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Can you guess what novel I’m talking about? A little confused? A little torn

Well, in class we talked about a topic, “Parrying Katy.” She talks about how Geisha’s just love with all their heart and how she loves the culture. Then I started to think that she may not be racist, maybe she’s just ignorant and doesn’t really know much about the history of Japan and how they’ve come to be in America. I then began to ponder on how she even got the idea to dress like a Geisha and how common it is that celebrities often “copy” or have similar outfits and costumes that relate back to Asia. All of a sudden, I remember being told about Battle Royale and how The Hunger Games is very similar to it and how it seemed to be the “copied” American version (what a friend had told me).

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

Both novels have a futuristic time frame with both states are led by authoritarianism. In Hunger Games 1 boy and 1 girl is reaped from each of the 12 districts, they are called “tributes.” All tributes get training, get put into an arena and are expected to fight each other until there is only one victor. In Battle Royale these students are gassed on a bus and taken to “The Program” which is a military experiment and is an island where they all must fight to the death and again, until only victor remains. In both novels the reason for doing this is to terrorize the people of the states and to prevent an uprising against the government. Also, before entering the area all 24 tributes get a tracket inserted into their forearms, where as the students in Battle Royale have trackers in their collars. In both novels the main characters have witnessed death and lost friends over the course of the battle. Lastly, instead of there only being victor, both novels end up having 2 survivors that are close to each other. For instance, Katiss and Peeta end up winning the games and Noriko and Shuya end up escaping the program. If not identical, very similar right?

Chiaki Kuriyama plays Takako Chigusa in Battle Royale

Though there are a few things that separate these two. Though the storyline may be different, the way the movies were produced at least, separate the two as far as popularity goes. I know that books and movies are different, but both of these novels have been turned into movies. So, in Battle Royale it is way more gruesome than the Hunger Games. In Battle Royale the grouping of the students is a public secret, everybody knows it’s happening, but nobody wants to admit that it really is. In Collins novels, the Hunger Games is advertised and televised throughout Panem. Many also argue that Battle Royale is more about violence, gore, and chaos whereas the Hunger Games is about survival and movement towards a rebellion.

I did further research to see when both authors Susan Collins (Hunger Games) and Koushun Takami (Battle Royale) had published their books. Battle Royale was first published in 1999 and was later on translated into English in 2003. There was then an expanded version with a word from Takami as well that was published in 2009. The Hunger Games was first published as a hardcover in 2008. It has since then been a hit and has been sold in 38 territories world wide.

So I guess what I am wondering is if the Hunger Games really is a “knock-off” or at least inspired by Battle Royale? Or is it just a very bizarre coincidence? I have yet to find anything that has proof that Collins had completely ripped of Takami or that there was any political conflict over it. I could agree that both movies/novels are very similar, but I also think that they are both very different in certain ways. Nonetheless, both movies/novels are very interesting and entertaining to watch.

I did my research from here and here (I just searched for each book there and compared.)

One album I really want to examine is Pinkerton by Weezer, which was heavily influenced by Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and tells a similar story of an outsider’s view of Japan. Lead singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo is known for his obsession with Japan as well as his blatant attraction to Asian woman, something which is documented quite heavily within the lyrics of Pinkerton. There are other bands (like Deerhoof and Blonde Redhead) which feature female Asian lead singers and have been prominent in the independent circles for some time. Deerhoof in particular were signed to Olympia label Kill Rock Stars, and they are definitely one of the more unique bands I’ve heard. Anyways, I just spent the last 10 minutes thinking of the right sentence to end this blog, and since I failed miserably I’m just going to end this awkwardly. Bye!

