The movie adaption of Suzanne Collins best selling book 'The Hunger Games' was released recently in cinemas and some of the reactions from fans has been...well...just disgusting. It was reported here that some fans were surprised that a young African American actress was cast in the role of 12-year-old District 11 contestant Rue.
Despite being described in the book as having 'dark brown skin' and 'black hair' these idiotic fans thought that Rue was a little white girl. I am reading these books at the moment and the author makes it pretty clear that Rue and Thresh (The boy contestant from District 11) are black.
The comments made by these "fans" were just disgusting. One person said that it ruined the film. Another said that it made Rue's death not as sad because she was not a little white girl (WHAT.THE.FUCK) and one person said that they had originally pictured her as a little blonde girl. Seriously...people...read the books again and this time pay attention.
Maybe I've lived a sheltered life...but what does her race matter? Why is Rue's skin color so important? How does her being black make her death less sad? When I read that comment it actually made me feel a little sick. How could someone value the life of a little white girl more than the life of a little black girl? All because of their skin color? WHY? What makes white more desirable? What is wrong with these people?
I saw the Hunger Games movie before I read the book. The first thing I thought when I saw the actress who played Rue was "She is so small and beautiful!" and I immediately feared for her life. I was surprised that she lasted as long as she did in the film and her death was very sad and gorgeously filmed and Amanda Sternberg, the actress who played Rue, was perfect in the role!
The Hunger Games is a fascinating read about a future world where teens battle each other to death in an arena while the rest of the world takes bets on who will croak first. The book is about so many things - violence, oppression, freedom, and injustice. The one thing that is not in the book is race. Why, then, are these "fans" focusing on skin color when they should be asking "What sort of government could throw a bunch of kids into an arena and force them to kill each other?"
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