The Hunger Games is NOT Twilight

I had no intention to write such a post. But when I saw people on various platforms saying that The Hunger Games is just another Twilight, I simply had to step in to say no. Just no. And I think I am a qualified person to make the comparison. How so? Well, I’ve actually read both book series before the hype for their movies set in.

1 – The Books

There is a drastic difference between the themes of the books to begin with. The Hunger Games does not have supernatural human beings, let alone vampires or werewolves that have been so ruined in their portrayal that they’ve become a common source for jokes. The main characters of The Hunger Games are not driven by their incessant need to be loved but by their primal instinct for survival. Both may be intended for young adults and have a central female character but when it comes to the plot, protagonists and reception, the two series couldn’t be more different. Twilight is a fantasy love story, while The Hunger Games is an adventure about survival. That alone create a huge difference in the central elements of the book: where characters in one search for a boyfriend, the characters in another prepare for a revolution.

This brings me to point 2.

2- Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swan:

Bella’s struggles in Twilight is to choose between the sparkly vampire Edward and the transform-at-will werewolf Jacob. Her character is also nauseatingly one dimensional, useless and completely infatuated with mundane things, making her unlikeable.

Katniss is the exact opposite. Where Bella had things handed for her on a silver platter (boyfriend trouble don’t count as life problems), Katniss has to survive a world where the government has made the people hungry, where her mother is disconnected from the world and where she has to care for her only sister. Katniss’ world does not revolve around a boy, unlike Bella.

Bella is driven by her infatuation with Edward. Katniss is driven by her need to survive a cruel world. Katniss is a character young readers should look up to. Bella Swan is not.

3 – The Movies

Both movie series are turning out to be immensely popular. The Hunger Games has grossed over $25 million from midnight screenings alone. Twilight movies have broken records. Where they differ, however, is in the drastic critical reception. The Hunger Games has an aggregate score of more than 90% of positive reviews. Every single Twilight movie has been certified rotten by critics. You can read my review of The Hunger Games here. I didn’t even find it in me to review the latest Twilight movie. Enough said.

Perhaps both The Hunger Games and Twilight can be considered as a “teen” series. How that’s a bad thing, I’m not sure. The difference remains that one is absolutely relevant to what we’re living through today: revolutions, war, famine while the other lives in lala land. The fact remains that people need to get it in their heads that not anything that rings true with young adults needs to be compared with a preceding cultural phenomenon. Twilight was compared to Harry Potter. The Hunger Games is being compared to Twilight. How ridiculous, I know. When will such unfounded thoughts end? I have no clue.

Gas Prices in Lebanon: 38,000LL and Counting. Where Do We Go Now?

The wages increase that workers got lately is being eaten away fast by dramatically increasing prices all around. But none is more prominent, perhaps, than gas prices which are nearing an all-time high at 38,000LL. It is expected to reach over 40,000LL in the coming weeks.

I remember when prices were even less than this last year and people were up in a fit against the former governmental establishment. Former minister of finance Rayya Hassan got into a byzantine debate with current minister of energy Gebran Bassil before a 5000LL fee got deducted from gas prices.

Where’s that 5000 now? We’ve already gotten it back and then some. Why isn’t anyone discussing this? Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?

The sad fact is that half of that 38,000LL goes to the government in taxes. One of those taxes is progressive, increasing as oil prices increase worldwide. More money for our country’s coffers, surely. We’re not paying for a product. We’re paying for a privilege.

So from now on, fellow Lebanese, simply do not warm up the car when you turn it on. That’s over 5000LL of gas right there, wasted. Don’t leave the car turned on while you’re stuck in traffic. That’s at least a gallon wasted. If you’re having a hard time to find a parking place in Beirut, don’t be stingy, take the car to a parking lot. You’ll actually be saving money.

Or you know what, the weather is beautiful, spring is here. How about we take some camels and wander around Downtown Beirut? You know the tourists will be happy, it’s eco-friendly and it will fit right in with the stereotypes.

I remember the long gone days when Gebran Bassil said he’d never sign on gas price increases.

Where do we go now? to the stables, of course.

 

Carrie Underwood – Blown Away Tracklisting

These are the tracks that will be on Blown Away, Carrie Underwood’s 4th studio album:

1. Good Girl (Carrie Underwood/Chris DeStefano/Ashley Gorley) – 3:24
2. Blown Away (Chris Tompkins/Josh Kear) – 4:00
3. Two Black Cadillacs (Carrie Underwood/Hillary Lindsey/Josh Kear) – 4:58
4. See You Again (Carrie Underwood/Hillary Lindsey/Dave Hodges) – 4:06
5. Do You Think About Me (Cary Barlowe, Hillary Lindsey, Shane Stevens) – 3:37
6. Forever Changed (Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, James Slater) – 4:02
7. Nobody Ever Told You (Carrie Underwood/Hillary Lindsey/Luke Laird) – 4:10
8. One Way Ticket (Carrie Underwood/Luke Laird/Josh Kear) – 3:56
9. Thank God For Hometowns (Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey) – 4:01
10. Good In Goodbye (Carrie Underwood/Ryan Tedder/Hillary Lindsey) – 4:17
11. Leave Love Alone (Gordie Sampson/Hillary Lindsey/Troy Verges) – 3:19
12. Cupid’s Got A Shotgun (Carrie Underwood/Chris Tompkins/Josh Kear) – 3:43
13. Wine After Whiskey (Carrie Underwood/Tom Shapiro/Dave Berg) – 3:51
14. Who Are You (Mutt Lange) – 3:55.

