The
Hunger Games,
the wildly popular film based on the equally popular book of the same name, had
the honor of having the third-highest opening weekend of all time, behind Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and The Dark Knight. However, both films had
the strength of being a franchise to attribute their success to, while The
Hunger Games was
the very first of the series to be made into a film, making its success even
more amazing. The special effects, visual effects, and plotline had diehard
fans and newbies alike on the edges of their seats. The casting, however, had some
people shaking their heads, but not for the right reasons.
In
the post-apocalyptic world of Panem, the country in which the critically
acclaimed Hunger Games is set, the colour of your skin means very little. To fans,
however, the colour of some character’s skin made all the difference in their
feelings towards the film. The Hunger Games, which has a near
cult-like following of fans, is the kind of book in which filmmakers must be
careful to pay special attention to detail and the original plotline and
characters, to avoid ruffling the feathers of serious fans. Since these fans
are devoted to the book that this film is based on, special attention was paid
to the characters, mainly their appearances.
In
the book series, the main character of Katniss Everdeen is described as being
slight, with dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. In many readers’ minds,
Katniss could be pictured as white, Native American, or of even African-American
descent. In the film, Katniss is played by actress Jennifer Lawrence, who was
chosen not for her likeness to the character, but for her acting chops. Born
fair-skinned, blonde, and blue-eyed, Lawrence was not the first choice for many
fans when it was announced that she would play Katniss. Rather, Lawrence grew
into her role, dying her hair brown, and more than proving herself in the
adventurous and gritty role of the lead.
Many
fans, however, did not readily take to the three black characters in the film,
two of which (Rue and Thresh) are described as having “dark skin” in the book.
The third black character, Cinna, is described as having dark hair and green eyes,
but the color of his skin is never discussed. The casting, like in many movies,
was left up to the imagination of the casting directors – and many fans weren’t
happy about it, posting disdainful comments on social media websites like
Twitter.
According
to Jezebel.com, one woman who saw the movie was so upset that a black actress had
been cast as the character of Rue, she claimed it ruined the movie: “Why does
rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie,” she tweeted.
Another Twitter user posted the comments, “cinna and rue weren’t suppose to be
black” and “why did the producer make all the good characters black smh,”
implying that protagonists and positive characters should only be Caucasian.
Perhaps the most upsetting comment was one by a man who tweeted, “Kk call me racist
but when I found out rue was black her death wasn’t as sad #ihatemyself.”
Their
message is clear as day: white people have more worth than black people. In
other words, if the character of Rue had been cast as a white girl instead of a
black girl, her death would have been sadder because it is more upsetting when
a blonde, blue-eyed little girl dies. There were many more racist comments,
some even using racial epitaphs and slurs to insult the black characters.
It’s
not just reactions to The Hunger Games where you can see examples of blatant
racism; you can see it in real life, too. There are so many murdered and
missing children that can be seen on the news, but it always seems like it’s
only the little white girls and boys that get airtime, and therefore, may get
found more often than children of colour.
Nothing
makes the populace sadder than when a little white girl dies. For example, the
1996 murder of beautiful little blonde beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. This case
can still be seen on newsstands, over 15 years later. Since that time, the
murders and disappearances of thousands of children of colour in the United
States have been recorded, usually without national notice. The fact that
American people still cannot get over the death of one little white girl proves
that the general public believes that white people have more worth than people
of colour, something that is simply not right. We are all born equal, and the
colour of our skin should not dictate the value of our character.
“Whitewashing”
is nothing new in blockbuster Hollywood films. The Last Airbender, a 2010 film based on the
Nickelodeon series of the same name, is heavily based on both Inuit and Pacific
Asian culture. The filmmakers were accused of being racist after it was
revealed that the majority of the cast would be made up of white actors; and
not only that, but the few actors of colour it did cast were put in villainous and
antagonistic roles in the film. Fans of the series were angered by the choices
made by the casting directors, and called for more diversity in the film. Their
calls were ignored however, and the film went forward with the predominantly white
cast.
While
racial stereotypes are nothing new in the media, they do contribute to a
negative view towards certain minorities, which may be a form of life imitating
art. In popular media, clean-cut white characters are often cast as heroes, and
black characters as thugs and antagonists, a trend originating from hundreds of
years of racial intolerance and oppression. It’s clear from reactions to The
Hunger Games casting
of three black characters that Hollywood needs to continue casting minorities
in films, and make it the norm.
//Victoria Fawkes, writer
//Graphics by Britta Bachus
//Victoria Fawkes, writer
//Graphics by Britta Bachus
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