When I read the books back in the day I didn’t think Katniss was white at all. Maybe I skipped through something while reading but I remember how confused I was when JLaw was announced.
Bc she wasn't all-American white like the studio wanted - and eventually cast - It was insinuated that District 12 was basically segregated, and darker complexioned people were more in the mines. Her father was from the mining side and her mother was from the 'better' side with the pale people.
I always pictured her as Indigenous/Native American mostly, but ultimately not totally white. Jennifer Lawrence's bad wigs/dye job and tan did not fit what I had in mind
yeah I wouldn't have cast any of these actresses, because Katniss was at LEAST "ethnically ambiguous" but there was enough about her olive skin and dark hair iirc, I pictured her as (non white) Latina throughout the books (but she could have been another ethnicity)
suzanne collins absolutely leaned into katniss being ethnically/racially ambiguous... and then she completely backpedaled when ppl called out the casting and how the movies only considered white (or white-passing) actresses.
See I always thought she was just at most Greek or Italian looking. I find many white authors slip 'olive' skinned in when they want to make their character seem unique but really just mean not blonde or brunette and able to tan.
You can spot it more when you hear the descriptions of the other characters of colour which are explicitly (often overdone) as some form of brown vs White characters. I've seen YA characters refer to brunettes as 'dark' and think it's like just the narrow view or understanding of different skin types. I never thought she was meant to be a person of colour (esp. with her little blonde sister). As a person of color I used to get my hopes up and then would read on and realize no the character is just White, the author doesnt have the frame of reference to describe it properly.
I'm one of the people who pictured her as native american too, but I also don't remember them describing Prim as blonde, so if she was I guess J Law's casting makes a bit more sense and Greek/Italian fits well there.
She wasn't explicitly described as being a person of color, so that means she's definitely white!!!1 That's Hollywood's rule, it seems. (Though Rue was very clearly described as black and all those fucking morons who were dismayed @ Amandla's casting and said it made her death less sad [WOW] apparently didn't grasp that, so apparently people are just dumb and can't read.)
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Book description according to google- “straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes”
That doesn’t have to be white
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the caucasity of it all
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You can spot it more when you hear the descriptions of the other characters of colour which are explicitly (often overdone) as some form of brown vs White characters. I've seen YA characters refer to brunettes as 'dark' and think it's like just the narrow view or understanding of different skin types. I never thought she was meant to be a person of colour (esp. with her little blonde sister). As a person of color I used to get my hopes up and then would read on and realize no the character is just White, the author doesnt have the frame of reference to describe it properly.
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