I’m pretty sure most of us have read, or at least heard of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It is, arguably, the most popular literary franchise at the moment. It seems that everywhere I walk I see little golden birds holding arrows in their beaks. Behold: the mockingjay, a symbol of rebellion, the insignia of “I read it, too!”(Or that they saw the movie).
Since middle school, it seems that one thing never changes: there is always some dominant “fad” in pop culture. It typically starts out as a book. It then becomes a best-seller. People read it and talk about it, somewhat quietly at first, until BAM, you see that ominous poster with a description that seems vague to some, but to you, dedicated (insert book title here) fan, it means so much. Your beloved book is going to be a movie.
You call up friends, they freak out, and the more hard-core fans have known about this for months. While fans prepare, those who have not read the book jump on the bandwagon.
Meanwhile, anything you can think of is distributed in stores: t-shirts, mugs, back packs, jewelry, etc. And all of it has the logo for this super-amazing and fantastic (insert book name here) slapped onto all of it.
Buy. It. All.
Finally, the movie is here, and crowds flock about to experience this phenomenon with friends, their arms to the brim with barrels of $6 goodness: a delicacy covered in salty liquid gold. After three hours in line (well worth the wait), the ones who were wise enough to come an additional two hours early (also worth it) file into the sacred, darkened temple with sticky floors, cup holders and the all-revered screen.
The movie starts, people cheer.
They laugh, they cry, they scream.
The movie ends, people applaud, and go to home to prepare for the sequel.
Probably by the time the second installment is out, there is a considerable base of “anti-fans,” people who either truly loathe the book, are already fed up with the fan-base, or, as some accusations have gone, because “they think it’s cool to oppose the mainstream.”
It gets somewhat aggressive, but never too over the top. The sequel ends a few years later, and the hype dies down considerably. To attest to this, I’ve watched this cycle happen with Twilight, Harry Potter, and now I see this very cycle beginning for The Hunger Games. I’ve read the Hunger Games, as well as the entire Twilight Saga and the Harry Potter series.
My verdict?
They’re pretty good, but hardly worth fussing so much about.
Before you ask, no, I am not one of the “anti-fans” I mentioned. I see the seriousness in this drama, but I’m not taking a part in it.
Bottom line, if I’ll see a fan war outside I’m just going to laugh about it, and then go inside to get back to reading Jane Eyre.