Wine After Whiskey, which I had blogged about previously, has made the album while the Lori McKenna track, Nobody Knows, has not.

All in all, the titles are quite interesting. I’m very interested in hearing the Ryan Tedder track, Good in Goodbye actually. The album features 8 Carrie Underwood co-writes and 8 Hillary Lindsey co-writes. This should be a good mix.

What Lebanese Racists Say

This video, titled Shit Lebanese Racists Say, couldn’t have come at a better time. When the country is slowly forgetting about Alem Dechassa, the Ethiopian Maid that committed suicide after being publicly abused, the Anti-Racism Movement has come up with this video that is highly poignant to say the least.

Without further ado, here it is:

The Hunger Games Soundtrack – Album Review

The Hunger Games is probably one of the most anticipated movies of the year. And the movie delivers (read my review). With such standards, the need for a decent soundtrack becomes evident. The album’s producer T-Bone Burnett manages to do what he does best. The award-winning producer has come up with a very coherent album with a specific vibe and feel that doesn’t stray away from the movie’s theme.

While listening to The Hunger Games‘ soundtrack, titled: The Hunger Games (Songs from District 12 and Beyond), you cannot but feel that this is an album that would have stood alone as a credible work without an accompanying movie. The fact that there’s a movie to it is just the cherry on top. It’s a folky, country album. It is mellow, somewhat subdued in parts and also defiant in others. The sound it holds varies between realism and shrieking for liberty. It switches between being soothing and calling for arms.

It is a treat to listen to.

Opening with an eerie battle for strength by Arcade Fire, in a song titled “Abraham’s Daughter,” the bar is set very high for the album. Driven by incessant military beat, the band sings in Biblical terms about the power of sacrifice. It is the song that plays as the movie’s credits start rolling.

The album also features two songs by country superstar Taylor Swift, both of which are not the typical country pop sound she has become known for. Instead, Taylor has decided to let her sound grow on an album that is not hers. On “Safe & Sound” (full review of the song), she’s soothing, telling the character to whom she’s singing to “close your eyes, you’ll be alright. No one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I’ll be safe and sound.” On the other offering for Taylor in the album, the song titled “Eyes Open” (full review of the song), she is the exact opposite. “Keep you eyes open,” she incessantly repeats as if her life depended on it.

Grammy-winning folk band The Civil Wars are also present on the album in two songs. The first is a feature on the aforementioned Safe & Sound, the second is one entirely their own called “Kingdom Come”. For a band known for their harmonies, they work their best here. Their harmonies get better as the song progresses. “Run, run, run away. Buy yourself another day. A cold wind’s whispering secrets in your ear. So low only you can hear…. It’ll all be over soon. I’ll be waiting here for you.”

Hip-hop artist Kid Cudi is featured on a song titled “The Ruler and the Killer.” Maroon 5 also contribute a haunting submission titled “Come Away To The Water,” a song that is very different from many of their personal material with lyrics that are dark and haunting. “Come away little lamb, come away to the slaughter. To the ones appointed to see this through. We are coming for you.”

New country band, The Pistol Annies with their frontwoman Miranda Lambert are present on “Run Daddy Run,” a folky song that’s very in the vein of what other country artists had given the soundtrack. It is reminiscent of the movie’s mood as well. “Daddy, can you hear the devil drawing near?” they sing with conviction.

Glen Hansard, known for his more subdued songs such as “Falling Slowly”, is outside of the character he has convinced people of. On the rocking song “Take the Heartland,” he shouts and pleads. “I’m not gonna put my head down. I’ll face it like a Fidel Castro, like a Che Guevara or a Fidel Castro. I’m gonna grab my bow and my life’s one last wish. And I’m gonna take the life and a knife. And I’m gonna shape my way and not fall.”

Young singer Birdy, known for her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” concludes the album with the chilling “Just a Game.” “There comes you to keep me safe from harm. There comes you to take me in your arms. Is it just a game? I don’t know. Is it just a game? I don’t know” she pleads.

The album also features many other artists such as The Decemberists, The Secret Sisters, Neko Case, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers, Jayme Dee and The Low Anthem. All of the 16 songs that make up the album help create a great companion for The Hunger Games.

After watching the movie, you cannot but be certain that The Hunger Games‘ soundtrack fits the movie perfectly. While listening to the songs, you can close your eyes and imagine Katniss struggling for her life, arming her bow and shooting at her enemies. And in a way, the soundtrack does that. It shoots at musical conformity by giving you a composite sound different from most of the music you hear nowadays. And that is always certainly welcomed.

9/10

The tracklist:

1. Arcade Fire, “Abraham’s Daughter”
2. The Secret Sisters, “Tomorrow Will Be Kinder”
3. Neko Case, “Nothing To Remember”
4. Taylor Swift, “Safe & Sound ft. The Civil Wars”
5. Kid Cudi, “The Ruler and The Killer”
6. Punch Brothers, “Dark Days”
7. The Decemberists, “One Engine”
8. The Carolina Chocolate Drops, “Daughter’s Lament”
9. The Civil Wars, “Kingdom Come”
10. Glen Hansard, “Take The Heartland”
11. Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane, “Come Away To The Water”
12. Miranda Lambert, “Run Daddy Run feat. Pistol Annies”
13. Jayme Dee, “Rules”
14. Taylor Swift, “Eyes Open”
15. The Low Anthem, “Lover Is Childlike”
16. Birdy, “Just A Game”