Welcome to the Capitol! New Hunger Games Website with Pottermore echoes

You may have noticed, in the recently released micro-clip trailer for next year’s film of The Hunger Games, a little blip about registering as a citizen of the Capitol. Well now, you can do just that. This new site, which looks to be mostly teaser at this point, gives you the opportunity to register via either twitter or facebook (I went with the latter, myself). Then you will be registered according to your district (which is chosen for you;). Evidently, more bells and whistles will be forthcoming. For some more thoughts on the new site, particularly what it gives us that we didn’t already know, follow me after the jump.
Those of us here will be struck immediately by the similarity to Pottermore. Though the District placement format is logical, it also will remind most folks of the Sorting Hat (though no questions are asked for District Placement; maybe that’s because the Capitol is a totalitarian government, and the Sorting Hat is more democratic). Also like Pottermore is the promise of extra goodies. Already, I have gotten some information that I have been wanting for my students when I teach the novel: the industries of all 12 districts. This is a little odd, though, as 2 is listed as “Masonry” rather than its military role we see in Mockingjay. There is a graphic that shows each district’s industry and another that shows its amount of tesserae claimed (Districts 12 and 11 have the highest; these numbers are also odd, but I need a math whiz from 3 to crunch the numbers for me). As yet, no sign of the one resource I really want: an official map of Panem. Other graphics show a news ticker and a countdown to the 74th Games. Interestingly, because the film is going to be released in March, that alters the “actual” date of the Games, which is around midsummer (the fact that both strawberries and blackberries are ripe confuses the date in the novel; perhaps climate change is to blame). The news ticker and other little gizmos do not provide much more detail, but are a fun touch.

What really struck my fancy was the look of the site. Once you go on (and good luck with that, as the flood of new visitors has unleashed the nargles from Pottermore over here, too, and it appears to be locked up quite often), you will see a big seal that looks hauntingly like the U.S. Seal. This is, apparently, the Capitol seal that we will see in the film. With its stylized eagle grasping arrows in its claws, it both echoes the United States as a reminder of our potential to become the entertainment-worshipping culture of the Capitol and brings in the bird and arrow symbolism with which the novel is laden. Also, the C on Capitol is used with a little crown over it, indicative of the historic echoes of the novel. As one waits for the site to load, there is a staticy “acquiring signal” image that ties into the technology and broadcast break-in elements of the novel to give a “live feed” look. Oddly, the eagle holds only eight arrows, though it does have 12 feathers on the wings. It’s done in a gray, stone-like texture, and a smaller version of the eagle appears all over the site. This little seal will likely be stamped all over Capitol stuff in the movie (but there is another little bird-looking device scattered about,too, but maybe it’s just the twitterbird Panem-style). In the stonework are threads of red that could be rust, indicating age, or a subtle hint at blood.

Fun websites like this are customary these days for any film with any push from marketers (I loved the one from I am Legend that showed how much daylight you had each day!). But, with the novel’s statements about entertainment and technology, this just layers on another layer of irony and meaning. More here once we see what else the site has to offer!
H/T to James for helping me get a jump on this one!