Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Can we stop having this conversation already?

I haven't read, nor seen, the Hunger Games, although the more I read about it, the more I want to check it out, as it sounds pretty freaking cool.

It seems there's a bit of a kerfuffle over one or two of the major characters in the book being cast with black actors.

Can we gets over this already?

Every damn time a POC gets cast as a known character who is not explicitly Black, Asian, Native or whatever, a bunch of "I'm not racist but..." assholes get their collective panties in a bunch and start muttering about "polital correctness running amok", like a POC couldn't actually be cast because they are, you know, a Good actor or something. No, it's all part of some big liberal bleeding heart affirmative action agenda.

Can we just accept that, except in cases where you are dealing with historical context (like, real people who actually existed) or when race is a fundamental part of the overarching narratives, the race or ethnicity of the actor or actress being cast should not fucking matter, especially in cases where descriptions of the character don't really allude to their enthncity at all.

"If someone cast a white person as {Insert known POC character here} then it wouldn't be okay.. You're a hypocrite!"


Not the same thing, folks. There are oodles of roles for white actors and actresses, already. There are a lot less good, fleshed-out roles for Black and Asian actors that aren't total stereotypes. And even LESS for Native or East Indian actors.

Basically, if your enjoyment of a film can be tarnished by the casting of a POC, when you'd imagined the character as white, then at best, you're unimaginative as hell and at worst, kind of an asshole. And a bigot.

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10 comments:

  1. I can't believe people are wasting their time complaining about this.

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  2. But Rue WAS BLACK IN THE BOOK! How can someone complain because they read it wrong? And how can people actually write down and post on the internet how incredibly racist and ignorant (not to mention illiterate) they are? People are so dumb sometimes.

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  3. It's infuriating really, that in 2011 we even have to have this conversation. Also, it's really pissing me off that I keep reading how Jennifer Lawrence is too "big boned" to play Katniss. I would gnaw off my own thumb if I could be "big boned" like her.

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  4. Were they black in the book? If so, I missed that. My daughter and I sort of shrugged it off with a comment something like, "I hadn't thought of them as black but that was kind of a cool choice for the character." I can't believe people would make a big deal about that... but I guess people make big deals about all sorts of stupid shit any more. :(

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  5. I say the author can do as she pleases!

    Pearl

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  6. This is absurd! I don't even know what to say.

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  7. I am disgusted by the comments that I read. However, it makes it difficult for people who continue to say we don't have a race problem any more.

    I will echo what others have said...the characters of Rue and Thresh were described as having dark brown skin. Cinna's skin color was never described.

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  8. Thanks for your reporting on this.

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  9. Really well said. Thank you for posting this.

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  10. One of the things I love about several BBC shows is that there are people of different races, regularly. There are couples of two different races who aren't necessarily pointed out and focussed on. There are same sex couples who can be main characters or side things going on. It's not a big deal on those shows, and it tends not to be focused on. For some reason, on American TV and movies, it seems to be a big deal. I don't get it.

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Engaging in discussion and/or general sucking up.. that's where it's at!

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