Vairocana Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Borg Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I missed the details regarding skin color on my first read through, mainly picturing Rue as Prim. Honestly, I could care less about the choice of race of the characters, but to be honest, people will obsess over minor details, such as [quote name='Article'] [color=#333333][font=Georgia, Times,]Plus, unlike those two flicks, [/font][/color][i]Hunger Games[/i][color=#333333][font=Georgia, Times,] was written by a woman [/font][/color][i]and[/i][color=#333333][font=Georgia, Times,] stars a woman ([b]much as we love JK Rowling, her series isn't named after Hermione[/b]) — making it a true lady-centric blockbuster franchise.[/font][/color][/quote] Really? How is this even relevant? Seems kinda sexist that the article states the bold. I mean, really? Why are you making it sound like a bad thing it was Harry Potter and not Hermione Granger. Harry Potter is easily pronounced, not a snobby bookworm (non-snobby bookwarms are fine though), and is the main character. Deal with it. The article sounds like all heros must be females, because male heros [b]at all[/b] are obviously bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~ P O L A R I S ~ Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 The fans were more likely concerned that the movie is inconsistent with the book than that they're being represented as members of any given race because they think that race is inferior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwarven King Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Dear lord...this is quite depressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vairocana Posted March 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='The Borg' timestamp='1332815167' post='5890278'] Really? How is this even relevant? Seems kinda sexist that the article states the bold. I mean, really? Why are you making it sound like a bad thing it was Harry Potter and not Hermione Granger. Harry Potter is easily pronounced, not a snobby bookworm (non-snobby bookwarms are fine though), and is the main character. Deal with it. The article sounds like all heros must be females, because male heros [b]at all[/b] are obviously bad. [/quote] It's worth noting because there is a depressing lack of female heroes in both fiction and cinema. And the ones that do make it in cinema are often portrayed as some sort of hyper-sexualized object of desire, instead of a well developed character. [quote name='~ P O L A R I S ~' timestamp='1332818263' post='5890369'] The fans were more likely concerned that the movie is inconsistent with the book than that they're being represented as members of any given race because they think that race is inferior. [/quote] But, you see, the movie [i]was consistent with the book, and the fans were outraged because of it[/i]. What makes this so horrifying isn't that Rue was portrayed differently than they expected her to be, but that [i]her being black somehow invalidates their feelings of loss[/i]. Because black people's deaths aren't worth crying over, or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shradow Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 But... Black people are cool... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Vairocana' timestamp='1332822407' post='5890445'] It's worth noting because there is a depressing lack of female heroes in both fiction and cinema. And the ones that do make it in cinema are often portrayed as some sort of hyper-sexualized object of desire, instead of a well developed character. But, you see, the movie [i]was consistent with the book, and the fans were outraged because of it[/i]. What makes this so horrifying isn't that Rue was portrayed differently than they expected her to be, but that [i]her being black somehow invalidates their feelings of loss[/i]. Because black people's deaths aren't worth crying over, or something. [/quote] So it's not alright to be racist and insult black people, but it's alright to be sexist openly? Okay. The Borg is absolutely right, that comment on the article was completely unneeded and kinda stupid. Polaris knows that. He was saying that most of them were more concerned that they THOUGHT it was an inconsistency. I even asked my little sister who read the series, and she told me without a second thought that Rue was white. When I said otherwise, she seemed shocked at the change for the movie, until I read the segment of the page listed there, leaving her dumbfounded. Yes, some of them were racists, but you know full well most of those were nitpicked as the worst possible examples they could find. This is the media. NEVER take it at face value, they will tend to put their spin on things like this. Just like the completely extraneous comment about women that has nothign to do with anything here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 lololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol.... Wow... Now I gotta go see the movie. Mainly because Lenny Kravitz is in it. Actually that's the only reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shradow Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 For some reason while reading the books I imagined Cinna like Leeron from TTGL, but black Cinna is much cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Shradow' timestamp='1332825122' post='5890468'] For some reason while reading the books I imagined Cinna like [b]Leeron [/b]from TTGL, but black Cinna is much cooler. [/quote] ... I am now unsure whether to be afraid of where that leads or to be laughing my ass off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thar Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I could care less if someone's pissed cause a character looked different in the movie than in the book, but bringing skin color into question is just not cool. Might as well screw the fans rather than the producers on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Crimson Thar' timestamp='1332826238' post='5890474'] I could care less if someone's pissed cause a character looked different in the movie than in the book, but bringing skin color into question is just not cool. Might as well screw the fans rather than the producers on this one. [/quote] [quote name='~ P O L A R I S ~' timestamp='1332818263' post='5890369'] The fans were more likely concerned that the movie is inconsistent with the book than that they're being represented as members of any given race because they think that race is inferior. [/quote] READ POLARIS' STATEMENT. IT IS THE ANSWER TO THE THREAD. God, not everyone that got upset was a racist. Read the tweets in the article. A good deal of them were about how WAIT SHE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE BLACK! because they thought she was not black in the book. The article paints this situation to be a lot worse than it really is. But, hey, you can just go on believing what things say without looking at all and thinking that all these people are racists, or you can do a little work and think for yourself. Your choice. [img]http://www.pleasantview.