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**ValdisSeroff** · 10-12-2011, 06:00 PM

Publishers whitewashing is hilariously sad.

Generally, I do think more often than not when people (the membership here being mostly white) read about a character in a book without knowing what they look like, they automatically assume they're white without even thinking about it. It's understandable. Will this change as people become increasingly conscious that most people living on earth don't look like that? probably.

Yeah, I unquestioningly pictured Katniss as white because of the cover and because I was reading after the cast had been announced and publicised, and probably because I'm white and probably ALSO because I now expect main characters to be white as default because that's what we tend to be given in mainstream media. White or South Asian/Middle Eastern, I guess, because of where I live and who I live with.
I also think some of the names - Haymitch (Hamish?) Abernathy in particular - made me think of people with strong Scots/English ancestry, and I assumed that was likely given the geographical placement of the district. I never felt that it was important though, and my image of certain characters changes quite a bit as I'm reading - I'm not one to solidify a character in my mind to any great extent ("omg this character definitely looks JUST LIKE JOHNNY DEPP TO MEEE!!!").

For those of you who've read further than the first book, does Collins ever explain the ethnic makeup of Panem and how the political boundaries of the districts affect that? I got the impression district 11 was "the black district", and I'm being charitable and assuming that Panem has at some point been subject to segregation and conflict that led to that, rather than Collins just arbitrarily dividing the characters up like that. In my head I guess I assume that Panem would be fairly mixed across the board, but I suppose it's understandable that following the kind of conflicts that are alluded to in the country's past that things would get a little more backward.
She also mentions people from the Capitol dying their skin different colours, and it would be cool if later on she actually explores the social and ethnic identities that inform that kind of practice within Panem.

10-12-2011, 06:00 PM	#2
ValdisSeroff Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 566 Senior Member	Publishers whitewashing is hilariously sad. Generally, I do think more often than not when people (the membership here being mostly white) read about a character in a book without knowing what they look like, they automatically assume they're white without even thinking about it. It's understandable. Will this change as people become increasingly conscious that most people living on earth don't look like that? probably. Yeah, I unquestioningly pictured Katniss as white because of the cover and because I was reading after the cast had been announced and publicised, and probably because I'm white and probably ALSO because I now expect main characters to be white as default because that's what we tend to be given in mainstream media. White or South Asian/Middle Eastern, I guess, because of where I live and who I live with. I also think some of the names - Haymitch (Hamish?) Abernathy in particular - made me think of people with strong Scots/English ancestry, and I assumed that was likely given the geographical placement of the district. I never felt that it was important though, and my image of certain characters changes quite a bit as I'm reading - I'm not one to solidify a character in my mind to any great extent ("omg this character definitely looks JUST LIKE JOHNNY DEPP TO MEEE!!!"). For those of you who've read further than the first book, does Collins ever explain the ethnic makeup of Panem and how the political boundaries of the districts affect that? I got the impression district 11 was "the black district", and I'm being charitable and assuming that Panem has at some point been subject to segregation and conflict that led to that, rather than Collins just arbitrarily dividing the characters up like that. In my head I guess I assume that Panem would be fairly mixed across the board, but I suppose it's understandable that following the kind of conflicts that are alluded to in the country's past that things would get a little more backward. She also mentions people from the Capitol dying their skin different colours, and it would be cool if later on she actually explores the social and ethnic identities that inform that kind of practice within Panem.
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