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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Books / Film The Hunger Games Movie Gets Off on the Wrong, Underfed Foot

Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 3:32 PM

I know the Hunger Games trilogy is set in a dystopian world in which families are starving and food is scarce. But there had to be a more sensitive way to word this casting call, as reported in Movieline:

There’s a little something wrong with the casting breakdown for Lionsgate’s upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ YA smash The Hunger Games. Or rather, a few little somethings: in a widely circulated casting call for the central part of Katniss, the fiercely independent young heroine of the dystopian survival trilogy, filmmakers are seeking girls who are Caucasian and look “underfed but strong.” Is this fantasy franchise off to the wrong start?

The shame of it all is that Katniss is such a strong female character—I thought she was the perfect antidote to Twilight's Bella—but the casting call is practically begging for teenage girls to starve themselves. And the call for Caucasians is troubling, too: As Movieline points out, the books never say what ethnicity Katniss is—she's olive-skinned and dark-haired—but to specifically request Caucasians seems to reject a whole bunch of options before they've even been considered.

Comments (20) RSS

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But shouldn't she look underfed? I mean that's part of the plotline that she live in such a poor district that getting enough to eat is a struggle. She's always one bad hunt away from starvation.

Posted by arbeck

on March 2, 2011 at 4:01 PM

C'mon Paul, only white people have olive complexions and dark hair, we all know that.

Posted by OuterCow on March 2, 2011 at 4:13 PM

I also thought it was heavily implied that she was Caucasian. The black characters are clearly stated as such. Plus, she's from the coal mining areas of West Virginia. She's most likely Scots-Irish, as that's the ethnicity of most of the people in the region.

Posted by arbeck

on March 2, 2011 at 4:19 PM

@3 Right, except for all these people:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melungeon

Posted by Sweeney Agonistes on March 2, 2011 at 4:28 PM

Who's that girl in Winter's Bone? That's how I thought of Katniss, but more Sicilian looking.

Posted by Soupytwist

on March 2, 2011 at 4:39 PM

1 is totally right. I don't particularly care for scrawny girls, especially from Hollywood, but I really don't care for casting that would ignore the basics of the novel. She's poor, she's hungry, and she's a fighter. That doesn't exactly scream girl with curves to me.

Posted by sloggerette on March 2, 2011 at 4:44 PM

I've got no problem with "underfed but strong". I mean, maybe a little problem in the effect it could have on teenage actresses, but not in the desired "look" of the character. But... Caucasian? When I was reading the books, I pictured her as sort of multi-racial (given the olive skin, dark hair descriptions)... as someone who you can't quite tell what their ethnicity is. I would think a Latina or an Asian actress would be just fine for the part...

I really, really hope this movie doesn't suck because I am probably going to see it no matter what.

Posted by Julie in Eugene on March 2, 2011 at 5:07 PM

I'll see the first movie, anyway. I regret reading the second and third books.

Posted by Free Lunch on March 2, 2011 at 5:45 PM

Calling for skinny girls for a part where the character sometimes goes days without eating and her whole community inured to seeing people die of starvation? Why, that's almost as insensitive as specifying Asians in a movie about medieval China. Would you seriously want them to consider girls of all body types, even those who could not possibly fit the role as described in the book?

Specifying Caucasian may or may not be "troubling"; the book doesn't get into race at all, and it may be that the movie makes the districts more distinct by having different racial characteristics (it's clear that there is no intermingling among districts). Given that her district is all about coal mining, maybe they want a pasty-white look to emphasize the dirt and lack of outdoors. Or it may be that they've case the part of her mom, sister, or Gale (who needs to be able to pass as a cousin), and feel it would be odd to have a different ethnicity.

Surely there are better things to by upset about than the casting decisions of a movie where you haven't read the script, and where 1/2 of the problem is clearly that they want to match the book.

Posted by also on March 2, 2011 at 5:48 PM

''Underfed and Caucasian''? In HOLLYWOOD? Shocking!

Posted by Mischa Vainburg on March 2, 2011 at 6:04 PM

The 'underfed' thing is understandable. The background of the main character implies that near-starvation is a way of life.
And I can almost forgive the Caucasian thing since... it would make a hell of a lot of nightmarish sense that Capitol engaged in a genocidal purge at some point in the story's history.
That said, I'm pretty sure the movie is fucked since 1.) Lionsgate will cheap out on the production and 2.) Katniss Everdeen is many things- but she is. Not. Likable. I'm pretty sure the movie is going to try to make her likable.

Posted by AgentofChaos on March 2, 2011 at 11:57 PM

The problem will mainly be if they want her to look underfed in comparison to the current crop of movie stars...

Posted by Fistique on March 3, 2011 at 4:48 AM

Yeah, I'm with most people on this one. Starvation and coal country don't really lend themselves to chubby black girls taking the role. A lot of the other roles could be/probably are taken by actors of other ethnicities.

Having a problem with this is as silly as the morons who got their panties in a bunch by having a black Norse God in the upcoming Thor flick. It's a movie. Relaaaax.

Posted by NateMan on March 3, 2011 at 8:13 AM

#3: The text specifies that her mother and sister's coloring -- fair and light-eyed -- stands out in their district, where most people are darker. So I'd say there's strong evidence that she doesn't have the standard Scots-Irish coloring.

Although the book talks about District 12 sharing the same geographical area as Appalachia, I got the impression that there had been quite a bit of demographic change throughout Panem. For example, I don't think the Capitol residents are meant to be descendents of the current residents of the Rocky Mountain states.

Posted by Kalakalot on March 3, 2011 at 9:52 AM

@8 - I agree that the first book was great (for a YA novel, folks, for a YA novel, okay?) but I was disappointed in Book 2 and then really sorry about how Book 3 ended.

I felt like the series would have been so much better if it had gone 4-6 books, because there was a lot more of interest that could have been written. I would have liked to know more about the different districts, etc. Book 2 & 3 were way too hurry-up-and-resolve-things. If she had to end things the way she did, I would have been mollified had she been able to wind her way up to it with more books in the series. I mentioned this to a book savvy friend who said she believed Collins probably had a 3-book contract and the publisher was happy with it that way. Big mistake. Could have sold some more books. Oh, well.

Posted by Bugnroolet on March 3, 2011 at 10:42 AM

Underfed but strong? Kiera Knightly in the Bend It Like Beckham is the archetype?

Posted by SchmuckyTheCat on March 3, 2011 at 12:58 PM

Perhaps, olive skin, gray eyes and dark hair could also mean "Black Irish"...those are the physical chracteristics of the people who live in Western Ireland. It is the same place where my grandparents on (both parents side) came from and we are ALL dak haired, olive skin complexion and gray eyes. I"m not sure about the Melungeon argument because their eyes tend to be darker (not all the time but, there's no gray eye evidence either) who knows?...Collins is an Irish name. Perhaps the author based Katniss physical chracteristics on someone within her own family...Collins is fair haired with fair skin but maybe it's someone with the "Black Irish" look. Before you accuse anyone of whitewashing, maybe you better get the facts straight and I think really the only way to do that is to ask Suzanne Collins , you know, the woman who actually wrote the story.

Posted by little wing on March 5, 2011 at 3:52 PM

I agree! The actress should be thin but not deathly skinny! There will be physical training of course after the choice is made. And olive toned, not pasty white!

Cana for Katniss? What do you think? Look at the awesome Katniss photos here!
http://noellugomusic.webs.com/apps/photo…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw4-nre6N…

Posted by lalalala727 on March 10, 2011 at 1:32 PM