I don't get it ...

[fembuck]

The controversy over Jennifer Lawrence being cast as Katniss in Hunger Games is confusing the hell out of me.  Basically, people are saying that casting blonde, blue-eyed Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen is Hollywood white-washing at work, but I don't get it.

In the novel Katniss is described as having dark hair, grey-eyes and olive skin, while her mother and sister are described as grey-eyed, blonde's.  The family sounds fairly caucasian to me.  From the vague descriptions in the book it's impossible to tell what exact ethnicity Katniss is, but I think it's safe to say that she's not black, brown, asian or aboriginal, so the rage and indignance that is going on right now about the character being "white-washed" is so confusing to me.

The other actresses that are generally accepted to have been in the running for Katniss were:  Hailee Steinfeld (seems to be the fan favorite), Saoirse Ronan, Chloe Moretz, Lyndsy Fonseca, Emily Browning and Kaya Scodelario.

So... 

1) The novel leaves the character's ethnicity undefined, but generally she seems like a tan caucasian (Prim, her sister, being blonde an indicator of this imo, because if Katniss was part, black, asian, brown or aboriginal a blonde sister seems pretty unlikely). 

2)  All of the actresses in final consideration were caucasian.  If the list above really was who the casting directors had narrowed it down to, we would have ended up with a pretty pale Katniss, but even with slightly more olive skin (Steinfeld is the only one on that list who fits the description - and is the only one who's mixed), Katniss would still be white.

I don't see white-washing in Lawrence's casting.  I see Hollywood default casting at work here, but not 'white-washing'. 

They haven't changed Katniss's ethnicity because it was never clearly identified in the book. They just decided that because Katniss wasn't specified as being [insert ethnicity here] that they would cast a caucasian.  Suzanne Collins is happy about the casting of Lawrence.  She said she never thought they'd find someone so perfect for the role, so obviously she doesn't see the casting as white-washing or a misinterpretation of her vision.  And all of the actresses being considered for the role were pretty pale and/or blonde so it's unlikely we would have ended up with even a tan/olive skinned Katniss even if Lawrence hadn't been cast.

Is it right that Hollywood will generally just cast white unless they have to cast a person of colour?  No, absolutely not.  But as I understand the term 'white-washing', the Hunger Games casting really doesn't apply.  If they got Mortez to play Rue (a black 12 year old), I'd say you have an argument for white-washing there.  But Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss?  Ish don't think so.

No one denies that white-washing and race-switching is a problem in Hollywood movies, I just think that the casting of Jennifer Lawrence in this particular movie is a weak example to get into such a large snit about.  This is not The Last Airbender, Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time, or 21.

Comments

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

Jennifer Lawrence being cast does smack a little of stunt casting, or at least 'It Girl' casting, but I'm not annoyed by it since I like Lawrence. I'm guessing you didn't care for Winter's Bone, but she blew me away in it so I'm looking forward to seeing her in the role, even though it's likely she only got on casting director's radar because of the Oscar nom.

Fonseca is really the only other person on that list that I would have been excited to see in the role anyway.

It's like they're doing all they can to distance themselves from any Twilight franchise comparisons

If I was them, I'd try to do that too. I almost didn't read the first book because of all of the Twilight comparisons I'd heard, and when I read it I found that the books were NOTHING alike.

Now, I have no idea whether the movie will be crap or not, and if the writing, directing etc. are crap in the movie, Jennifer Lawrence and the "Oscar Nominee" billing they can give her won't mean a thing. But, I can't blame them for wanting to try and distance themselves from Twilight.

I'm just hoping the movie is good.

screams cheap and tacky.

It is kind of tacky and obvious, but that's Hollywood. I'll probably roll my eyes when I see the commercials with 'oscar nominee' slapped all over them, but if she's good in the role I don't really see that it matters.

I guess I also feel a bit bad for Lawrence at this point, getting shit on by everyone for things that are completely out of her control. Before the Oscars, everyone was blowing sunshine up her ass, and now it's like people would slap her for breathing.