Appeal of “The Hunger Games”

Dr. Kyle Longest

The latest installment of the “The Hunger Games” movies hits theaters this week. Why have the books and the films, which depict a bleak, totalitarian world where young people are pitted against one another in televised death matches, been so popular with young adults? Furman sociology professor Kyle Longest suggests that teens today tend to be more individualistic, and “The Hunger Games,” as opposed to the “Harry Potter” or the “Lord of the Rings” series, is a more individualistic type of series. Longest, whose research centers on teen development, was quoted in a Greenville News article about the opening of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1.”