Is The Hunger Games a Copy of Battle Royale?

There is an ongoing claim, having sparked from the screening and publication of The Hunger Games, that author Suzanne Collins had copied her storyline from another novel. The storyline is thought to have been copied from a Japanese bestselling novel called Battle Royale (1999), which conceived two films (Battle Royale [2000], Battle Royale II Requiem [2003]) and a series of manga books. The reason for this claim is because both The Hunger Games and Battle Royale depict a dystopian society that forces revolutionaries to kill each other in a type of arena game show. Suzanne Collins had publicly stated to the New York Times Magazine that she had never heard of BR before submitting her first draft. “I had never heard of that book or that author until my book was turned in. At that point, it was mentioned to me, and I asked my editor if I should read it. He said: ‘No, I don’t want that world in your head. Just continue with what you’re doing.” Some say it’s impossible for Collins to have not come across BR during her research, but some say there was enough resources for Collins to devise her own story. In comparing the films The Hunger Games (2012) and Battle Royale (2000) there are parallelling elements which may give suspicion to Collin’s credibility as an author.

In the film of Battle Royal the younger generation has become rebellious boycotting schools, attacking teachers, and disrespecting adults. Unemployment rises, so the “Millennium Educational Reform Act” is initiated (also named the BR Act). The BR Act randomly chooses a high school class to be taken to a deserted island in which the students are given weapons to kill each other until one victor is left to be the only survivor. This act is to intimidate the new generation into being compliant with the social order. The film blatantly displays the student's hacking and shooting away at each other with blood spraying from limbs and carcasses being thrown about. It is a gory film to say the least. Aside from murder being a prominent theme of the film, crushes and relationships seem to dominate the film as much as murder does. As the students fight for their survival three protagonists find a way out of the game and escape with their lives through efforts made by other students.

The Hunger Games is introduced with text giving a vague description of what’s to come of the film, “In penance for their uprising, each district shall offer up a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public “reaping.” These tributes shall be delivered to the custody of the capitol. And then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains.” HG follows the story of a young woman, named Katniss, who lives under the rule of a much higher and sophisticated society. Katniss volunteers in replacement of her younger and vulnerable sister to partake in the killing game show. For the first half of the film Katniss spends time training, impressing sponsors, and preparing for the inevitable battle. Katniss spends most of her time alone avoiding alliances with others and succeeds in the game with the help of sponsors and her ability to hunt.

Both of these films demonstrate a dystopian society that punishes a kind of people who’ve at some point retaliated against a high power. Oddly both societies chose to pick teens as their contestants for their annual battle games, but the method in choosing their contestants are different. In BR a high school class is chosen at random (without sympathy for intelligence) and in HG one male and female are chosen from various districts. Although, similarly both societies used a lottery system to choose their victims. As for the actual battles (both taken place in a forested environment) we’ll notice a number of similarities in which the contestants camouflage themselves in their environment, commit suicide, form alliances with other contestants, and betray one another. Both battles are monitored by a team of people in which one man controls the operation. There are a number of similarities in the stories of the films, but the styles and messages of each film are quite different.

Battle Royale seems to focus mainly on the gore and the intensity of the character. Within the first half hour of the film ten people are already brutally murdered. The cinematography is relaxed and doesn’t seem to leave out any trace of action. As for the Hunger Games the film tends to focus mainly on Katniss for probably 80% of the film. The pace of the film is a lot slower and calmer than BR. But when battle ensues the camera shakes violently, seemingly to censor the gore that takes place, which makes sense because the film was intended for a larger general audience.

Although both films share surprisingly similar stories I believe Suzanne Collins did not imitate BR because there are numerous stories depicting arena style battles in human history. For example, there were the Roman gladiator games that lasted for over a thousand years and there are classical Greek myths about arena battles. A part of me still thinks Collins did steal some ideas from BR because it’s very hard to be original and copyright infringement is such a prevalent thing in motion pictures.

- Tristan Vranizan

Linked Articles:

1) http://io9.com/5888124/did-the-hunger-games-really-rip-off-battle-royale
2) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/magazine/mag-10collins-t.html