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The Hunger Games is a popular young adult fiction series being adapted into a film by "Lionsgate Entertainment". The protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, is described as having grey eyes, olive skin, and dark hair. What's more, this seems to be a characteristics endemic to the place she lives, shared by her best friend and nearly everyone in her community, making it extremely likely it is a racial characteristic. In fact, it is a made a point of that Katniss's family is mixed, her father of darker complexion and her mother (being more affluent) is lighter, and her sister inherited her mother's looks. My friend on Tumblr put it best:
Katniss does come from a mixed family. It is never specified exactly what race, but both Katniss and Gale are described as olive-skinned with black hair and grey eyes (imaginary genetics maybe to get the eyes, I don’t know, not my field). I would generally expect Katniss’s actor to be of Mediterranean, Latin, Middle Eastern, or Asian descent. It was made a relatively significant plot point that Katniss’s mother came from a more affluent family, where-in nearly everyone at that income level was pale skinned with blue eyes and usually light-colored hair. Katniss’s mother and her sister Prim are supposed to be a contrast Katniss and the other people in the Seam because they are white gals with blonde hair. It makes them stand out as Katniss’s mother was not being born to that life. It was an important CONTRAST to the Capitol lifestyle that Katniss’s mother went with love rather that societal comfort and staying within her expected income bracket.
Whether Katniss is supposed to be mixed POC is debatable, but it seems very likely she is. She is definitely a role POC shouldn't be barred from playing, thanks to her description. The casting call for the Hunger Games came out recently. Did it ask for someone dark haired, or olive skinned? No. It did, however, specify Caucasian.
- 15 to 20 years old
- Caucasian
- “underfed but strong”
- “naturally pretty underneath her tomboyishness”
I was wondering what we could do about this. I think sending letters to LionsGate would be a good start. I wonder what Susanne Collins (the author's) thoughts would be on this as well.
The information about the casting call is here.
February 26 2011, 06:47:43 UTC 1 year ago
What Racebending.com has done so far
Racebending.com has placed repeated calls to Lionsgate to speak to their diversity officers. I cannot understate how hard they blew me off the repeated times I called and emailed their operator. It was such a contrast to Disney and Marvel; those studios immediately put me through to the correct offices once I explained who I was and why I was calling.In addition, Racebending.com has sent letters to Lionsgate President Alli Shearmur, who will be overseeing the production of The Hunger Games. Click here to read a letter that was sent on November 9th, 2010.
In the letter, we remind Lionsgate to consider actors of color for the role of Katniss encourage Lionsgate to “affirm its commitment to diversity” and “encourage the production of The Hunger Games to pursue a fair and open casting process.”
To date, all of our attempts to contact the production have received no response or follow up.
February 26 2011, 06:50:31 UTC 1 year ago
Re: What Racebending.com has done so far
Our Position:We believe the production of The Hunger Games should place their focus on Katniss’s physical characteristics, rather than reserving the role for “Caucasian” actors. Katniss’s olive skin and black hair are traits that could be possessed by someone of any race, including someone of mixed race.
We believe that as long as they fit the physical description, non-white actors should have the same opportunities to audition for the role of Katniss that white actors currently have.
Race and ethnicity as defined today are not clearly delineated in Suzanne Collins’s writing. This does not mean that the characters are ethnically or racially “neutral.” Certainly the actors who will be selected to play them will have a perceived ethnicity that has already influenced their chances of success in an entertainment industry that currently privileges white actors.
The characters from this futuristic fantasy world are not necessarily white. We do not think the casting of these characters should be only limited to white actors.
There are already several opportunities for white actors to play important characters in the story–such as Peeta, Prim, and Finnick, all of whom are described as blonde in the novels. Allowing more than just white actors to audition for other roles in The Hunger Games would open up opportunities to actors of color and flesh out the fictional world of Panem. It would also help the production avoid awkward cliches, such as the token black sidekick whose touching and untimely death serves the purpose of further advancing the white hero’s character development and narrative.
