The Hunger Games

[Mugsy]

Never in a million years did I assume Katniss was a person of colour just because she has olive skin and dark hair. My brother and sister have olive skin and dark hair and are of northern European descent (Dutch). It happens.

[Neurochick]

Mar 23, 2012 11:51:50 GMT -4 Mugsy said:

Never in a million years did I assume Katniss was a person of colour just because she has olive skin and dark hair. My brother and sister have olive skin and dark hair and are of northern European descent (Dutch). It happens.

I was asking about this as someone who hadn't read the books, so I don't know what Katniss was supposed to look like.

It's true that MANY Europeans can have olive skin and dark hair, but so does my mom who is black. Maybe the question of the article is why do movies have to err on the side of white being "normal?"

I think the point is that in reading the books, any person can imagine Katniss as looking however they want, but when a movie is cast, it all changes. The question being is why can't children of color have heroes to in the movies just like white children do?

[SApril]

I think the main issue most had was how the casting was handled. Only white actresses were considered for Katniss and either the producer or director said it didn't matter. They could just die her hair and give her a tan.

[alpierce]

Mar 23, 2012 12:22:00 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

Mar 23, 2012 11:51:50 GMT -4 Mugsy said:

Never in a million years did I assume Katniss was a person of colour just because she has olive skin and dark hair. My brother and sister have olive skin and dark hair and are of northern European descent (Dutch). It happens.

I was asking about this as someone who hadn't read the books, so I don't know what Katniss was supposed to look like.

It's true that MANY Europeans can have olive skin and dark hair, but so does my mom who is black. Maybe the question of the article is why do movies have to err on the side of white being "normal?"

I think the point is that in reading the books, any person can imagine Katniss as looking however they want, but when a movie is cast, it all changes. The question being is why can't children of color have heroes to in the movies just like white children do?

I'd imagine it is because of the demographics they felt this movie would appeal to

[MrsCatHead]

ok, so if the book plot was too much for a 13yr old girl, what do you think the movie would be like? I read upthread that it isn't as bleak as the book. Is that the consensus?


ETA: i'm not dumb about race and *I* envisioned Katniss as an AA when reading the book.

[Deleted]

I just came back from watching this and liked it a lot. Definitely one of the better adaptations of a popular book. I felt that the final minutes after the ending of the Games were kinda weak, like they went out of steam there.
Jennifer Lawrence was awesome. She really carried the whole thing. So good.
I didn't mind the changes except, as mentioned, the ending. It made sense that Seneca Crane played a bigger role here. The friend I saw this with complained about them changing who gave Katniss the pin but I didn't mind that at all. The character was so underwritten in the book that it didn't really matter IMHO.

[ijustworkhere]

I mean, I guess I didn't imagine her as biracial because I myself match her description almost exactly, and I'm Irish/Italian, and guess what, my entire extended family going back hundreds of years has lived in Appalachia, where District 12 is meant to be. We're, like, tenth-generation coal miners. So yes, clearly I have a bit of a bias because I happen to look like her, but it just never crossed my mind that an olive-skinned girl with a blonde mom and sister would be biracial.

[Deleted]

In reading the description of Katniss and where she lived, I immediately thought of my husband's paternal grandmother, whose family had lived in Appalachia for generations and looked very much like the description of Katniss. Mr. F's grandmother's family has often been referred to as probably "Melungeon", a unique ethnicity that is rather controversial in terms of there being so much mystery surrounding their origins, but it's most probably a mix of Native American, Southern European, and some combination of South Asian (Indian in particular), Middle Eastern and perhaps North African.

[Babycakes]

Saw it this afternoon, and thought it was good, not great. I wasn't under/overwhelmed. Just whelmed. There were some knock out punches, and a few embarrassingly bad bits. Jennifer owned. Period. Perfect casting there. Liam wasn't as horrific as I expected him to be, but his opening line/scene was hella corny. The less he said, the better. Josh/Peeta, was horribly underwritten/underused. I didn't buy the connection between him and Katniss. Some of the first 45 minutes could have been trimmed or re-edited to beef up the Katpee relationship. Even though I liked his increased presence, Seneca's scenes could have been reduced for more Peeta/Katpee. Oh well.

Rue's death left me completely cold. The sympathy that her murder was supposed to garner felt completely unearned. It was also shot poorly. I know they were skirting that PG-13 rating, but my god, I've seen better fimed kill shots on the Youtube videos. She needed more screen time as well.

Lenny, Woody, and E. Banks were all fantastic, as was Stanley Tucci. The best part of the movie IMO? The first 5-10 minutes. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the tears slidding off my cheek. Katniss' relationship with Prim was the standout in this movie, and when she sassed Buttercup.

What I didn't like? The capitol citizen reaction shots. That felt forced and lame. I could done without their clapping and cheering. We already know they're entitled, heartless monsters.

I liked the mutts, they didn't look super fake to me, and when the first one leapt out, I jumped about a foot. The ending was rushed, and too vague. Peeta looked confused, not disappointed and hurt. Oh well, with a bigger budget and an R rating, the movie could have amazing. But with what they were working with, they produced a pretty good film. Grade? B-

[Aurora B]

Well, I've seen this twice in 14 hrs. What? I'm all my friends' HG bitch this weekend. "You wanna go, I'll go with." One was IMAX, the other regular screen, at least.

Loved it also. Jennifer Lawrence was excellent and really carried the movie. Glad they went with a strong actress, it could have gone south otherwise. Both of the boys were good for what they needed to bring. The Gale role was minor in screen time, which shows the difference from the book, when he was a larger character because of Katniss' POV being the whole story there. For that reason, the setup of Gale as the anti-government character wasn't so apparent as in the book.

I really liked during the reaping how the chosen kids showed such shock and disbelief at hearing their names, and Katniss when she realized she volunteered for her sister and was forced to enter the games. Also the other kids, who kind of stepped back from Prim and Peeta while they were taking it in and moving out to the aisle to go to the stage.

I liked the added stuff with Seneca Crane and the President to set up the disdain the President feels for the districts, so it was a + for me. Totally getting ready for the next chapters.

My only, very minor complaint, and completely understandable from the filmmakers POV was that the condensing of the games' details made it feel like the actual games didn't last more than a couple days. Again, I understand the need to tighten up the time and keep it PG13, but eliminating so much of the stuff that Katniss and Peeta go through in the arena, both from the lack of water and food and traumatic injuries they both suffered, it made the games seem like they took less than a week. That might be the only downside of not having read the books and seeing the movie cold.

Overall though, as I said, loved it. Woody, Elizabeth Banks and Donald Sutherland were great, but Stanley Tucci was awesome as Caesar Flickman. Totally captured that game show emcee vibe.