He's actually entirely correct and said nothing controversial or ill-informed, though? Save your ire for something else. Like not being embarrassed that you enjoyed a piece of young adult literature, and all too common pitfall.
I don't know about the whole "books for 12 years old" thing but the "who gives a shit?" reaction to being upset about a movie being similar to another is certainly appropriate.
Dunno about books, but I keep hearing a chorus of internet whiners claiming that it's a ripoff of Battle Royale... 'cuz obviously the idea of the modern entertainment industry as bread & circuses is a singular, original idea that's never, ever been taken to its dystopian logical extreme by hundreds of other novelists and screenwriters.
Well, the country in the Hunger Games is called Panem, which is a direct reference to the Latin phrase "Panem et circenses," which directly translates to "bread and circuses," as in the only things you need to keep the masses from rising up. In a Roman context, the "circuses" usually referred to games of death and gladiatorial fights. I'm pretty sure all that was explained in Mockingjay.
If the Child Murdering games were all the two had in common I could overlook it but the plot of the first book is rather shameless in ripping off Battle Royale.
The protagonist is brought to the games where they team up with a useless classmate who had a crush on the protagonist and a bitter former victor of the games. The protagonist does not initially return these feelings but over the course of the book starts to. The final showdown between them and a competitor ends with him having a bit of a mental breakdown as he comes to see the monster he is (movie only). In the very end they, trick the game masters and both manage to live.
Now the later two books do something to differentiate it but the first one is too similar for it to be a total coincidence.
And Lockout is a total rip-off of Escape from New York. The plots are identical except that Lockout is set in space and Escape from New York is set in... I'm not gonna tell you. You'll just have to watch Escape from New York and find out :P
Their complaints would be more credible if The Hunger Games was interested in the normalisation of bullying in Japanese high school culture whilst the adults turn a blind eye, but then again, no one who has seen the (crappy) movie as actually bothered to read the book it's based on.
When I heard the premise for the Hunger Games I thought, "Isn't that like Battle Royale?" But the author claims she never heard of Battle Royale (she got the idea from reality TV in general) and I believe her. It's actually quite common for creative people to strike upon the same idea independently. It happened to my mother, a young adult author, who wrote a book about an obscure historical figure. She was sure no one had bothered to write about this person. But sure enough just as hers is about to come out, another lady got the same idea. They became author rivals for awhile. But when they finally met, they turned out to have the same interests and hobbies-- even used the same books for their research. If it weren't for the bizarre situation, they could have been best friends.
So the lesson is: if you have a great idea, get it published before somebody else comes up with it.
I’m not sure I believe Collins, it doesn’t bother me when an author takes inspiration or an idea from something. But they are sort of compelled to deny all knowledge of it to avoid the inevitable claims of plagiarism that would follow.
I find it far less likely that she'd never heard of Running Man, but whatever, it's hard to come up with an idea in sci-fi/speculative fiction that Philip K. Dick didn't think of first in some form. What should matter more is whether it's done well, or if the author at least has an interesting new take.
Hmmm... Star Wars was totally copied on Star Trek, Dragonlance should die of shame from copying Lord of the Rings, and etc. etc. etc...
As soon as you know just the surface of two things that are in the same category, it's automatically the same. And that happens in music as well.
In Battle Royale, 3 person ESCAPE. The girl that ends up falling in love is quiet and reserved In Hunger Games, 2 person WIN. The girl that ends up falling in love is bold and arrogant, and ends up starting an effin revolution!
In Battle Royale, it's a CLASS of students, all knowing each others, and they are lured in the arena under a "field trip" excuse. No preparation, nor mental nor physical In Hunger Games, it's two kids from each district (and you cannot know someone from other districts), so you MAY only know the other kid from your district. But you might have never seen the kid if you aren't in the same crowd. And you know what's might come, when reaping comes, and when you are picked, you get a couple of days to prepare mentaly and physically. Plus you get tons of rewards for yourself and your district if you win. People even do careers out of it.
Also, that's details, but there's cars and guns in Battle Royale, where Hunger Games can only rely on nature when in the Arena (and basic weapons, nothing automated, only blades and bows).
Well, i could probably go on and on, but so could you about star trek vs. star wars and lord of the rings vs. dragonlance, immarite?
(BTW, if you ever feel like starting a flame war because i did writing mistakes, consider that English isn't my first language. kthxbai!)
I normally get the comic via the RSS feed, but I'll admit sometimes I click through to the website just to see the "Labels."
ReplyDeleteIs it cool to play the "based on books for 12 YEAR OLDS. who gives a SHIT?" card in a comic book store?
ReplyDeleteAs long as he doesn't have nerdrage tantrums over things happening in superhero comics, sure.
DeleteThat's like saying "It's a beauty contest. Who gives a shit?" at the Miss America pageant.
DeleteWait, people are supposed to give a shit about Miss America?
Deletecrap!, why am I always reading stuff this written for 12 year olds. First comics and now the Hunger Games.
ReplyDeleteSpoken by someone who clearly couldn't be bothered to rub two brain cells together and find out what the series is actually like/about..
ReplyDeleteHe's actually entirely correct and said nothing controversial or ill-informed, though? Save your ire for something else. Like not being embarrassed that you enjoyed a piece of young adult literature, and all too common pitfall.
