It’s been just under two weeks since the military took power from Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and as protests continue, those opposing the new regime have turned to very modern ways of showing their convictions. First, a lot of tourists, getting photos with militia, unwittingly showed the world what the situation is like on the streets.
And now, actual protesters have joined together under the banner of a salute from The Hunger Games. The three finger salute (a lot like the Brownies’ salute) is used in Catching Fire, the second instalment of the trilogy, by the people oppressed by the Panem regime. And its use in Thailand has a double meaning. Not only is it used to symbolise protesters’ defiance, but it’s also a big fuck-you to the new authorities for clamping down on the public’s access to western media such as BBC, CNN, HBO and the Disney Channel. The Hunger Games – which is now a film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth, but you know this, come on – is, after all, one of the biggest grossing franchises to have come out of America in recent years.
Of course, Suzanne Collins, the writer of The Hunger Games, didn’t just invent the symbol. And no, she didn’t just take it from the Brownies. It originated during the French Revolution in 1789, when it was meant to symbolise the three elements of the revolutionaries’ demands; liberty, equality and fraternity.
The protesters are getting a bit of flack for being symbolic of little more than the ‘bankruptcy of political beliefs in the 21st Century’ but, then again, it’s gained so much political significance that there are reports that a man was held by authorities for using it. Something tells us these three digits are going to carry a lot of weight.
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Picture: PA
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.