Hat, Cadet

Theseus and the Minotaur.

Am I doing it right?

I’m getting a little sick of all these “OMG Teh Hungar Games ripped off Battle Royale” posts.

Yes, the two books/movies share a common theme in that teenagers are placed into an arena and forced to kill each by the government. However, both have other, very different themes and variations. Battle Royale is social commentary and satire about Japanese social issues, The Hunger Games is a social commentary and satire on modern Western social issues, like reality TV, Media control, et cetra.  If you read the books the differences become even more striking, with the series segueing into the Revolution against the Capitol and bringing up issues such as: self-preservation, independence vs interdependence, and the nature of freedom and choice.  (Which can been seen in the first book in the arena itself as well.)

How’s the saying go?  “There’s nothing new under the sun.”  We’ve been retelling the same stories, only with simple variations and changes, ever since we were huddled around campfires, desperate to stave off the dark.  It’s not that hard to imagine that two people can come up with a relatively similar idea entirely independently.  Especially since Suzanne Collins’s story of how the idea first struck her, when she was flipping back and forth between live coverage of the war in Iraq and a reality TV show sstood out to her with with its strange disconnect, and openly and willing admits that the story of Theseus and the Minotaur  also played a large influence on her story.

Honestly, if you people are so up in arms to defend Battle Royale, where were you when the book came out in 2008?