Also, I've never really been comfortable with the sci-fi elements of the series. Do we really need all these futuristic hovercraft and holograms and stuff?
It's supposed to make you uncomfortable. You're presented with magical technology beyond anything seen today. You're then told that only the people in the Capital have access to that technology and that (with the exception of the military in District 13) the districts have to live in squalor.
It's also supposed to make you think: what could have led to such society? Also, is their society really so different from our own? Rich western countries have plenty of fancy technology, and those countries benefit greatly the resources mined in areas with few modern comforts. One could argue that the Capital is really just a caricature of a western nation and that the districts are just third-world countries controlled by powers far away. The situations aren't completely the same, but there's enough similarity that one could wonder if a future like the Hunger Games could exist.