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/sheep-dog.jpg[/img] Choose wisely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra of Ages Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Yuzuru Otonashi' timestamp='1332826944' post='5890485'] Choose wisely. *Sheep* [/quote] Yuzu, I think I'm going to cut you off right here. Calling people sheep is a half-twist and a step away from the Hitler Argument, and it degrades both you and everyone else in the topic. Basically, what you're saying is [i]their [/i]arguments are invalid because they're mindlessly following the lead of someone else, when they [b]should [/b]be "free-thinkers" and mindlessly follow [b]YOUR [/b]lead. I think I'll take Vairocana's side here. The book specified a darker skin tone; the fact that so many audience members seemed to ignore that line entirely and envision a Caucasian in their place speaks miles about their personal biases. I'm willing to bet that effectively every single person who complained about this is, themselves, white- and when they saw a protagonist who was rendered in a good light, they filled in the gap with their 'default' good guy, which is of course a white person like them. I think it's representative of a probably more deeply ingrained sense of racism due to an immature understanding of society born of indiverse social circles than it is indicative of a fundamentally and actively prejudicial society, but I can definitely see why people are upset about people being enraged at this. As for the little derail earlier on in the thread about the Hermione- Calm down, please. This is Jezebel.com, the writers tend to be more sensitive to feminist issues than other places tend to be. I have no idea how you were reading that as "male protagonists are bad", unless you were somehow equating that "female protagonists are good" automatically makes the previous argument true; it was simply pointing out that this is the first major kid's adventure book in a long while to be written by a woman, about a female character, which is a great considering that consumer media is still by and by large a patriarchal system. As much as we love Rowling, you [i]have [/i]to admit she wasn't exactly pushing the envelope when she made her main character a 10-year old boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shradow Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Hydra of Clocks' timestamp='1332828816' post='5890504'] As much as we love Rowling, you [i]have [/i]to admit she wasn't exactly pushing the envelope when she made her main character a 10-year old boy. [/quote] Wasn't he 11 in the first book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vairocana Posted March 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Yuzuru Otonashi' timestamp='1332822977' post='5890452'] So it's not alright to be racist and insult black people, but it's alright to be sexist openly? Okay. The Borg is absolutely right, that comment on the article was completely unneeded and kinda stupid. Polaris knows that. He was saying that most of them were more concerned that they THOUGHT it was an inconsistency. I even asked my little sister who read the series, and she told me without a second thought that Rue was white. When I said otherwise, she seemed shocked at the change for the movie, until I read the segment of the page listed there, leaving her dumbfounded. Yes, some of them were racists, but you know full well most of those were nitpicked as the worst possible examples they could find. This is the media. NEVER take it at face value, they will tend to put their spin on things like this. Just like the completely extraneous comment about women that has nothign to do with anything here. [/quote] ....I'm really confused how that can be construed as a sexist statement. Everything else Hydra addressed perfectly and I don't have much more to add to it, except maybe to clarify: [i]without looking at all and thinking that all these people are racists[/i] Calling them racist was pretty hyperbolic of me. I'm not suggesting that these people all hate black people, but that there is a much more pervasive cultural ideaology that is at work here, which is much more terrifying because we often do not realize it is happening. An actual bigot is easy to spot, this is a little harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blake Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Hydra of Clocks' timestamp='1332828816' post='5890504'] Yuzu, I think I'm going to cut you off right here. Calling people sheep is a half-twist and a step away from the Hitler Argument, and it degrades both you and everyone else in the topic. Basically, what you're saying is [i]their [/i]arguments are invalid because they're mindlessly following the lead of someone else, when they [b]should [/b]be "free-thinkers" and mindlessly follow [b]YOUR [/b]lead. I think I'll take Vairocana's side here. The book specified a darker skin tone; the fact that so many audience members seemed to ignore that line entirely and envision a Caucasian in their place speaks miles about their personal biases. I'm willing to bet that effectively every single person who complained about this is, themselves, white- and when they saw a protagonist who was rendered in a good light, they filled in the gap with their 'default' good guy, which is of course a white person like them. I think it's representative of a probably more deeply ingrained sense of racism due to an immature understanding of society born of indiverse social circles than it is indicative of a fundamentally and actively prejudicial society, but I can definitely see why people are upset about people being enraged at this. [/quote] You misunderstand. I was saying do the research or follow the article. They don't have to believe me, and they could believe the article after research, but don't just regurgitate what the article says and claims it's the gospel truth. It's absolutely unacceptable to think that they just whitewashed with what they wanted, but it's the simple fact of what it is. We can't change people at the core so easily, and most of it was an honest mistake backed with "I AM INFALLIBLE" in their subconscious leading them not to actually reread the section of the book where Rue premiered. Again, unacceptable, but it's not the racism as pointed out by the article, in and of itself [quote