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shadowkatFinished watching Catching Fire, which was a whole lot better than both the book and the first film The Hunger Games. It was tighter.
It also reminded me why the other YA dystopian novels don't work for me. They miss the point of Suzanne Collins series. Collins' series focuses on the effect of violence on children and innocence. Her series is in some respects an allegory on the horror of war and violence on society and humanity. Also how a society that gets off on watching violence and lives off of the deaths of others...will eventually collaspe in on itself, until it just repeats the same pattern again and again.
The other YA dystopian series seem to lose track of that - as far as I can tell. Her story is steeped in metaphorical allegory - most of which are about the horror of violence and torture. And it does not end happily. Katniss and Peeta, and all the others are forever damaged by it.
In addition - Collins series parodies the societal obsession with celebrity, while depicting how the celebrity culture lives an absurd life of luxury and excess, while millions starve.
The emptiness of a culture that worships money, fame, and physical beauty...and craves stories of star-crossed lovers, even if they aren't true. To fill that empty pit.
Its those aspects that set Collins novel apart from all the rest. What the others have in common is the fascist society and the political upheaval, and the lone rebel kid who fights against the horde. Or the poor kid who fights against the privileged. What they appear to be lacking is the theme of anti-violence, and the critique of the societal worship of celebrity and fascination with series such as Fear Factor, Survivor, or other reality series - where people are pitted against one another.
Reminds me a little of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how it distinguished itself from the series and novels that followed. Buffy was about a young woman confronting demons, bullying, authority, and in a way girl-power or equality of gender. The series that follow it, Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Vampire Academy, etc ...seem to lose track of that aspect, and focus on the star-crossed romance or the male vampires. It's why that show stands out.
It's hard to articulate. And it's late, so I'm not sure I did it well. But watching this movie reminded me of why The Hunger Games series interested me, while I have not been able to read any of the others. Mileage probably varies on this.
It also reminded me why the other YA dystopian novels don't work for me. They miss the point of Suzanne Collins series. Collins' series focuses on the effect of violence on children and innocence. Her series is in some respects an allegory on the horror of war and violence on society and humanity. Also how a society that gets off on watching violence and lives off of the deaths of others...will eventually collaspe in on itself, until it just repeats the same pattern again and again.
The other YA dystopian series seem to lose track of that - as far as I can tell. Her story is steeped in metaphorical allegory - most of which are about the horror of violence and torture. And it does not end happily. Katniss and Peeta, and all the others are forever damaged by it.
In addition - Collins series parodies the societal obsession with celebrity, while depicting how the celebrity culture lives an absurd life of luxury and excess, while millions starve.
The emptiness of a culture that worships money, fame, and physical beauty...and craves stories of star-crossed lovers, even if they aren't true. To fill that empty pit.
Its those aspects that set Collins novel apart from all the rest. What the others have in common is the fascist society and the political upheaval, and the lone rebel kid who fights against the horde. Or the poor kid who fights against the privileged. What they appear to be lacking is the theme of anti-violence, and the critique of the societal worship of celebrity and fascination with series such as Fear Factor, Survivor, or other reality series - where people are pitted against one another.
Reminds me a little of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and how it distinguished itself from the series and novels that followed. Buffy was about a young woman confronting demons, bullying, authority, and in a way girl-power or equality of gender. The series that follow it, Vampire Diaries, Twilight, Vampire Academy, etc ...seem to lose track of that aspect, and focus on the star-crossed romance or the male vampires. It's why that show stands out.
It's hard to articulate. And it's late, so I'm not sure I did it well. But watching this movie reminded me of why The Hunger Games series interested me, while I have not been able to read any of the others. Mileage probably varies on this.
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Date: 2014-03-11 11:00 pm (UTC)Eh, not that interesting either.
No, what made her books stick out is her world-building, and sly sardonic political commentary on both the school system, sporting events, racism, and how the government was run. She also is quite deft at describing the various layers of bullying and its long-time effects on everyone involved. (James Potter relentlessly bullies Snape but Lily Potter is kind to him.) In this respect she reminded me a lot of Ronald Dahl, except not quite as misanthropic.
Susan Collins in contrast is a better plotter, and not quite as good a world-builder. She's more interested in delving into the effects of violence on children. And less interested in political commentary (the politics in The Hunger Games is fairly simplistic). And in critiquing our society's obsession with reality stars and celebrity, as well as one group living an insanely lush lifestyle, while another is incredibly poor. Which is an American theme, more than an European one. Particularly the one relating to the cult of celebrity. For Americans, our celebrities are our royalty or aristocrats.
So...I'm not sure it's fair to compare those two? I was comparing, perhaps unfairly, The Hunger Games to its copy-cats: Divergent et al...there's a huge genre of YA dystopian novels.
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Date: 2014-03-11 11:06 pm (UTC)I've only read the first 2 Divergent novels, so I feel like I shouldn't comment on that without knowing the ending.
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Date: 2014-03-11 11:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-03-11 11:57 pm (UTC)