DeleteI don't know about the whole "books for 12 years old" thing but the "who gives a shit?" reaction to being upset about a movie being similar to another is certainly appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI mean....he's right, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteDunno about books, but I keep hearing a chorus of internet whiners claiming that it's a ripoff of Battle Royale... 'cuz obviously the idea of the modern entertainment industry as bread & circuses is a singular, original idea that's never, ever been taken to its dystopian logical extreme by hundreds of other novelists and screenwriters.
ReplyDelete"bread & circuses"? I must have missed part of the movie or something.
DeleteWell, the country in the Hunger Games is called Panem, which is a direct reference to the Latin phrase "Panem et circenses," which directly translates to "bread and circuses," as in the only things you need to keep the masses from rising up. In a Roman context, the "circuses" usually referred to games of death and gladiatorial fights. I'm pretty sure all that was explained in Mockingjay.
DeleteSee also Rollerball and the Running Man.
DeleteIf the Child Murdering games were all the two had in common I could overlook it but the plot of the first book is rather shameless in ripping off Battle Royale.
DeleteThe protagonist is brought to the games where they team up with a useless classmate who had a crush on the protagonist and a bitter former victor of the games. The protagonist does not initially return these feelings but over the course of the book starts to. The final showdown between them and a competitor ends with him having a bit of a mental breakdown as he comes to see the monster he is (movie only). In the very end they, trick the game masters and both manage to live.
Now the later two books do something to differentiate it but the first one is too similar for it to be a total coincidence.
And Lockout is a total rip-off of Escape from New York. The plots are identical except that Lockout is set in space and Escape from New York is set in... I'm not gonna tell you. You'll just have to watch Escape from New York and find out :P
DeleteTheir complaints would be more credible if The Hunger Games was interested in the normalisation of bullying in Japanese high school culture whilst the adults turn a blind eye, but then again, no one who has seen the (crappy) movie as actually bothered to read the book it's based on.
DeleteWhen I heard the premise for the Hunger Games I thought, "Isn't that like Battle Royale?" But the author claims she never heard of Battle Royale (she got the idea from reality TV in general) and I believe her. It's actually quite common for creative people to strike upon the same idea independently. It happened to my mother, a young adult author, who wrote a book about an obscure historical figure. She was sure no one had bothered to write about this person. But sure enough just as hers is about to come out, another lady got the same idea. They became author rivals for awhile. But when they finally met, they turned out to have the same interests and hobbies-- even used the same books for their research. If it weren't for the bizarre situation, they could have been best friends.
ReplyDeleteSo the lesson is: if you have a great idea, get it published before somebody else comes up with it.
I’m not sure I believe Collins, it doesn’t bother me when an author takes inspiration or an idea from something. But they are sort of compelled to deny all knowledge of it to avoid the inevitable claims of plagiarism that would follow.
DeleteI find it far less likely that she'd never heard of Running Man, but whatever, it's hard to come up with an idea in sci-fi/speculative fiction that Philip K. Dick didn't think of first in some form. What should matter more is whether it's done well, or if the author at least has an interesting new take.
DeleteYou realise that "The Running Man" was a Stephen King novella, right?
DeleteBread and circuses? I thought it was a movie about dieting!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was about the Hungarian Olympics
ReplyDeleteIt's been pretty much nothing but "jus' folks" and "it's true" for a while.... is the world getting smarter?
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere that there are only 8 original plots.
ReplyDeleteMay not be true literally, but in spirit its close, and a list of films based on Shakespearean plays would make this the longest OVC posting ever.
DeleteIf I remember correctly, they're something like Cinderella, Achilles, Faust, Tristan, Circe, Romeo & Juliet, Orpheus, and Child Murder Competition.
DeleteHollywood is still making movies? Why?
ReplyDeleteWhy would Hollywood stop making movies?
Delete155 million over the weekend. That's why.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... Star Wars was totally copied on Star Trek, Dragonlance should die of shame from copying Lord of the Rings, and etc. etc. etc...
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you know just the surface of two things that are in the same category, it's automatically the same. And that happens in music as well.
In Battle Royale, 3 person ESCAPE. The girl that ends up falling in love is quiet and reserved
In Hunger Games, 2 person WIN. The girl that ends up falling in love is bold and arrogant, and ends up starting an effin revolution!
In Battle Royale, it's a CLASS of students, all knowing each others, and they are lured in the arena under a "field trip" excuse. No preparation, nor mental nor physical
In Hunger Games, it's two kids from each district (and you cannot know someone from other districts), so you MAY only know the other kid from your district. But you might have never seen the kid if you aren't in the same crowd. And you know what's might come, when reaping comes, and when you are picked, you get a couple of days to prepare mentaly and physically. Plus you get tons of rewards for yourself and your district if you win. People even do careers out of it.
Also, that's details, but there's cars and guns in Battle Royale, where Hunger Games can only rely on nature when in the Arena (and basic weapons, nothing automated, only blades and bows).
Well, i could probably go on and on, but so could you about star trek vs. star wars and lord of the rings vs. dragonlance, immarite?
(BTW, if you ever feel like starting a flame war because i did writing mistakes, consider that English isn't my first language. kthxbai!)
All we see is a flock of Teal Dears my darling.
DeleteYeah, sorry, got carried away
DeleteShort version: Every books of a same genre as similarities, we are just not used to see kids forced to fight to death.
Actually, Catherine, your English is better than a lot of native speakers I know.
DeletePlagiarism is totally cool if it's for kids...
ReplyDelete