Hunger Games tributes? UP Manila graduates liken portion of grad ceremony to movie

August 11, 2023 - 1:58 PM
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UP Manila graduation
Screengrab of the University of the Philippines Manila's 114th Commencement Exercises on Aug. 7, 2023 as posted on its Facebook page (UPManilaOfficial/Facebook)

Some graduates of the University of the Philippines Manila poked fun at a segment in their commencement exercises for its perceived similarity to a portion in “The Hunger Games” film where it showed its fallen tributes.

User @mariannezen from the X (formerly Twitter) platform shared a clip she claimed was part of their 114th commencement exercises held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Monday, August 7.

The clip showed rolling pictures of some graduates from UP Manila’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Their moving pictures were accompanied by background music that some thought was similar to the score played when the fallen tributes in the “Hunger Games” film adaptations are shown to the remaining tributes.

In the film, tributes are updated with the identities of those who have lost their lives during the Games. This is shown to them in the sky, where each face of the tribute and the district to which they belong are flashed on a virtual screen.

The trilogy is based on the young adult novels of the same name by Suzanne Collins, which tells the story of minors being selected to participate in a compulsory televised battle royal called the “Hunger Games.”

The participants are called tributes, while those who have died are called fallen tributes or the fallen.

Meanwhile, X (formerly Twitter) user @mariannezen commented that their rolling pictures on the stage during their graduation, along with the accompanying background music, appeared as if they were “tributes” to the famous trilogy.

“Funny ng UPM grad [UP Manila graduation] plz, ginawa kaming tribute sa ‘Hunger Games,” she posted.

Her post has earned 27,700 likes and over 2,200 reposts so far.

It also amused other online users on the text-based platform.

“The fallen,” a user commented.

“May the employment odds be ever in your favor,” another user wrote with a laughing emoji, referencing a famous phrase in the movie uttered to tributes.

“Fallen Tributes from Ermita District,” commented a different user, referring to UP Manila’s district in the nation’s capital.

Others edited the clip to make it appear as if the actual score from the movie was used.

“Hold awn (on), I gotchu,” an online user wrote.

“Sorry, I had to do it,” wrote another X user with his own edit.

Another Filipino claimed that the score of the medieval fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” opening was used in their own college recognition ceremony.

Last June, graduates of the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City sang Taylor Swift’s “Long Live” as their graduation song.

READ: ‘Long live, graduates!’: Bacolod City class perform Taylor Swift song on grad day