and popular in countries across the globe; the three finger salute is easily recognized by anyone familiar with the series, so international audiences can quickly understand the situation in Southeast Asia. As Sirawith Seritiwat, a Thai protester, explains, “We knew that it would be easily understood to represent concepts of freedom, equality, solidarity” (Quinley, 2021). The salute has become an effective tool in catching international focus and effectively communicating the severity of the conflicts. News coverage of the salute within the protest movements has been significant and effective in increasing visibility of the protesters. This plays into a larger effort of protesters to reach international audiences, with protesters messaging President Biden on Facebook for help (Wong 2021), creating art with English words (ThreeFingers.org, n.d.), and singing a song of defiance to the tune of Dust in the Wind by Kansas (The Art of Protest, 2021). Using Western symbols effectively attracts the Western eye and communicates what is going on from a common ground.
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Furthermore, the ease and accessibility of the symbol has been significant in sharing news about the conflicts. Although news outlets have seen less interaction, people are spending significantly more time with entertainment and entertainment media, also known as “soft news”; research has suggested that such media can actually increase viewers’ awareness of global affairs and politics (Baum, 2002, 2003). The style and simplicity of the salute allows it to perfectly fit such mediums, such as Tiktok, and the salute has frequented social media platforms often. On TikTok in particular, creators in both politics and literature have made videos on the protests, focusing on the three finger salute (TikTok, n.d.). As a result, the protests have gained even more international attention and traction and are continuing to spread (Beech, 2021). The symbol is also easy to represent in art, and many groups have taken to producing protest art including the hand gesture to increase visibility. Within the countries themselves, the simplicity of the salute has allowed it to spread across the movements and become an easy vehicle through which protesters can connect.
Adopting the three finger salute also serves to highlight the negative actions of the government in response to the movements. Once the symbol began to spread across the Thai protests from 2014, the government attempted to enforce a ban on throwing up the hand sign, stating that “if it is an obvious form of resistance, then we have to control it so it doesn't cause any disorder in the country" (Associated Press, 2014). Given the context in which the symbol appears in The Hunger Games, international audiences can even more clearly associate the governments with the totalitarian leadership in the series, which rules with brute force and silencing of information. With the comparison of Thailand and Myanmar to Panem, there is already a hyperfocus on similarities with The Hunger Games. A Thai newspaper, The Bangkok Post, even advised leaders of the junta not to go after the salute, explaining that such actions backfired on the authorities in the series. As one journalist wrote, “if Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha reads or watches ‘The Hunger Games,’ he would know that what triggered the ‘revolution’ is not the three-finger salute. It’s the public execution of an old man who first responded to the sign” (Mackey, 2014). By publicly reacting to the salute, the governments not only draw more international attention to the issues but further solidify the comparison between the totalitarian government of Panem which sent children to their deaths and the military governments. Thus, the salute further serves to draw the attention of the international audience and emphasize the tyranny of the governments involved in the protests.
Conclusions
So, what does this mean for the impact of dystopian fiction on political attitudes, beliefs, and actions? Clearly, there is a connection between the two, and dystopian fiction has had a proud impact on the protests examined in the previous sections. Politically charged media like The Hunger Games have the ability to influence audience’s beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, helping bolster the resistance movements in Southeast Asia and connecting Western audiences to the conflicts at hand. Furthermore, identification with such dystopia media can push people to action and help citizens recognize underlying issues in society. My research also suggests the use of such emotionally charged and recognizable symbols can more effectively inspire people to participate in movements and acknowledge the conflicts occurring. The ability of fiction to build empathy from those uninvolved is also clear through my study, as international audiences have been able to relate to the movements in Thailand and Myanmar through their understanding of what the three finger salute means. The impact of YA dystopian fiction on younger populations in particular is also a significant outcome of my research; in the movements discussed, youth protesters played a large role and were the instigators of the adoption of the salute.
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However, more research needs to be done to address the impacts of YA dystopian fiction on younger generations and the formation of political and social beliefs. As the younger generations show trends of being more politically aware and active, it is important to identify if such fiction has interacted with those actions and beliefs in any way. My research and others suggest that there are significant effects on the developing mind, but cognitive science studies are needed to confirm this on a behavioral level. Future research should also focus on the growing trends of protests adopting popular culture symbols and how this has changed the trajectory of social movements. It is also necessary to conduct studies on whether fiction in general can inspire political movements, or just assist already existing beliefs and struggles.