Jayda Johnson answers “Why did Suzanne Collins rip off the idea...”

Jason asked this question about Battle Royale:

Why did Suzanne Collins rip off the idea from this book and pretend she didn't?

Jayda Johnson Come on guys, this book was not ripped off. I have never heard of nor read this book, and everyone has heard of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is …moreCome on guys, this book was not ripped off. I have never heard of nor read this book, and everyone has heard of The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is about more than just killing, it is about romance, rebellion, and more. Also, the tributes do not come from high schools, they are picked right out of their districts which is ANOTHER unique perspective of Suzanne Collins. Maybe I am too much of a HG fanatic, but I just thought there should be an answer here that CONTRASTS this novel and The Hunger Games rather than compares.
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Mahmoud Buttrumps So it also rips off Battlee Royale 2 then, which wasn't based on the novel? ...more
Nov 02, 2015 09:55AM · flag

Jay Croker Come on, this was very clearly ripped off! Battle Royale is about all those things you listed and more too. If the biggest difference you can think of Come on, this was very clearly ripped off! Battle Royale is about all those things you listed and more too. If the biggest difference you can think of off the top of your head is that the people involved in the battle royale in Hunger Games don't come from high schools then to me that really says a lot. The extensive and blatant similarities between the two works and the author's response to these questions tells me all I need to know. (Btw as an aside I'm assuming you're fairly young and may not have been interested in such books and movies at that time, whereas Collins was born in '62 and would most certainly have been aware of and most likely following adult book and probably movie releases during the 90s and early 2000s when Battle Royale was a big hit across multiple media types).

I obviously completely accept it's inevitable that people take influence from others and that very similar ideas will pop up due to common experiences, thought processes, and the huge pool of works out there, Battle Royale is in no way a completely original work (it's practically impossible to be nowadays) but the extent of the similarities between BR and HG are beyond these types of explanation, and the author actually completely denies even having ANY knowledge of BR, which is honestly flat out ridiculous, especially since "battle royale" is the actual term for what her idea is! It's funny, if you Google "battle royale" what do you think is all over the first page? Well of course it's endless "Fortnite" results nowadays, but simply add "book" or "movie" and you've instantly come across a novel/movie/manga not only of the exact same idea, but with numerous and extremely close similarities to the book she then wrote, funny that.

When you think of the interest an author (or director/musician/artist etc) will most likely have in not only their own area of expertise, but the arts and creative practices/people in general (going from personal and shared experience), then take into account the extensive research authors will undertake when preparing ideas, which obviously continues as they write their first draft and will be continued practically all the way until the final script is complete (during which they are also likely to share their ideas and scripts with family, friends, editors, publishers etc.) - I find her claim to have never even heard of BR before, until supposedly AFTER the final script was complete, absolutely laughable and practically impossible, this is further heightened by the fact that Battle Royale isn't some obscure minor work either...

Battle Royale is not only a best selling novel that received worldwide critical acclaim, but a highly rated and sought after manga adaptation series by the same author, as well as an extremely successful and critically lauded movie with a global cult following that is often included in top movie lists to this day by publications and directors alike, the movie also received a lot of publicity because of the graphic violence among youths that is depicted, it was also banned in a few countries which as a rule generally leads to more publicity, anticipation and exposure to audiences. This is without mentioning the sequels and other spin off movies and manga that may be of a lesser quality, but still generally share the name further.

There are just so many things that point to the fact that she would obviously at the very least have come across Battle Royale in some form before, if not read or watched it, and if she hadn't beforehand, as soon as she started doing any kind of research it would have been one of the first things she found (especially as Fortnite didn't exist back then - aaaaah, how nice that was), and logically it would be one of the first things you would look at to make sure to keep your script as unique as possible from Battle Royale as both a novel and budding franchise. She's a barefaced liar and although she clearly plagiarised, she ended up with an inferior product, nevertheless it turned out to be a huge financial success and is extremely popular, but consequently the refutation on her part with regards to the influence (plagiarism) she took from Battle Royale only does the original and superior work an even further disservice. ...more
Mar 25, 2020 08:43AM · flag

Summer Iris Oh because you had never heard of it, and because Hunger Games is well known in the western world because of a movie, that makes it OK to steal it? Pr ...more
Dec 28, 2022 02:35AM · flag

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