Miyerkules, Nobyembre 20, 2013
The Darker Side of the Hunger Games Trilogy
Why I believe The Hunger Games Trilogy has more substance than Fifty shades of Grey & Twilight
Yesterday, I got a chance to rewatch the first movie installment of the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it rekindled my love for the said book series. My love for the book has not reach the level of love I have reserved for the Harry Potter book series, but I have come to respect the following it has. Unlike most book fans, I actually like the movie, not just because of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson but because the feel of the movie actually matches the feeling you get reading the book. The feel of the book changes as Katniss' character changes into a darker more mature person. 50 shades and Twilight are also immensely popular book series that I believe got more hype than what they deserve, not just in advertising but by how the books are written as well. I am going to compare these 3 book series since all of them are written in 1st person point of view. Twilight just finished its books to movie adaptations, 50 shades are well on their way and The Hunger Games will show its 2nd installment this November 21. More on this after the cut!
The Hunger Games trilogy is written by Suzanne Collins and follows the point of view of the female protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. Unlike most protagonist, you can say that Katniss is a bit of a bitch, according to her thoughts. She is judgmental and selfish, she can't even make up her mind about her feelings about Gale, Liam Hemsworth's character. Though you can probably relate her reserved personality and her inner selfishness to the her becoming the head of the family after her father died in a coal mine explosion which led her mother into depression. She didn't have a good childhood and she had to take care of her catatonic mom and her crybaby sister Prim. She's independent and I like that in a character. It's like Katniss got the typical male hero characteristics and Peeta got the Damsel in Distress character profile. Suzanne Collins reversed the roles and its interesting. Very much different with the female protagonist of 50 shades, Anastacia and Twilight's Bella. Both female characters in Twilight and 50 shades are greatly overwhelmed of their male counterpart when they first met Edward and Christian. Katniss, on the other hand, had someone else she likes and did not even like Peeta Mellark even a little bit at the start of the book. In 50 shades and Twilight, Both female leads get into deep shit and their male lead has to save them from potential harm. This characterization is frustrating for me since it implies that women needs to be dependent of their man. A sign of an unhealthy relationship. While in The Hunger Games, Katniss saves Peeta more than once. It shows that the female lead is capable and even smarter than the male lead.
Aside from the great twist in characterization, I love that the other characters are not just page fillers. Plutarch, Finnick, Gale,Prim, Haymitch, Evie, Cinna, even Madge (Katniss' BFF in the book, not seen in the movies) has importance in the story. I get the reason why the producers deemed Madge unimportant in the movies since she doesn't change the plot even she's there or not but if you've read the book, she was the one who gave Katniss the iconic Mockingjay Pin. A pin that belonged to her Aunt who died in the Arena and was a tribute along side Haymitch and Best friends with Mrs. Everdeen. It gives Haymitch's and Mrs. Everdeen more of a character history and not just an additional character in the book series. Even Cinna and his crew play significant roles in the books than the movie since they became Katniss' support system while she is in the capitol for the first and second book. Again, comparing it to 50 shades and Twilight. The side characters such as Bella and Anastacia's friends in the books are just a source of jealousy or just mere page fillers so that the author doesn't have to think of a few more lines for the the narrator, a.k.a Bella and Anastacia. One more thing worth noting here is how much I hate it when the author writes Anastacia's "inner goddess" is awakening. I mean, WTF is that? I don't even understand the logic why she/he chose those words and published it. I believe that it's compensating to the lack of a larger vocabulary to describe how Anastacia was feeling in those moments.
While Twilight and 50 shades are discussing how to get into a needy, abusive relationship in a thousand words and more, The Hunger Games delves into the darker side of Human Psychology. Subtle but its there. You won't even notice it if you're not paying attention as you read it. The Hunger Games Trilogy included topics like forced prostitution, alcoholism and drug abuse, depression, PTSD, suicide and murder. Which is quite a big deal since the market of the books are teenagers to young adults. Finnick's character was forced into prostitution by the Capitol, Katniss and Haymitch turned into alcoholics to forget the time they spent killing other teenagers at the arena. Annie, Finnick's girl, is driven half insane, 2 unnamed tributes who turned into drug abuse, Mags' suicide and Peeta's rage outs after his Brainwashing might count as PTSD. It also shows that the movie is not just about killing and violence but also how it affects the people that experienced it.
The only down side of The Hunger Games is the obvious similarities it has with Koushun Takami's Battle Royale. A novel also depicting teenagers fighting to the death until 1 victor immerges and also mandated by the post apocalyptic government they have. If this is the rip off of the said Japanese Novel, I wouldn't exactly say that. Yes, it has the same plot specially in the first book, but I believe that The Hunger Games trilogy focused more on the after effects of the violence they experienced, while Battle Royale gave more focus on the reasons why the characters chose to kill their classmates, and of course, their ultimate survival. This is only an opinion of a person who has read the Hunger Games trilogy and watched both 1st and 2nd Battle Royale films.
For comments, please feel free to leave me messages on my cbox. Here'sa few gifs I saw in the net to show my excite for Catching Fire!
 |
| Symbol of the rebellion! |
 |
| I'm ready for the 75th Annual Hunger Games!!! |
