Skip to main content

Katniss Everdeen

For those of you who follow YA news, film adaptation news, or popular media news in general, you should be at least vaguely aware of the significant casting decisions currently being made by our Hollywood brethren in regards to the upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins's bestselling Hunger Games series (previous posts on the first, second, and third books here).

One of the most pervasive conversations in the blogosphere is the question of Katniss' race. The most recent acknowledgment of the problem that I've read is Gwenda Bond's article over at Heroes and Heartbreakers. Katniss is described as having dark hair and olive-toned skin, yet none of the actresses considered have been people of color. What gives?

Despite our outrage at other instances of whitewashing (anyone remember the original cover of Justine Larbalestier's Liar?) this is one I'm just not getting behind. In the first place, most people who have a problem with the casting of a blonde or a brunette begin talking about how Katniss' race is integral to her status as a lower class coal miner's daughter from District 12. I have no argument with the class distinction. But until casting decisions started being made, no one was having conversations about race distinctions in the Hunger Games. Yes, Katniss is "backwater," but no, she is not necessarily representative of one or another marginalized race.

Clearly, Jennifer Lawrence - the most heated name being bandied about for the role - is not quite olive-toned or dark-haired. Hailee Steinfeld, rumored to be a second casting option, is considerably more so. In the end, however, I would hate to think that the casting director's final choice is determined solely by either girl's appearance. My hope is that they choose the person best suited for Katniss' character. Because in the end, what we remember the protagonist of Collins' trilogy for most of all is not the color of her skin, hair, eyes, or clothes - but for the strength and fragility of her character.

Comments

  1. Anonymous15 March, 2011 19:58

    Bravo!!...this is exactly how I feel about the whole matter.The skin, hair, eye color and clothes are superficial...it's the actress that brings the character to life. Whether it's Jennifer Lawrence (my personal pick) or Hailee Steinfeld the fans will get an amazing performance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown15 March, 2011 22:48

    Thanks for chiming in. Having said all this, if I thought for a moment that Katniss' race was a real issue, I would be completely on board with the argument. I am not at all against casting outside the (unfortunately) default pool of white girls in Hollywood. Mostly, I'm just so relieved that Kristen Stewart never made it past the first hyped-up articles a few months ago that I'd almost be happy with one of the Fanning girls. Almost... My point is, we pick our battles.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
6 comments
Read more

birthday wishlist

Enough people have asked me what I want for my birthday, that I have decided to post a wishlist on this blog. I know that twenty-six is long past the age of getting significant presents, but I also know that there are some people who will buy me things anyway. So I might as well. DVDs and music seem to be the fallback for me. It's difficult to get me something I don't like in this arena - but a list might be helpful. I guess. So I need to replace my copy of The Village, allegedly stolen by druggies. This is a must. I keep forgetting, and then regretting that I don't have it. I don't have any film adaptations of Dickens novels - and no, I don't want Nicholas Nickleby. I like Our Mutual Friend and David Copperfield best. I would love some classic Hitchcock films. I'm not interested in any of the ones with Carey Grant. But I like all of the others. Except maybe the Birds. And I simply love How to Steal a Million with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. I don'...
5 comments
Read more

Book of the Week: The Hunger Games

If Cynthia Voigt had written science fiction, it probably would have looked something like The Hunger Games . In Suzanne Collins's newest novel, we meet a protagonist who seems remarkably familiar. Like Voigt's heroines, we understand her story because she seems so much like ourselves - no matter how strenuous or bizarre the circumstances, we feel certain our story would be the same. We, too, would have those resources, that practicality, that certain sensitivity that separates us from the masses. I don't say this critically - it is the book's strongest feature that it identifies with every one of its readers and says 'this could be your story.' It is not just its portrayal of Katniss Everdeen, the novel's heroine, that is familiar. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North American nation, Panem. It is a country held together by fear - a fear instilled by the capitol into each of its twelve districts and maintained by a yearly event called the Hunge...
5 comments
Read more