If all of the lead protagonists of The Hunger Games are cast with white actors, the production may unintentionally present an unrealistic and stereotypical vision of a future where the only people who make significant decisions and have interesting stories are white. People of color and people of mixed ethnicity should be present and play important roles in movie depictions of a future America.
February 26 2011, 06:55:07 UTC 1 year ago
Re: What Racebending.com has done so far
If you have any questions or (especially) tips on The Hunger Games casting, please email me at mleeATracebending-dot-com.LIKEWISE, if you are a fan of The Hunger Games, and are interested in volunteering for this particular issue, please let me know. We need hardcore fans of the series to brief Racebending.com staffers who are less familiar with the series. We needs folks to snip quotes from the books. We need people who are tracking the casting of the film already anyway to keep us up to date on the latest news. We would love to post guest articles from fans about how classism and racism intersect in the world of The Hunger Games. Thanks!
1 year ago
1 year ago
February 26 2011, 06:53:45 UTC 1 year ago
Just tell me where to send my angry letters.
February 26 2011, 07:05:36 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 07:36:04 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 08:50:34 UTC 1 year ago
I'll bet the excuse is "WE CAN'T FIND ANYONE WITH DARK HAIR AND GREY EYES WHO IS ALSO MIXED I MEAN COME ON GUYS". Which is stupid. If those specifics are characterized in the casting call, I'm sure they'll find SOMEONE. Or at LEAST a close second (someone with blue eyes maybe?)
Mmmmmm Lionsgate, don't make me have to climb up in yo' window and snatch yo' people up. ):
February 26 2011, 12:15:55 UTC 1 year ago
So they don't even have to find someone with dark hair and grey eyes who is also mixed–they just need dark hair. If they use the "but we need grey eyes!" excuse for casting only white people, I will punch walls.
March 4 2011, 06:16:59 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 17:52:01 UTC 1 year ago
I've never read the Hunger Games, but I'd like to point out that "gray" is a perfectly natural (and not fictional) eye color. My mother tells me my eyes were that color as a baby before becoming brown. My grandmother also had gray eyes.
February 26 2011, 17:53:09 UTC 1 year ago
1 year ago
February 26 2011, 18:08:25 UTC 1 year ago
February 28 2011, 00:53:08 UTC 1 year ago
I just vaguely reacall reading somewhere (at some point) that gray eyes was a genetic near impossibility in combination with Katniss's other features, and yet it was presented as the normal combo for people in the Seam. I'm not familiar with genetics
not my field, so I don't know if that is true or not.March 4 2011, 06:21:19 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 18:25:56 UTC 1 year ago
*Sighs*
Elrond, hook a girl up, will you? :)
http://www.jo.spacia.org/elrond/pics/el
Right.
That said, I'll definitely go out looking for Italian actresses? (Katniss is Italian, right? I just got that from the "olive-skinned" description. :) /is shot)
February 26 2011, 19:37:58 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 20:16:09 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 20:17:23 UTC 1 year ago
February 27 2011, 01:19:47 UTC 1 year ago
1 year ago
March 4 2011, 06:26:58 UTC 1 year ago
February 26 2011, 23:35:46 UTC 1 year ago
February 27 2011, 01:20:00 UTC 1 year ago
February 27 2011, 17:29:01 UTC 1 year ago
As someone who hopes to be a published author one day, if I were Collins I'd smack every member of the casting board. If you don't want to hire people according to the character's characteristic's in the book just so that you think you can get more money with a white cast, don't bother working on adaptions at all.
March 1 2011, 07:31:51 UTC 1 year ago
http://screenrant.com/hailee-steinf
Hailee Steinfeld-Jewish, Asian, African Americn
Kaya Scodelario-half Brazilian
Chloe Moretz -White
Lyndsy Fonseca-half Portuguese
March 4 2011, 06:42:24 UTC 1 year ago