Design Critics on Catching Fire: “Do we overlook evil if it’s not dressed up like Fascism?”

Burn #1: If this was the future, why did the Capitol look like the 1980s?

Burn #2: The more interesting fashion was outside the Capitol, where one suspected the rebellion might be sponsored by Etsy.

Burn #3: Weaponry is the dark side of industrial design — most museums don’t include guns in their collections, for instance. Thinking all the way back to Star Wars and light sabers, or Star Trek’s disruptors and phasers: movies provide a perfect opportunity to introduce new weapons that no one has dreamed of yet. But in Catching Fire, the force field technology reminded me of those electronic invisible fences designed to keep your dog in the yard. Clouds of poisonous gas? That technology dates to WWI.

More burns at The Atlantic.