My wife and I are both reading the Hunger Games right now. We’ve not seen the movie, but I’ve heard nothing but good things so far.
I don’t often frequent Jezebel.com, but my coworker shared a link to a particularly interesting article about reading, mental images and specifically racism and the Hunger Games books and movie.
Specifically, some movie-goers were annoyed, upset and angered at the fact that Rue, one of the central supporting characters, being cast as a black girl, even though she was pretty specifically described as being exactly that in the book. These really are great and interesting reads that delve into how we perceive characters in literature and movies. Warning, language and snark in both articles.
- Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed
- I See White People: Hunger Games and a Brief History of Cultural Whitewashing
The second one totally gets at some things that I’ve been realizing when I read, and some questions that I’ve been asking as well.
aliaya March 28, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Thanks for posting this. As much as I pride myself on being an avid reader I never heard of Hunger Games, movie or book until a few weeks ago. All I saw was a big sister taking the place of her little sister in a barbaric game. Naturally it was something I wanted to go see with my sisters. I got to see some of the sneak peaks and I cannot lie I was super excited that not only was Lenny Kravitz in the movie but he was helping the main character. Most films that star an all white cast have a token black who is usually an amplified stereptype. There are movies that deivate from that mean and do a good job of casting people that reflect America such as Matrix. I for one don’t care that people were bothered by the casting, it’s common place to have opposition when you are black. I do however, think it’s sad that in 2012 racism is still being taught and practice more widely than I had ever imagined.
Carrie April 10, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Oh, those double-minded Christians who insist on going to the theater.
Jayson April 10, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Hey, hey, no mocking Chucky H. here.