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myanmar has been rocked with mass
protests
since his military coup
and this is one of the movement's
defining symbols
but we've also seen it elsewhere in
recent years most notably
in thailand so where did it come from
and why does it resonate so powerfully
in this part of the world
well the symbol comes from the 2014
era movies and books the hunger games
in thailand and myanmar they have become
a symbol of protest of both
military bad governments it can mean a
lot of different things
a symbol of the french revolution
equality liberty
it could mean democracy and freedom
political equality
for bangkok the may 2014
coup d'etat occurred at a time when
one of the sequels was actually playing
in movie theaters and within days people
began gathering at shopping malls the
skytrain and flashing that symbol
thailand and myanmar have a great degree
of connectivity
the people of myanmar are familiar with
this symbol
and as a kind of first reaction to the
february first coup d'etat
this is the first thing that probably
came to mind
in the film it's a symbol of a people
struggling against a totalitarian
dictatorship for southeast asia they
have had
their fair share of military regimes
of oppression inequality
the punishment of dissent
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the hunger games salute speaks
to what they know you're willing to be
brave
you're willing to stand up for what you
believe in
asia has seen through western lands it's
often misunderstood
by using a symbol that is popularly
understood
in the west and then globally it's a way
of
encouraging people to make that
connection between
something they do understand which is
hunger games and try to start to say
wait a minute that is that also what's
going on myanmar
and so absolutely it's a way to draw an
attention around an issue
these gestures don't come out of nowhere
they don't resonate for no reason
it's because they have deep histories
literally it resembles the scouting
movement science this gesture
carries with it that long history of
social solidarity of change of you know
being true to one's values whether in
fiction or reality
it's a dangerous symbol it's a symbol
that can be met with tremendous
repression symbols have a long role
in social movements especially hand
gestures they often touch
core emotions can often give fuel during
incredibly difficult and dangerous times
when we think about peace signs or the
raised fist
to see it in action is people saying we
are standing together
we identify with this movement the
additional power of the symbol is just
how practical it is right
when you're just raising a hand and
raising your fingers it's almost as
simple as it gets
set something that you you carry with
you you can take it down quickly
and you can take a selfie you can post
drawings it allows the images to
disseminate and go viral
if the thing that this meme represents
is something deeper if it's a deeper
societal issue
it's very unlikely for it to go away
until the society changes and until we
start to see
actual changes on the ground i suspect
we will see this this symbol
not just resonate in southeast asia but
to actually
start to be picked up around the world
and that's you know both the story of
the power of fiction
and the story of the power of social
movements to to turn fiction into
reality and help us
all kind of understand the story behind
people suffering behind people's
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challenges
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you