'Hunger Games' vs. 'Twilight': Jennifer Lawrence weighs in

Let the fandom wars explode!

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Jennifer Lawrence dismissed fan fears that Hunger Games will just be Twilight: Round 2, with Team Peeta and Team Gale. “Hunger Games is not Twilight,” she explained.

While that is obviously true to anyone who has read both franchises’ source material, the remarks should be encouraging for fans who have been fearful that Team Peeta shirts weren’t too far off on the horizon. Especially in the first tome, a triangle isn’t really apparent — and it’s never the main plot in the way Edward/Jacob/Bella is in Twilight. Much more pressing for Katniss is, you know, the fellow Tributes who are trying to kill her.

For me, this clarification by Lawrence is incredibly encouraging. I’m really excited for these films, but I thought the awesome, spine-tingling first trailer was a bit Twilight-y, what with the moody music and the woods. But there are real, devastating consequences in these books. Kids are killing each other, and even the (SPOILER ALERT) bittersweet happily-ever-after in Mockingjay isn’t without major sacrifice and struggle. Which makes it kind of the exact opposite of (DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT) Breaking Dawn’s everybody-wins-and-get-exactly-what-they-want and no good guys die ender.

Also encouraging? Lawrence remarks, “When I auditioned, I told [director] Gary [Ross], “I understand if you don’t hire me, but please remember that after Katniss shoots a bow and kills someone, her face cannot be badass.” That internal struggle — between wanting to survive but struggling with the ramifications of what that means — are what makes The Hunger Games so compelling. The fact that Lawrence seems to realize that that dichotomy, and not a love story, is the heart of this saga makes me even more excited for March 23, 2012.

Lawrence also spoke to the hardcore nature of the Tribute fighting — something I can’t wait to see on the big screen: “When we were filming in the woods, it didn’t have that Hollywood gloss — it was real snakes, real bears, and really scenes of running up and down a mountain for 13 hours,” she told the magazine.

Not a CGI werewolf in sight.

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