Hunger Games versus Twilight: which is better?
By Alicia Y. Zheng
Considering the
enormous fan base that teenage girls provide, both “The Hunger Games” by
Suzanne Collins and the “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyers are ripe for
commercializing. From posters with giant faces plastered on them to the action
dolls modeled after the characters, both series take advantage of the wide
market of hungry teenage girls. Which leaves the question: which series is the
better one? (Keep in mind that I will be comparing books, not the movies – any
star power to support either side will not be considered.)
Storyline: Hunger Games is about a post-apocalyptic
society that prevents rebellion by sending teenagers to kill each other in an
arena. Twilight is about a mortal
girl who can’t choose between a vampire and a werewolf.
Hunger Games wins
this one. It offers more action and more suspense, with a more interesting
climax other than “I choose the vampire.”
Characters:
Katniss has a tough-girl persona that easily makes her an idol among pre-teen
girls; she volunteers as a tribute for her little sister and is lethal with her
bow and arrow combination. Add in Peeta’s lovable baker boy personality and
Gale’s shady bad boy character and it’s a recipe for a heart-wrenching choice. Twilight offers Bella, a mortal girl who
can’t choose between a brooding vampire and a loyal werewolf.
Another one for Hunger
Games.
Relatability:
While the idea of throwing a bunch of teenagers in a pre-made arena to kill
each other is very appealing, the fact is that Twilight’s gloomy setting of Forks is more relatable to high school
students, even if there aren’t superhumans climbing to the tops of trees or
randomly transforming into werewolves.
Point for Twilight.
|
|
“The Hunger Games”
|
“Twilight”
|
|
Books sold
|
16 million copies
|
116 million copies
|
|
Pre-tickets sold
|
Over 1 million tickets
|
|
|
Opening Weekend
|
To be released…
|
$14.2 million
|
|
Fan base
|
Pre-teen and teens as well as <25 years males
|
Mostly pre-teen and teen girls
|
In the end, The Hunger
Games seems to have dominated over Twilight
with a better storyline and better characters. True fans know where their
biases lay; where do yours?
photo courtesy of salon.com
No comments:
Post a Comment