My wife and I had a "date night" of
sorts this last Saturday. We saw Hunger
Games and then went to
dinner. The evening brought many revelations.
1) Hunger Games is really not just a ripoff of Battle Royale or anything like that. Yes, there
is a similar premise with the arena and kids killing each other, but the plot
really has more in common with 1984 than Lord of the Flies. I
was definitely one of those people who was poo-pooing1 the franchise
before, so this is my official retraction. I should know, as a writer, how
impossible it is to come with a truly original story. Essentially, there are no
"new" plots out there. Everything is a variation of something else.
We haven't had a ground-breaking, mold-shattering, genre-birthing piece in
centuries. It's just as bad in other media, too. When was the last time you
heard a song that was anything more than just a mutation of another genre
that's been around for decades2? There’s nothing new under the sun3,
people, so give it a rest.
2) I will end up paying full price to see two whole movies this
year: Hunger Games and Avengers. It’s going to be a banner
season. Before this, the last movie we went to see on opening weekend was the
last Harry Potter movie. It has to be something special if I’m willing to plop
down $9 a ticket (and that’s matinee prices, remember). Otherwise, I’ll either
catch it at the dollar-theater or wait for Netflix to get hold of it.
3) We are lame enough people that going to see
a matinee in the mall and getting dinner at the food court counts as a date
night. And yes, we were home before 8 pm and asleep before 11.
4) Eating cheesesteak from said food court will make fire shoot out of my
ass. Not recommended.
1 There’s a joke here, I’m just missing it...
2 I’m talking about real music here, not some
art-house mess of noise that college kids whip up “because they can.” Painting
a blue strip on a brown canvas and giving it a pretentious title like My Parents Told Me I’d Never Make It as a
Painter isn’t art, and ten minutes of static isn’t music.
3 That’s, like, from the Bible, or something. Ain’t
I profound?
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