One of the first similarities I found was, in general, all the Asians were somewhat separated. They all worked in different areas or kept with their own race; for instance, Japanese usually kept with the Japanese, or Chinese kept with the Chinese for the most part. Also, they all had their own place of work. Most Chinese worked on the railroads or in the mines. The Japanese usually worked in the fields with the Pilipino/a and Koreans. In the Hunger Games there are different districts, a total of twelve, but they are all kept to be with their own district. They know of each other and can communicate, but very minimally. Each district is known for something; for instance, District 12 is known for the coal mines and District 7 is known for its lumber. Each district is responsible for gathering what they are known for and giving what is asked to the Capital. The Capital of course is the government that runs all twelve districts.

Secondly, I found that all the Asians expected to be taken care of and be rich in America. America was portrayed as a land of opportunity and better living; unfortunately, that is not how it worked out and they ended up being oppressed by the government. In The Hunger Games the government portrays themselves as the districts saviors and is giving them better living situations, but in reality the districts are suffering.

Next, riots were handled the same. In Takaki, he talks about how when riots broke out the government would cut off all their resources and make the Asians need them; or authorities or land owners would fight them or beat who ever acted out. In the Hunger Games, any sign of resistance or riots, action was taken very quickly. The Capital would cut off food supply or punish the individuals involved physically.

Also, not only in Takaki but in The Beautiful Country, a film we recently watched, Asians were given contracts, deals, or debts to pay off for them being brought here. In The Beautiful Country Binh is supposed to pay off , $5,227 in two years of slave work. In Strangers from a Different Shore many Asian men and women had to pay off their debts as well: for the men they paid it off in slave work and women had to pay their dues off in prostitution. For The Hunger Games people from the districts can “buy” food, water, or other resources from the Capital to give to their families or business in exchange for their service in the Capital or more name entries if who was asking was under 18 years old. For instance, Gale, Katniss’s good friend is given bread from the peace keepers (officers of the government) for his name to be entered 42 times in the next reaping.

Lastly, the JACP (Japanese American Curriculum Project) was a group of Japanese who wanted to go along with the government to gain America’s trust while other Japanese members did not want to do it or did not understand. So there was sort of a divide between the Japanese based on who wanted to trust the government and who wanted to stay tied to their own cultural ways. In The Hunger Games many districts trusted Katniss Everdeen to be one of them; however, in Catching Fire (Hunger Games second movie) she goes along with the Capital and converts to their way of how they depict she should be. This leads to the other districts to distrust her and causes a divide between the districts, even her own.

I find these similarities very interesting because what is being talked about in The Hunger Games has somewhat already happened. I wonder if anyone who is not taking this class or other cultural/history class knows that these events are similar to real life happenings. Anyhow, I am anxious to see what else I can compare to the Hunger Games with this class to better my understanding and knowledge of Asian/American Pop-Culture.

The main storyline of this trilogy is the story of a girl, Katniss Everdeen, who defies the Capital in more ways than just one. There are 12 districts of the Capital and from each district one boy and one girl is “reaped” (chosen to fight for their lives in an arena against each other) and is shown on live television in all districts. Her sister gets reaped and she volunteers as her tribute instead. A boy from her district, Peeta, gets reaped as well and soon enough they will be fighting 22 other tribute, and each other, for their lives; however, Katniss and Peeta create a love story between each other to gain the Capital’s sympthay and adoration.

During the games Katniss befriends a little girl named Rue. Katniss does all she can to protect Rue and does not try to kill her; however, Rue gets killed and Katniss lays her in an arrangement of flowers and cries over her. As this is shown on live television a “spark” (of rebellion) was created and riots started taking place. Eventually, Katniss and Peeta both manage to somehow win the Hunger Games, thus defying the Capital and their meaning for the Hunger Games. Katniss’s image eventually grows to be the face of the rebellion. Her challenges towards the Capital gives the 12 oppressed districts hope that the Capital will fall; unfortunately, with the spark of hope the Capital does not hesitate to extinguish it. As Katniss gains the momentum of the districts and rebels she also loses many things about her along the way.

Anyways, after the first week of class and Chico had said that we had to pick one obsession of ours and compare it to the class. The Hunger Games is the perfect obsession for this class. There are many similarities to what we’ve read and watched already, but I’ll post that here.