warning: character death spoilers if you have not seen the movie or read the books

[sunoftheskye]

Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed

The good news? The Hunger Games made $155 million at the box office its opening weekend, making it the third-best debut in North American box office history.

As CNN reports, "Only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Dark Knight - both sequels, with the strength of a franchise behind each

Comments

[doverz]

I'm a really weird person when I read books in that I don't really imagine what the characters look like. But, people are being so stupid since the book explicitly states what people look like.

Also, if people are getting upset about Thresh, then they're even more stupid. He's a guy who can't speak proper English and works in a field all day. He's the stereotypical Black slave.

[owlsarentaholes]

I picture main characters, but I generally do it with complete disregard for what the author described. My bad.

Even so, Cinna managed to look exactly as I'd pictured and Rue and Thresh *were* as described. I can't say I ever gave much thought to their appearances.

I cannot believe people are disappointed in the movie because "good" characters were dark skinned. I mean, I can believe it ... but I hate it.

[livinghope]

Yeah, I pictured Cinna looking Korean for some reason, but I couldn't care less that they chose a black actor to play him. I thought Lenny Kravitz did great.

[squeeful]

I kind of pictured Cinna as Alexander Siddig. Lenny Kravitz is just as awesome though.

[longelateque]

Just seen this on tumblr, and now here.

I have never wanted to punch humanity in the face this bad, this week.

Seriously, Collins talks about Rue's family being dark and a lot of District 11 being African American.

[doverz]

They also fit the stereotype of a slave. Thresh couldn't speak proper English and worked in the fields all day.

[longelateque]

District 11 raises some interesting Racial connitations as a whole to be honest.

They are in the deep south, they work in fields, they are 'guarded' by men dressed all in white, in towers with guns, can't speak english and their race on top of this. It's all very set out in the book, if only these people would read it.

[capitol_barbie]

I never got the sense that the people of District 11 couldn't speak English. Where is this coming from in the book for you?

[bleed_peroxide]

Urgh, this has been a damn near constant source of rage ever since the film came out and why I've avoided discussions even with the fandom as much as I can.

People complaining that Rue wasn't as good because she was (properly) cast with a black girl, and because Lenny Kravitz (who was completely unexpected but fucking amazing) was cast as Cinna... it just puzzles me. I can somewhat understand if people were thrown off because Cinna's skin color was never explicitly identified. But he was wearing the gold eyeliner like the author described, and he nailed Cinna's warmth and trustworthiness. So what if it's not another white actor in the film? :|

Rue was every bit as lovable, and her death every bit as heart wrenching, as her character was in the novel. Again, I don't get why that changes because it was an innocent little black girl instead of an innocent little white girl?

I mean, really, how the fuck else would you have cast her? The first sentence that describes Rue says she has "silky brown skin". Correct me if I'm wrong, but

[maladaptive]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I read that someone's skin is brown, my mental image isn't a little white girl with golden locks

This is actually a problem I've had as a writer-- a LOT of people will see "brown" and "dark" as tanned, and it used to give me fits on how to describe characters that weren't tan caucasians until I was like, eff it, racists are gonna see what they wanna see.

So, yeah. For lots of people, "brown" is still white.

Or they'll ignore it entirely because it's... idk, literally impossible for them to wrap their heads around a non-white character taking a non-token role. As a reader I've skipped over character descriptions and have been surprised to realize someone is, say, a redhead when they're a brunette, but I can't say it's ever filled me with rage.

[imnotasquirrel]

I was just taking a look-see through some old Harry Potter wank, and I came across a few people who were taken aback to find out that the Patil twins were Indian. Say what now. And then, of course, there was the whole Blaise Zabini clusterfuck......

[devilstay]

What's the Blaise Zabini clusterfuck?

[kaelstra]

Uh, wow at those last two especially.

[lovis]

Selective reading, they're doing it right. Such stupid pieces of shit.

Not impressed!