Rebellion?

Katniss Everdeen seems to be everyone’s favorite rebel in The Hunger Games. In today’s world though, most people seem to despise those known as street or graffiti artists. Both Katniss and these artists represent rebellion, but they do not intend to. Katniss’s hunting, volunteering, and three finger salute are all signs of selflessness and respect though they are taken as acts of rebellion. These acts can teach today’s world about the lives of the infamous street artists in Exit Through the Gift Shop.

Exit Through the Gift Shop is a documentary style film made by the infamous street artist Banksy. He makes this film to tell the story of Thierry Guetta. Thierry is a French man who owns a clothing store in Los Angeles. He also likes to film everything. His cousin is the famous street artist Space Invader, so Thierry followed him around and filmed him doing his work. As Thierry continued to do this, he begins to meet more and more street artists. The footage of this documentary shows Thierry following famous people like Shepard Fairy and others. It gives insight into why and how they produce art in this way.

Katniss’s first act that captures the Capitol’s attention as possible rebellion is her hunting in a forest that is illegal for trespassing. Katniss goes out to this field every day with her friend Gale. They kill different animals and then later sell or trade them in the black market. If the living conditions in District Twelve, where Katniss lives, were not so terrible then she would not have to perform these illegal acts to keep her family alive. Katniss’s father was killed in a mining accident and since then Katniss feels responsible for keeping her family alive. Katniss is the kind of girl who does not want to cause trou...

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.... Government officials consider any act of producing street art as rebellion when honestly it is not. Shepard Fairey is a great example of this. He made street art for about ten years before he met Thierry and he claims he made this art because he thought that it looked cool. He did not want to really anger anyone with his work. He just wanted to share his passion with the world in manner he deemed fit.

Most people would not consider Katniss Everdeen and street or graffiti artists to be similar in any way, but they can be. They both symbolize rebellion to some people, including the powering governments. In all honesty though both Katniss and these artists just want to share their views on certain topics or share a passion that they have. When they act in certain manners though they are considered rebellious when they are really quite innocent and individualistic.