Twilight sucked.
But you all knew that, didn't you (at least the people that did have the unluckiness to watch it)? So tell me, why does it suck? The crappy chemistry, convoluted plot line, the cliches' that we now know and hate, such as the "Love Triangle" and "Way out of humanity". But was it the cliches that did the movie bad, or the way those cliches were done?
Now, young adult adaptations are often hated on. Movies like "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent" almost immediately recieve unanimous hateful comments on this website. My question is, why? Granted, I didn't see Divergent, so I won't be talking about that too much, but I have seen all of The Hunger Games franchise thus far. And I will say this: if you are one of these people calling it a "Twilight" ripoff, you haven't seen the film.
We're all entitled to our opinions of course. So I understand if you saw the movies and find them maybe a little bit boring and dragging on. BUT, if you say "crappy love story about a whining girl trying to decide between two guys" is the MAIN story, then watch it again. Conversely, if you say that it's nothing more than a terrible Battle Royale ripoff, then watch it again. The story does involve a love story, and a point of the story is "The Hunger Games" themselves, where a group of kids are trying to kill each other. But this is more about the context of the Games, rather than the content of them. An easy way to look at it is this: Battle Royale is like we're watching the games, Hunger Games is like we're watching the story behind the games.
I want the people on this site to do me a rather: think about your place in this arguement. Again, I realize that with every great Y/A adaptation there is a terrible one that reenforces the stereotype that they suck. With every Harry Potter, there is a Twilight. WIth every Hunger Games, there is a Divergent. So please, don't discredit a good movie because you think the genre is lame. I mean, if Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Sorcerer's Stone had come out just recently, I've got a feeling you'd all be shitting on that movie as well. Last year we had adaptations of Divergent, The Giver, The Maze Runner, and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. I saw the Maze Runner and Hunger Games, and thought both were pretty good, with Maze Runner actually suprising me. But everything on this website has been nothing but hate. Then, it dawned on me: what if these were comic books?
If these were adaptations of graphic novels, would we all be hating as much as we do on Y/A adaptations? I mean the same exact movie, but based on Icon or Vertigo graphic novels and not novels? If you're thinking "well that can't be done", then I want you to think again. Are you saying that there can't be a graphic novel exploring a young girl's transition from someone that just cares for her family, into someone that is a symbol for a rebellion? That the Hunger Game's can't be a graphic novel? Why, because there's a love interest? Or talking? News Flash: Every story has a love story and dialogue. They're two basic story telling formats. The only difference is that they're writen instead of drawn.
Finally, if Y/A adaptations are made souly for teen girls, then I ask you, for whom are comic book movies made for? Do you think that comic book companies base their audience on teens and adults? NO. Because if that was true, then Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn't have been made. By using the logic that only teen girls watch Hunger Games, then you can easily make the logic that comic book movies are made for kids. And as we know, we don't want to think that. We want comic book movies to be looked at with dignity and respect, not with "Oh, you're 24 and watching The Avengers? You must be a nerdy loser."
Learn our place. That is what we must do. Don't base a genre off of what it's based off of. If you want a comic book movie to actually be in discussion for Best Picture someday, then I would suggest that you take all adaptations a little more seriously, that way our own adaptations will be as well.
Thank you for reading. If you liked what you read, show some love and hit the red thumb. Agree, disagree, thoughts? Comment below! Have a nice day, peace out.