[ValdisSeroff]

FWIW re: Katniss and whitewashing - the UK editions of the first book feature characters behind the logo (Peeta or Katniss, your choice), and Katniss is white.



If there's whitewashing, it's been happening since these books were first published.

[neirty]

I never got the impression while reading the books that Katniss wasn't white. Am I *gasp* racist?

[JohnTruels]

I think the sci fi/fantasy/slipstream genres attract a lot of minority fans and they have a vocal presence online. There have been several incidents in the past where publishers whitewashed characters that were specifically described as people of color by the author - for instance Jaclyn Dolamore wrote a fantasy novel with an African American protagonist and Bloosmbury put a white girl on the cover instead. Ursula Leguin's Earthsea Trilogy, which featured many main characters of color, were nearly all cast with white actors. However, from what I read in the blogs, Collins was pretty vague in her description of Katniss and said "she wasn't any race in particular," so I guess I don't see the big deal in this particular case.

Generally, I do think 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. I was having a discussion the other day where I mentioned that referring to pink-beige shades as "flesh" or "nude" is offensive and it took a disturbingly long time for the person to get it: "wait, what?! ......oh."

[attanilifardy]

Yeah, I think that Katniss is white, mostly because her sister is described as having blonde or at least fair hair; she just has a darker skin tone (Katniss is described as having "olive skin" I think). Since Katniss is described as being representative of many of the people in her district, they are probably white to. That said, if they had cast a black or mixed-race actress as Katniss, that would have been cool, and it could have worked, even taking her mother and Prim's coloring into consideration, and the people of District 12 could be mixed race.

Re: Jaclyn Dolamore's "Magic Under Glass", I spent about a year wanting to read that novel after hearing about the controversy surrounding the cover, because it sounded like such a cool idea. I finally was able to ILL it and the result was so disappointing. Besides just being poorly written, filled with Bronte-esque brooding male characters, and suffering from a general undeveloped world where things happened for no reason other than it sounded awesome (I still don't understand why trouser girls were called trousers girls and why they wore trousers), I also felt it was filled with gross exoticism.

[ValdisSeroff]

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.

[treawittelf]

New Trailer:


My response to the new trailer:

[objennasweene]

I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I taught Hunger Games to my 9th graders this past quarter and yesterday two of them came up to me all giggly and jumpy and excited about the release of the trailer. I showed it to my classes and we all clapped and did little happy dances around the classroom. I haven't been this excited about a movie since... well, never.

[wrardymar]

I was just about to start a Hunger Games thread!

I loved the books, and am so excited about the movie. Watching that trailer, I can see really nothing to fault (except maybe Woody Harrelson's hair, but I can live with it.) I think the casting was great. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson especially just fit for me as Katniss and Peeta. I'm liking Lenny Kravitz as Cinna as well.

Definitely looking forward to this movie!

[Nidsstese]

Eeee! Yes! I am so excited. I just finished the series a couple of weeks ago and want to just do it over again.

I think the trailer captured the imagery of the book to a T. How fab is Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket?!? And Jennifer Lawrence is an inspired choice as Katniss. She has the chops to carry the series for sure. OMG so excited.

[smazibummigue]

I'm thrilled about it, too! I love the washed-out cinematography, particularly in the Reaping scene. The aesthetic looks to be very 'adult,' which is exactly what I was most worried about, re: the Hollywoodization of the book. It's a profoundly dark, unforgiving narrative, and I was anxious that they'd attempt to make it more palatable to quite young audiences (or at least frame it through what Hollywood seems to think kids can "handle").

I am a bit confused, though, over some of the blog-related uproar concerning the "whitewashing" of the cast. The comments on Jezebel and i09 are pretty heated. It's as if the past 6 months didn't happen, and everyone was suddenly SHOCKED AND APPALLED to discover that Jennifer Lawrence turned out to be, gasp!, white. Seemed that the original complaints about her casting had to do with her body type ("she's too big to be Katniss") and now, for whatever reason, the fact that she's not a POC has a bunch of people in an uproar. Not that I can't recognize the critique of Hollywood's white privilege, but I wasn't really expecting it to be so vitriolically directed at this particular film.

That aside, I think it's inspired casting. I actually sort of always saw Lawrence as Katniss while reading, I suppose because I thought her character in Winter's Bone (god! what a performance!) had so many affinities with Katniss. Elizabeth Banks and Woody Harrelson (bracketing the wig) seem like great choices, too. I'd pictured Cinna as more fem than Lenny Kravitz, but I'm interested to see him in the role.

[wrardymar]

That's pretty interesting because I never pictured Katniss as anything but caucasian actually. District 12 is in appalachia mining, which always seemed to me to be Southern white. I think maybe there'd be something to be upset about if Rue or Thresh had been cast with white actors, but otherwise, I am perfectly fine with the choice for Katniss.

I had to laugh though, one of the comments I'd read about Josh Hutcherson for Peeta was "He's not blond enough." So yeah, if that's all you can complain about, then he's probably a pretty good choice.

[Nidsstese]

I never pictured Katniss as anything but Caucasian, either. I concur that I pictured District 12 very much like Appalachia.

[objennasweene]

Neither did I. Do the books describe her racial ethnicity? They do Thresh and Rue.

[wrardymar]

I don't think they do, if I recall correctly it just describes her as looking like she's from the Seam with dark hair and gray eyes. And that her mom and Prim always stood out because they were more fair with blond hair since her mom is from the merchant class.

[smazibummigue]

The commenters are up in arms because she's described as having "olive skin"? I mean, the point is ultimately moot--Lawrence is playing Katniss--but it was a slightly strange panic, to my mind. Tends to be the reason I don't usually read comments on gawker-affiliated sites: the members are intelligent, but are frequently inflammatory or seem to be complaining for complaint's sake. I mean, for Chrissakes, Jezebel wants to protest this film for having a white lead actress, and yet posts absurdly neo-colonialist photos of "Third World Women" all the time: "look! brown people; they're just like us!" It just strikes me as lipservice feminism.

/tangent

[QuidQuoPro]

I haven't finished the book yet but I'm super excited for the movie. I also pictured Katniss as white (sort of tan, but still Caucasian) when I was reading. And anyway, who really cares about the way the actors look? It should be about their ability to act, and Jennifer Lawrence seems perfect for the role in that respect.

[Andrius]

Wow, this looks way better than I thought it was going to be! I really thought they were going to fuck it up, but that trailer is excellent. Excitement level has risen 500%.

More specifically, I was mainly worried they were going to try to make it into the next Twilight and massively over-emphasize the love triangle, which of course if you've read the books isn't the main point of anything. But there wasn't anything like that at all in the trailer, which is very promising! Also, the cinematography is wonderful.

EDIT: Except... I just watched it again, and THAT'S supposed to be Katniss's awe-inspiring flame dress?! Um. That looks like it got pulled off the rack and given to a B list actress the day before the red carpet. She is the girl on fire, not the girl wearing a decent designer!

[Mister.levitra]

THAT'S supposed to be Katniss's awe-inspiring flame dress?! Um. That looks like it got pulled off the rack and given to a B list actress the day before the red carpet. She is the girl on fire, not the girl wearing a decent designer!

Agreed!

[Nidsstese]

I doubt that's the flame dress. I bet they're keeping that under wraps.

[wrardymar]

yeah I don't think it's the flame dress...we only get a glimpse of the Girl on Fire in the trailer through a video screen.

Still looks like a prom dress though.