October 10, 2011
10:22 PM
courtesy of: CNN
(CNN) -- Forget "Harry Potter" and "Twilight." In a few months, "The Hunger Games" phenomenon will be taking over the pop culture world. Although it will be feeding off the tween demographic, this franchise will chew up those other guys and spit them out.But what exactly is this "Hunger Games" wonder that has so many folks talking months before the movie (which just wrapped up filming earlier this month) is even released? Like many of the wildly successful film franchises these days, it began with a book.
Suzanne Collins is the mastermind behind "The Hunger Games" trilogy, which has been gaining momentum over the last few months for both its suspenseful plot and overarching message about society.
The plot revolves around a dystopian society where punishment for a previous rebellion has resulted in a televised event. One boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district (there are 12 total) are selected at random and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, where "tributes" must fight to the death until only one is left standing.
"The Hunger Games" gives us a heroine named Katniss, a strong-willed and unwavering spirit, who volunteers for the games in order to spare her younger sister. Once inside the death match arena, she must get down and dirty to outlive her competitors, but there's one slight problem.
Her hot friend Peeta gets cast into the games, too. In the midst of all the slaying, Katniss finds herself embroiled in a love triangle with her longtime pal Gale, who is watching the games from his home, and Peeta, who confesses his love for her inside the arena. Katniss' emotional turmoil of love or death makes Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" look like child's play.
Apparently, Collins' twisted plot came to her one night while she was channel surfing between a competition reality show and a news program about the Iraq war. She blended the two shows and "The Hunger Games" was born.
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