Ferguson, Missouri is now famous for the protests and riots that erupted through the city after the unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer who was not indicted.  Many see the protest and riots as unnecessary. However, Sonia Saraiya offers an article to counter their position.  Saraiya’s article “Mockingjay’s Eerie Echoes of Ferguson” compares the popular movie Mockingjay to the protests in Ferguson, Missouri.  Written in 2014, Saraiya urged readers to see the connection between the dystopian film and racial injustice in Ferguson.   The significance of Saraiya’s article is better understood after knowing the impact of the Mockingjay movie on youth culture as well as knowing the chronic racial injustice in America.  

According to dictionary.com, popular culture or pop culture is defined as, “cultural activities or commercial products reflecting, suited to, or aimed at the tastes of the general masses of people.”  Pop culture reaches a variety of audiences through the inventions of the radio, television, as well as the internet; the varying forms makes it accessible to most people interested in it.  Saraiya understands that pop culture reaches a mass audience as well as varying age groups.  She appropriately uses the pop culture metaphor in order to make her message that the Ferguson protests were justified. Also, the worldwide connections pop culture has is an important feature of its influence.  American pop culture can be seen in all other continents.  Mockingjay had domestic as well as international sales which means people all over the world were able to witness the dystopian action film.  This action film is based on the book with same title; the plot is essentially about the people overthrowing the terrible government.

The Mockingjay movie is an important component to her argument.  The film operates as a juxtaposition to what is acceptable on film versus what is acceptable in reality.  Saraiya uses the film as part of her argument because protesters graffiti the movie quote, “If we burn, you burn with us” (Saraiya 394).  The protestor are aware of the connection between their lives and the film. She connects the dystopian fiction’s conflicts with the government to the riots that resulted because the justice system failed the people of Ferguson.  The movie grossed “$350,658,600” in America and “$755,400,400” worldwide (boxofficemojo.com).  It was popular in America as well as worldwide.  The movie clearly reached a lot of people, so not only does the concept of the movie have merit, but also the plot of the movie does too.  The real significance of the film in Saraiya’s argument is that people can relate and emphasize with the riots and violence in the fictional film, but see the Ferguson protestors as wrong and unwarranted. Given America’s history with Black people it is actually understandable as to why protests and riots have exploded in Ferguson.

The racial injustice in America is the most important theme in the article.  America has a terrible history with degrading and disrespecting Black people.  Ever since slavery, Blacks have been treated poorly.  Blacks started as property, “chattel slavery is the most extreme example we have not only of domination and oppression but of human attempts to dehumanize other people” (Rinehart 29).  For years Blacks were seen as less than human and were treated as such.  Even after slavery Black were still treated poorly, “In the 22 years since the Rodney King trial; in the 59 years since the Emmett Till trial; in the 17 months since the Trayvon Martin trial—one would hope that some progress had been made” (Saraiya 393).  Saraiya recognizes that although slavery ended hundreds of years ago, Black people are still treated unfairly to this day.  

A lot has improved ever since Blacks were given more rights such as the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. While slavery has ended and Blacks have been given more rights, the social and political institutions continue to oppress Blacks.  For instance, Black men are “21 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement” (Saraiya 395).  America is socially structured to hinder Blacks.  This has been the main problem since slavery ended.  Political institutions tend to work against Black people, so that is where the real change needs to be in order to end racial injustice. The protests are seen as violent even though everyone participating is simply exercising their first amendment right of freedom of speech; this is a fact the people who oppose the protest forget.

More specifically than the racial injustice in America, there is racial injustice in Ferguson, Missouri.  The racial injustice is manifested when the officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for killing Michael Brown.  Following the shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed Black teenager by a police officer, is when the city erupted in protests that led to violence.  The citizens were protesting because they feel as though justice was not served.  The protestors do not believe the officer should get off scot free when he obviously killed the young man.  Michael Brown was a young man and any future he had was ripped away from him by Darren Wilson. The protests would not have begun had the courts ruled that Darren Wilson was wrong an unwarranted in his actions.  The people who oppose the protests see them as violent.  There have been riots, lootings, and break-ins, in Ferguson since the protests began.  The correlation is obvious, the violence and destruction began after the protests.  However, the people who are rioting, looting, and committing break-ins are not necessarily the same people that participate in the protests.  More than likely, the people who are committing the violent acts are just taking advantage of the fact there is chaos in the city.  The protestors intended for a peaceful and non-violent protest throughout the city.  The whole purpose of the protests was just to catch the attention of lawmakers and officials; hoping to overturn the ruling.  Additionally, the protests were part of the Black Lives Matter movement.  This is an ongoing movement in America where people are trying to get the rest of America to see that Black lives matter too.  The movement stems from the same thing the protestors in Ferguson were protesting; police officers not being indicted or charged with a crime after killing Black people.

Hopefully Sonia Saraiya’s article Mockingjay an Eerie Echoes of Ferguson successfully convinces audiences that the Ferguson protests were justified.  She successfully compares the Ferguson protests to the popular movie Mockingjay’s conflict.  The cultural background of the Mockingjay film as well as the historical background of Ferguson, Missouri offer deeper insights into the article.  The article expectantly altered the mindset of the doubters of the Ferguson protests.  Hopefully, the doubters now better understand where the protesters are coming from.  Furthermore, if doubters still persisted after reading Saraiya’s article then maybe this essay provided deeper insight and more context to Saraiya’s argument.
