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The Hunger Games and Battle Royale 2597 Views

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Description:

What makes battles to the death even more exciting? Having kids involved! Wait, maybe that wasn't the direction we really wanted to take there…

Author:

Author / Collins - Suzanne Collins

Language:

English Language

Subjects:

Tags:

Form / Novel

Common Core Standards:

Transcript

00:04
The Hunger Games and Battle Royale a la Shmoop.
00:09
Our dystopias so far have been lacking in action.
00:12
Sure, there have been fires, sledding, and one or two sexy games of Scrabble...
00:16
...but there haven't been any action scenes that would make Michael Bay green with envy.
00:23
We'll fix that this unit with The Hunger Games and Battle Royale.

00:27
Better don some goggles for this one.
00:30
In both books, we've got kids battling other
00:32
kids to the death. Hardcore? Yes. But no one can deny there's a lack of action.
00:38
Mr. Bay would be proud.
00:42
Of course, in both The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, the kids are forced by their government
00:46
to be killers.
00:47
Why can't these horrible governments ever just force people to make donuts and garden
00:51
all day?
00:52
It would be so much nicer...
00:54
In The Hunger Games, the United States has been restructured.
00:57
And just as when a major corporation restructures people get... umm... downsized.
01:08
In Suzanne Collins's novel, instead of pink slips, kids across the country are given weapons
01:12
and filmed as they fight each other to the death.
01:15
A fun premise for an action story, but not exactly realistic, some might say.
01:20
The idea that any society anywhere would sponsor such a thing is laughable.
01:28
We would hope... The best dystopic <<diss-TOPE-ick>> novels
01:31
are almost always inspired by very real things.
01:38
Just because they're set in the future doesn't mean they don't reflect contemporary concerns.
01:42
Sure, we don't have shows where children kill each other...
01:45
...but we do have a reality TV culture that gets more and more voyeuristic by the day.
01:50
Let's face it: uglier things get higher ratings.
01:54
We love watching people's lives fall apart--the more spectacularly terrible things go, the better.
02:00
Are we really that far from a return to the real life Hunger Games of Roman gladiatorial arenas?
02:07
We have to honestly ask ourselves: if such a show came on TV, would we watch it?
02:12
Battle Royale takes place on the other side of the Pacific...
02:15
Over in Japan, entire classes of high-school students are selected at random to fight each
02:19
other to the death for...um..."research purposes."
02:21
We're not sure what they're working on, but it's probably not a cure for cancer.
02:26
Maybe they just think it's fun.
02:31
They do have a kooky sense of humor over there.
02:35
The original novel of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami <<KOE-shun tuh-KA-me>>, the manga series,
02:40
and the movie that followed, were all controversial due to their extreme violence.
02:44
But, of course, all the controversy...and probably the violence itself...has launched
02:48
the Battle Royale franchise to legendary status in Japan...
02:51
...much like The Hunger Games in the U.S.
02:54
We guess kids doing battle with kids is popular no matter which side of the Pacific you're on.
02:59
Both books show us dystopian societies that seem similar on the surface...
03:02
...but actually reflect the cultural attitudes of the different countries they come from.
03:06
In this unit, we'll see what we can learn about each country by digging into these action-packed...
03:10
...but gruesome... depictions of kids at war with kids.
03:16
How jolly.
Full Transcript