name='Vairocana' timestamp='1332829543' post='5890513'] ....I'm really confused how that can be construed as a sexist statement. [/quote] Sexist wasn't the right word... I just meant it was completely unneeded for that snippet to be there. In an article on why the series is amazing or w/e, yeah, but... It just seemed like shoving "IT'S WOMAN BASED" throats. It's like saying you should support charities in an article on why poaching should be stopped. Absolutely valid point, but in the wrong place at the wrogn time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shalltear Bloodfallen Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 While I haven't read the books myself or seen the movie (but plan to eventually) and is probably because of that not quite "at liberty" to delve into this disscussion. If it is true that the books [u][b]clearly[/b][/u] specify darker skin (in the lines they quoted), then Hydra explained my stance on the matter perfectly And still, if you were to narrow it down to that they were mad about them changing her from white to black (if you were to imagine she was actually white in the books), It's a movie and they can't carry everything over even if they wanted to! Be glad that they even desided to make a movie out of it (though agreed, judging by how popular the books seem to be, it was inevitable) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
❤ Lovely Warrior ❤ Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 WIth anything there is always going to be someone who thinks its racist. I didn't read the article or the Hunger Games but its true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
·Toot Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [spoiler=lol @ jashper paras] [img]http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hneuahestnvjpg/original.jpg[/img][/spoiler] Wow... I've never thought people would be this ignorant... To be honest (and it might sound a little stupid) I've never actually met a racist white person... It makes me sad a little Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Shradow' timestamp='1332829108' post='5890506'] Wasn't he 11 in the first book? [/quote] no, he turns 11 in the first book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vairocana Posted March 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Lazaruz' timestamp='1332849796' post='5890637'] And still, if you were to narrow it down to that they were mad about them changing her from white to black (if you were to imagine she was actually white in the books), It's a movie and they can't carry everything over even if they wanted to! Be glad that they even desided to make a movie out of it (though agreed, judging by how popular the books seem to be, it was inevitable) [/quote] Even if she were of an unspecified race in the book, I find it a little disturbing then that all these people would feel "cheated" when she was black in the movie....again coming back to the idea that somehow her being black invalidates their feelings.[quote name='❤ Lovely Warrior ❤' timestamp='1332855258' post='5890757'] WIth anything there is always going to be someone who thinks its racist. I didn't read the article or the Hunger Games but its true. [/quote] The article was like a page and a half long. If you couldn't be bothered to read at least that, why the hell are you commenting on this thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
❤ Lovely Warrior ❤ Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I feel sorry for the actress who played her. Think of how much hate she is getting right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Moonflowyr Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 I just dont understand racism. Rue was black in the books. Why are people complaining she was black in teh movies? Why did people think she was white in the first place? We probably will never know. The human brain is just too damn confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
❤ Lovely Warrior ❤ Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 Becuase if its a black person and something bad happens to him/her idiots automatically asumes it racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra of Ages Posted March 27, 2012 Report Share Posted March 27, 2012 [quote name='Yuzuru Otonashi' timestamp='1332830285' post='5890518'] It's absolutely unacceptable to think that they just whitewashed with what they wanted, but it's the simple fact of what it is. We can't change people at the core so easily, and most of it was an honest mistake backed with "I AM INFALLIBLE" in their subconscious leading them not to actually reread the section of the book where Rue premiered. Again, unacceptable, but it's not the racism as pointed out by the article, in and of itself [/quote] Indeed we can't change people easily, but I don't think subconscious whitewashing constitutes an "honest" mistake, especially when they feel so invalidated in their minds about the change that they have to go complain about it on the interwebs. It's definitely a sort of racism, especially since a large number of those tweets are crossing the line from 'subconscious discrimination' to 'outright bigotry'. I think the article is entirely justified in how it addresses the matter: "[color=#333333][font=Georgia, Times,]There's an underlying rage, coming out as overt prejudice and plain old racism. "[/font][/color] While the cause, I'm sure, is something more subtle than these people just hating people outside of their race, it's manifesting here in a particularly disgusting and terrible way. It's racism, pure and simple, even if the motivation behind it is more complex. [quote name='Yuzuru Otonashi' timestamp='1332830285' post='5890518'] Sexist wasn't the right word... I just meant it was completely unneeded for that snippet to be there. In an article on why the series is amazing or w/e, yeah, but... It just seemed like shoving "IT'S WOMAN BASED" throats. It's like saying you should support charities in an article on why poaching should be stopped. Absolutely valid point, but in the wrong place at the wrogn time. [/quote] Once again, Jezebel.com. A more apt analogy would be an article on RedCross.com about why poaching should be stopped also mentioning that charities should be supported. Or heck, an article on Catholic.net about poaching also mentioning Christian values that should be respected. It comes with the territory, is what I'm saying. [quote name='❤ Lovely Warrior ❤' timestamp='1332863978' post='5890891'] Becuase if its a black person and something bad happens to him/her idiots automatically asumes it racist. [/quote] This has literally nothing to do with anything we were talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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