If you LOVED Rattle Royale, and think The Hunger Games is a huge westernized rip off, I can't stop you... but...

Pretend for a second that you've never seen Battle Roayle. Imagine you are going to the movies and you watch this movie that no one is really making a big deal out of, called The Hunger Games. You still might NOT like it. You really might hate it. And then you might see Battle Royale and love it. I think that's really possible. I think they're that different.

There are a few important things about Battle Royale that make it really special. The cultural meaning behind it, the absolute unrestrained violence, the way that even though there is a protagonist you get to see the perspectives of the other students involved. There's the fact that the kids are randomly selected for this, based on their reputation which is in part earned. All the kids were from the same class, so the knew each other, and didn't expect to be put against each other. Oh, and the completely demeaning tracking collars, scary for what the represent as well as what they do.

I really like Battle Royale, but the special thing about it to me was not that these were young people fighting in an arena. Yes it's shocking, but that shock goes back to Lord of the Flies. The idea that people need to be controlled is old. The idea of people fighting to the death as a means of control has been used and written about. It's the fact that they're kids, younger, more innocent, less experienced than adults, that makes it more a story about human nature. Again, similar to the approach in Lord of the Flies.

So yes, The Hunger Games has a lot of similarities. Though, saying it's a rip off implies that Suzzane Collins definitely knew of Battle Royale, even though she said she didn't. (Which is possible, but I don't think likely.) OR you could admit the real possibility that this is an idea that more than one author can come up with it. What about other influences? Theseus and the Minotaur for example? Heck, the idea of gladiators in general, fighting to the death in an arena. They're usually conquered slaves or criminals, and it's as much amusement as it is an assertion of dominance. Or other books where people are hunted in survival situations? The Most Dangerous Game, which could been seen as part of the influence behind The Running Man. What about The Lottery, an example of when having your name drawn from the pile is really the last thing you want?

Even though I don't actually think Suzzane Collins had ever heard of Battle Royale, let me pretend she did. Maybe she heard it in passing and didn't remember. Or Maybe she watched it and said "I can write about this too!" ... They still aren't at all the same story, nor are they trying to make the same point.

What's special about The Hunger Games to me is the focus on one character, a interestingly biased perspective. There's also punishing children, sacrificing them for something they had no part of, as a means of control for the whole population. There's the people Capitol people so removed and so papered that the death is mere entertainment in a reality show instead of a constant reminder of oppression and hunger. There's the fact that the games don't actually take up the majority of the books... A lot of time is spent on how the inequality is felt. And then there's the reward for winning, not just acclaim for one person, but the whole district really wanting and needing the supplies.

Yeah, there's fighting in an arena. But to dismiss either one of these stories for being too similar means you're missing out. Maybe some people just like the arena fights. I don't. If that's all either move/story/book were, I'd hate them both. Maybe some people just like the one they saw first. That's fine, but I don't really think that's the only way to go. I love to see different interpretations. Maybe some people hate the whole franchise feel. I get that, but popular doesn't automatically mean crap. Perhaps some people have to like the unpopular thing to feel like individuals. If you're like one thing because other people don't like it, you're still depending on other people. Like something because you like it.

Just saw that Bristol Palin was eliminated from dancing with the stars. I thought that show was done? Also I guess Survivor is still going... wellokthen.

 

Hey people, I'm feeling disconnected.

Also:
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thankful for love, time, and peace of mind.

I have a thing for point and click adventure games. I like retro games in general really, because I can play them really easily on the old PC. (The graphics card in that thing is too weak to handle anything made after 1999.)

My current fascination is this



Which I'm having a blast playing through. It's a lot like the wit that went into the Kings Quest series of Hugo's House of Horrors.

I know there's a Terry Prachett version of the color of magic around somewhere. I read that and The Light Fantastic over the summer, so I think that's what's next up for me.

This Halloween I'm play doom, Thief, some silent hill, probably some resident evil (though resident evil is funnier to me than it is scary. "LEEEEOOOOOON! HELP ME LEON!")

Goin' home. I like the quiet and the alone for my halloweens.