itsinthetrees:

traversability asked:

I’m not trying to be a dick, but I’m not really sure what the deal is with the Hunger Games fandom right now. I’m a white person (a white middle easterner, to be specific, but that’s not important) and if I were to live in the American south and do manual labor, I would be tan. I’d be a tan white person. And my skin would easily be described as olive. It’s a skin tone, not a race. I just don’t get the “WHITEWASHING!” criticism. Suzanne Collins, the author, seems to think that JLaw is a decent enough representation of her imagine of Katniss, which suggests to me that she was probably imagined as white. I was expecting criticism along the lines of “Damn it, another white protag, can’t we get some people of color up in this?” but all across the internet I’ve heard “Whitewashing!” and now, “Blackface!” Can it really be those things if a white actor is cast as a white character?

Don’t get me wrong, I think that the EW cover went a little bit Jersey Shore with the tanner there, but genuinely believe that that was a makeuping gaff, rather than race-fail. Am I doin’ it rong?

here’s the deal, as i see it:

i’m not offended by the white casting of katniss in of itself.  i have never read the hunger games, the character is of ambiguous race, and the UK book cover shows her as pretty overtly white-but-swarthy (italian or greek, maybe).

but the issue isn’t whether i am offended or whether you are offended, because we are white people. 

i don’t think this is as egregious as, say, the last airbender, but it’s troubling that WOC were not allowed to read for the part.  it’s more troubling that they cast a very pale girl and then darkened her skin artificially.

is it blackface?  no.  that’s a bit ridiculous.  is it an unfortunate indication of general trends within the industry? yes.  and i work in the industry, so let me tell you: those trends are a real thing.

the issue isn’t that a white girl was cast, and jennifer lawrence herself certainly isn’t the problem.  the issue is that this is one of the only major franchises of the last 20-odd years to have the potential for a WOC protagonist, and instead the studio cast a blonde girl with very fair skin and awkwardly transformed her into a low-rent anita from a suburban high school production of west side story.

because that says that her darker skin tone and dark hair are important to the role.  and if they were important, then why weren’t mixed-race girls, latina girls, et cetera invited to read for the part?

i’m not up in arms over this — but i’m, again, white.  i can imagine that for women of color (or just people of color generally) who never get to see themselves represented in media, even this relatively minor example of ‘whitewashing’ and vague race-drag is yet another slap in the face in a centuries-long line of slaps.

so here’s the deal.  is this a huge huge scandal? not really.  should jennifer lawrence and suzanne collins be ashamed?  no.  should you feel guilty for enjoying the film when it comes out?  no.

should any white people be telling WOC not to be annoyed?

no.

anyone who thinks the correct response to ‘i feel silenced’ by a WOC is to say ‘shut up’ is missing the point pretty colossally.

that is some mighty fine commentary.

(via gematriya)