The Hunger Games and Battle Royale*
The country has caught Hunger Games fervor. Pre-sale tickets are though the roof, everyone is excited about Cinna’s gold eye liner, and I know more than one person who’s going to the first midnight showing. However, there’s been an issue dogging Collins’ work an argument that The Hunger Games is not authentically hers. Whispers that she had plagiarized a little known Japanese author named Koushun Takami who wrote an underground classic called Battle Royale. As a bookish person I decided to investigate this. It would involve rereading two books that I enjoyed and seeing two movies.
First things first, a summary. To move forward I need to summarize the subject material. Also, it’s important that everyone who reads this is on the same page. I will spoil both books, so if that kind of thing bothers you, skip this entry. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
Anyway, Battle Royale was originally published in 1999. Takami’s novel was kicked out of a literary competition due to its violent and sexual content. Once fully published it was a runaway best seller. Under the guise of a school trip 42 students are shipped to a small island, told they are to battle one another to the death, and then turned loose with weapons. All of this happens under the name The Program. The winner is announced on state television. The book also says that high level officials bet on the winner, but The Program itself is not televised. It is run by a happy go lucky misfit named Sakamochi who is happily murdered at the end of the novel. The weapons given to the students range from a fork to a machine gun. There is nearly a murder a chapter. And, I love the author for doing this, the reader is able to keep track of all of this because he numbered the students. Each time one of the lucky (or unlucky) students is introduced it goes like this, Shuya Nanahara (Boy # 15). The students are also forced to wear collars that will explode if tampered with, and they are also told that if they are caught in a forbidden zone the collars will explode killing the poor dear immediately. Five hundred some odd pages later two students survive and are running away as fast as they can from the fictional Republic of Greater East Asia. The book is not traditional Science Fiction as it lands firmly in the camp of Alternative History.
Next up, The Hunger Games was originally published in 2008. Suzanne Collins found herself with a surprising best seller on her hands seeing as the novel is a distopia where 24 children are forced to battle to the death in an arena. Under the directions of the Treaty of Treason two children are selected from 12 Districts by lottery. The first half of the book is staging for The Hunger Games. Tributes, as Collins calls them, are shuttled from their poor districts to a wondrous Capital. They are given food, drink, and beautiful costumes. They are interviewed in hopes of obtaining NASCAR like sponsors for when they enter the games. The second half of the book describes the game. Children are put into an arena and told to battle to the death. Let me be very clear about this, it is violent and it is completely unnerving. The second half of the book plays as a sadistic mashup of reality television and a true blood sport. There are moments when the narrator states in simple terms that she knows that the cameras are on her, and she will act a specific way to please her sponsors. There is no hint of irony and no dry moment of sarcasm to redeem the moment. The book gives the feel that absolutely everyone is forced to watch these games, and in some very strange ways they have become entertainment. Collin’s novel is pure Science Fiction. There are genetically modified animals, vastly superior medical science, and a hover car thrown in for good measure.
Is this a case of plagiarism? In the simplest terms, no. The two have similar moments and kill off characters in the same way, but these two books are criticising two very different things. Battle Royale is a dark comedy that is about living though high school. It took me reading the book twice and seeing the movie for me to realize this. Takami is showing the raw emotional years of high school. It is a wonder why this never took off in the post-Columbine post-9/11 America. It is more comparable to Mean Girls (2004) than The Hunger Games. Also, this book clearly criticizes authoritarian rule. I mean, when your neighbors are China and North Korea feeling a bit peeve about authoritarian rulers only makes sense.
Which leads me to The Hunger Games. It is obvious that Collins did not rip off her story. She tells a chilling tale of a dystopian society that entertains itself by watching children killing other children. Sure, there are minor elements of this in Battle Royale when highly placed party members place bets, but Collin’s way of having the games broadcast live into every home is far more insidious. In Battle Royale the characters openly discuss not playing the game. A few even commit suicide as an act of rebellion. In The Hunger Games every single character is resolute. The shocking part of The Hunger Games is the characters awareness that what they are doing makes for good television and could possible save their lives.
The next part of this project is comparing both films. I saw Battle Royale last night, and I will see The Hunger Games on Friday. If you get a chance go see Battle Royale in the theater. I had seen in on DVD years ago, but the new release is very well done. Also, there are some sight gags that only play well on the big screen. The movie is rated R, so use judgement if you decide to take a young one. The write up of both films will be posted by the end of next weekend.
*Author’s Note: There are currently TWO versions of Battle Royale on the market. If you want to run out and buy yourself a copy (or get it from the library) please make sure you are getting the one that was published AFTER 2009. Apparently, a new translation was done. However, because I’ve read both versions it simply isn’t just a new translation, it is a lengthening of the novel. Quite frankly, this pisses me off. I had no idea the first go around I was reading an edited work. Had I known that I would have fired off an angry email to the publisher and translator saying that I am an American, and we do not censor here. Can’t you picture it? I would have included an American Flag Gif and a Midi file that played the Star Spangled Banner.
