A luminous bow hovers in the darkness as if suspended in the sky while the arena-like stage is filled with smoke. A figure emerges: Katniss Everdeen, the girl from District 12 in Suzanne Collins' post-apocalyptic universe, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the film franchise. With her appearance, the 74th Hunger Games begin and no special effect is spared. Closely following the plot of Collins' first book in the young adult series, and the Lionsgate film of 2012,
The dildo isn't symbolic. Its function is noise. In a memetic landscape poisoned by irony, absurdity is the point. These aren't protests or insults that make a point. They're spectacles.