While I'm talking about race and casting (specifically racist casting) I should probably say something about the Hunger Games movie as well. I don't know how I missed both the news that there was going to be a movie, and the subsequent casting fail last week.
If you haven't read the Hunger Games trilogy: Do. Go now. Yes, I know they're YA, go read them anyway for they are fantastic. I confess, having read them I kind aspire to be Collins.
They also handle issues of race and class in a remarkably adept and subtle way, especially for scifi. Which is why I am so disappointed to see the way casting for the movie has been handled.
I don't think it's wrong per se, for Katniss to be played by a White actress. Her race is never specified, and her description is relatively ambiguous, which I think is one of the books strengths. What is undoubtedly wrong, is that no one else was even given a chance. I mean, seriously, you have a character described as having "straight black hair, olive skin, and gray eyes" and you don't see fit to extend the casting call to, say, Native American, Hispanic, Mediterranean, and biracial actresses as well?
We're talking about a story set in the middle future United States, and a character from what was once the Appalachian region (which happens to be plenty racially diverse already) who is described this way, when her mother and sister are described as being pale and blonde. Sure, it's not impossible that Katniss would be Caucasian, but doesn't it seem more likely that she be biracial? Moreover, how often do you even get the opportunity to cast someone in as an action lead from a young adult series who -isn't- explicitly described as blonde and blue eyed?
This is a hugely missed opportunity. Missed to search out new actresses, missed to demonstrate any kind of fair opportunity casting practices, missed to get a woman of color on screen in a leading, powerful role where she would have been perfectly in place anyway.
Alright, the more I think about it, the more I disagree with my previous statement. There -is- something wrong with a white actress playing Katniss, not just the unfair casting call. Not because it's impossible that Katniss could be white, but because it is so very possible that she -could be something other than white- and the rest of Hollywood is so very, very white, that in the interest of fair representation, we really can't let the opportunity for any protagonist of color get thrown away like this.
ReplyDeleteI mean, as a teen especially, I longed for more, or any, representations of queer women in media that was meant for me, because there just weren't any. I'd have hated if a character I identified with because she very well could have been queer was suddenly forced into being yet another straight girl.
Everyone deserves to see people like themselves represented positively in the world around them. Since we fail so hard at that when it comes to race, letting this opportunity to try to even things out just a little bit really is wrong.