The country has caught Hunger Games fervor. Pre-sale tickets are though the roof, everyone is excited about Cinna’s gold eye liner, and I know more than one person who’s going to the first midnight showing. However, there’s been an issue dogging Collins’ work an argument that The Hunger Games is not authentically hers. Whispers that she had plagiarized a little known Japanese author named Koushun Takami who wrote an underground classic called Battle Royale. As a bookish person I decided to investigate this. It would involve rereading two books that I enjoyed and seeing two movies.
First things first, a summary. To move forward I need to summarize the subject material. Also, it’s important that everyone who reads this is on the same page. I will spoil both books, so if that kind of thing bothers you, skip this entry. Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.
Anyway, Battle Royale was originally published in 1999. Takami’s novel was kicked out of a literary competition due to its violent and sexual content. Once fully published it was a runaway best seller. Under the guise of a school trip 42 students are shipped to a small island, told they are to battle one another to the death, and then turned loose with weapons. All of this happens under the name The Program. The winner is announced on state television. The book also says that high level officials bet on the winner, but The Program itself is not televised. It is run by a happy go lucky misfit named Sakamochi who is happily murdered at the end of the novel. The weapons given to the students range from a fork to a machine gun. There is nearly a murder a chapter. And, I love the author for doing this, the reader is able to keep track of all of this because he numbered the students. Each time one of the lucky (or unlucky) students is introduced it goes like this, Shuya Nanahara (Boy # 15). The students are also forced to wear collars that will explode if tampered with, and they are also told that if they are caught in a forbidden zone the collars will explode killing the poor dear immediately. Five hundred some odd pages later two students survive and are running away as fast as they can from the fictional Republic of Greater East Asia. The book is not traditional Science Fiction as it lands firmly in the camp of Alternative History.
Next up, The Hunger Games was originally published in 2008. Suzanne Collins found herself with a surprising best seller on her hands seeing as the novel is a distopia where 24 children are forced to battle to the death in an arena. Under the directions of the Treaty of Treason two children are selected from 12 Districts by lottery. The first half of the book is staging for The Hunger Games. Tributes, as Collins calls them, are shuttled from their poor districts to a wondrous Capital. They are given food, drink, and beautiful costumes. They are interviewed in hopes of obtaining NASCAR like sponsors for when they enter the games. The second half of the book describes the game. Children are put into an arena and told to battle to the death. Let me be very clear about this, it is violent and it is completely unnerving. The second half of the book plays as a sadistic mashup of reality television and a true blood sport. There are moments when the narrator states in simple terms that she knows that the cameras are on her, and she will act a specific way to please her sponsors. There is no hint of irony and no dry moment of sarcasm to redeem the moment. The book gives the feel that absolutely everyone is forced to watch these games, and in some very strange ways they have become entertainment. Collin’s novel is pure Science Fiction. There are genetically modified animals, vastly superior medical science, and a hover car thrown in for good measure.
Is this a case of plagiarism? In the simplest terms, no. The two have similar moments and kill off characters in the same way, but these two books are criticising two very different things. Battle Royale is a dark comedy that is about living though high school. It took me reading the book twice and seeing the movie for me to realize this. Takami is showing the raw emotional years of high school. It is a wonder why this never took off in the post-Columbine post-9/11 America. It is more comparable to Mean Girls (2004) than The Hunger Games. Also, this book clearly criticizes authoritarian rule. I mean, when your neighbors are China and North Korea feeling a bit peeve about authoritarian rulers only makes sense.
Which leads me to The Hunger Games. It is obvious that Collins did not rip off her story. She tells a chilling tale of a dystopian society that entertains itself by watching children killing other children. Sure, there are minor elements of this in Battle Royale when highly placed party members place bets, but Collin’s way of having the games broadcast live into every home is far more insidious. In Battle Royale the characters openly discuss not playing the game. A few even commit suicide as an act of rebellion. In The Hunger Games every single character is resolute. The shocking part of The Hunger Games is the characters awareness that what they are doing makes for good television and could possible save their lives.
The next part of this project is comparing both films. I saw Battle Royale last night, and I will see The Hunger Games on Friday. If you get a chance go see Battle Royale in the theater. I had seen in on DVD years ago, but the new release is very well done. Also, there are some sight gags that only play well on the big screen. The movie is rated R, so use judgement if you decide to take a young one. The write up of both films will be posted by the end of next weekend.
*Author’s Note: There are currently TWO versions of Battle Royale on the market. If you want to run out and buy yourself a copy (or get it from the library) please make sure you are getting the one that was published AFTER 2009. Apparently, a new translation was done. However, because I’ve read both versions it simply isn’t just a new translation, it is a lengthening of the novel. Quite frankly, this pisses me off. I had no idea the first go around I was reading an edited work. Had I known that I would have fired off an angry email to the publisher and translator saying that I am an American, and we do not censor here. Can’t you picture it? I would have included an American Flag Gif and a Midi file that played the Star Spangled Banner.
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