If it wasn’t entertaining enough watching kids and teens fight to the death this past summer in “The Hunger Games” movie, now we can soon watch it happen on television (with a lot less blood and gore).
The CW network, responsible for such drivel as “The Vampire Diaries,” “Arrow” and “90210” has ordered a new reality television series called “The Hunt,” which sounds like a blatant rip-off of Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” trilogy.
The premise is 12 teams of two are dropped into the wilderness without food, water and shelter for a month and are forced to survive while engaging in different physical challenges with sustenance as the reward.
Teams are able to “kill” (capture) one another and the last one standing wins a big cash prize, according to the CW’s press blog this past December.
Think of it as “Survivor” for young adults, only as far as we know Collins isn’t getting any royalties for it.
Ironically, the whole idea for “The Hunger Games” came to Collins one night when she was channel surfing between reality television and the Iraq War coverage.
“I was tired, and the lines began to blur in this very unsettling way,” said Collins in an interview with Publishers Weekly back in 2008.
Five years later and the creators of “The Hunt” don’t seem to get Collins’ clever satire against reality television. Executive produced by David Garfinkle, Jay Renfroe and Greg Goldman-the same executive producers of the upcoming reality show “Ready for Love”– surely these gentlemen know what America’s teeny-boppers want and the CW network agrees (as long as it features pretty people).
Man hunting their fellow man is a common reoccurring theme in literature. With “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, audiences are used to this enticing sort of cat and mouse plot between characters who will do whatever it takes to survive.
In recent years however a slightly more violent and gory turn has been taken, with books like “Battle Royale” (2003) by Koushun Takami and “The Hunger Games” (2008) by Suzanne Collins featuring young adults in precarious situations armed to the teeth with whatever makeshift weapons they’ve been forced to create.
The graphic details chill and excite the reader, for this could never possibly happen in our own societies.
And now with film adaptations of both “Battle Royale” and “The Hunger Games” being all the rage amongst the target teen demographic, the television networks seem to be trying their hardest to cash in on that.
While there is no set premiere date for “The Hunt” as of yet, chances are it will debut close to “The Hunger Games” movie sequel “Catching Fire” this November. If successful, it could run as long as “Survivor” with families and bookies placing bets on which team or individuals will go on to win.
Over time to increase ratings, perhaps foam weapons will be introduced to liven things up a little. Wait a few more seasons and the weapons will become more real. /span>
Pretty soon after they could be filming gladiator-esque battles in an offshore arena, where the laws of killing an individual don’t apply out in international waters.
After decades of networks submitting their viewers to children brutally fighting to the death, perhaps one team will revolt and force the networks to choose two winners rather than only one. And then it all comes full circle.
So while a little competition is healthy in our society, fasting for a month while trying to capture your competition doesn’t sound like a good road for our culture to be going down.
It’s bad enough that we have our Honey Boo-Boo’s and Kardashians, but to introduce the idea that it’s entertaining to watch teenagers hunt each other for money just doesn’t sit right for me.
Now if you were to replace the teenagers with our politicians, that would be something worth watching.