Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's all part of the bigger conversation that this country needs to have.
Anytime anybody posts on this subject and presents a different angle it's called "race baiting".
It's time to have the conversation, it's not going away any time soon.
The article I posted is being discussed on other forums and I presented a question regarding the casting of characters in the film to know if people have a problem relating to non-white characters because they cannot self identify and feel empathy toward a character who does not look like them and some people around here have a problem with that.
If it can't be discussed without people flaming me or calling it race baiting, don't pretend that I'm the one with the problem because I brought up the subject.
Yeah, this was EXACTLY what I was refering to earlier.
There are people who claimed to have read the books who are doing this the most. Which is pathetic seeing how the characters they're talking about are discribed as "dark skinned" IN THE BOOK.
It's all part of the bigger conversation that this country needs to have.
Anytime anybody posts on this subject and presents a different angle it's called "race baiting".
It's time to have the conversation, it's not going away any time soon.
The article I posted is being discussed on other forums and I presented a question regarding the casting of characters in the film to know if people have a problem relating to non-white characters because they cannot self identify and feel empathy toward a character who does not look like them and some people around here have a problem with that.
If it can't be discussed without people flaming me or calling it race baiting, don't pretend that I'm the one with the problem because I brought up the subject.
Yeah, this was EXACTLY what I was refering to earlier.
There are people who claimed to have read the books who are doing this the most. Which is pathetic seeing how the characters they're talking about are discribed as "dark skinned" IN THE BOOK.
Exactly. If they were disappointed by the casting without having read the book it means that people making the comments are racists. Period.
Which leads to the next question.
Do you think that when people are disappointed by seeing characters who they cannot empathize with because of their perceived race/ethnicity, the viewer is uncomfortable because of the stereotypes that come from the ethnicity of the actor? And if this is a possibility, what can be done to improve the public image of people of color in order that the stereotypes can be eliminated? Should it begin with the entertainment community or news media?
Exactly. If they were disappointed by the casting without having read the book it means that people making the comments are racists. Period.
Which leads to the next question.
Do you think that when people are disappointed by seeing characters who they cannot empathize with because of their perceived race/ethnicity, the viewer is uncomfortable because of the stereotypes that come from the ethnicity of the actor? And if this is a possibility, what can be done to improve the public image of people of color in order that the stereotypes can be eliminated? Should it begin with the entertainment community or news media?
No... these people said they read the book. They own the book. If anyone would know anything about these characters it would be them, yet they have a HUGE problem with it. Meaning that they either skimmed through the book or have horrible comprehension skills. Or maybe they read it, knew what it was discribing, but hoping for something different? Because it's one thing to have a slightly different picture of the cast members, but to be angry at the fact that they're black and to call them a "black b*tch" or a "gangster", or when they make little slave jokes and even say that they were less saddened by their character's deaths because they knew they were black speaks volumes to who they are.
I'm not talking about the people who DIDN'T read the books. I'm talking about the ones who did. These are the actual fans of the books, so they have no excuse to be ignorant of the casting choices in the movie. It should have been exactly what they read and pictured.
Why do you suppose there is less empathy for brown skinned people in our society? What is driving it? Is it the media at large (entertainment and news)? Is it time for a public relations makeover for brown skinned people in the United States?
It's not a big mystery. People identify with people who are like them. It's part of being human. You bond with people over shared characteristics. You relate best to people who are similar to you. This is going to extend to characters in a beloved book. Unless otherwise described, black people reading a book will picture the characters as black. Unless otherwise specified, white people reading a book will picture the characters as white. It's natural. And given any group of people you are going to find some who take things to the extremes, who will actually get angry if the characters aren't portrayed as they want them portrayed. This is going to be especially true given the huge audience this movie has. So I don't see anything unexpected or abnormal about this. The racist reactions in the article are unfortunate but expected.
What was interesting about the books is that the author did take the time to physically describe most of the characters. Usually down the hair color and eyes. She never used any racial descriptors but, because of her descriptions, I formed mental images of the characters.
It was obvious, to me, that Rue and Thresh were either black or some other ethnicity with dark skin. I sometimes pictured Rue to resemble some Morroccan friends I have.
Anyway, the only casting that sort of "threw" me was Lenny Kravitz as Cinna. Based on the book's description, I pictured him as a white guy but in looking at the description, a bi-racial person (such as Kravitz) could fit the bill also.
Quote:
Most people who live in the Capitol follow very absurd fashion trends; however this is not the case for Cinna. This suggests that he may not have been born in the Capitol. He does not speak with a Capitol accent. The first time he appears in the book, he is described as wearing a simple black shirt with matching pants. His one strange fashion choice is gold eyeliner, which brings out the gold flecks in his green eyes. Katniss seems to find this tasteful. Other than that, Cinna looks very normal, with short brown hair, which Katniss assumes is not dyed, and green eyes. He also has 6 gold earrings in the film, 3 in each ear.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
