'Hunger Games' Cast Subjected to Racist Attacks in Shocking Tweets

[Ian David]

Last edited Tue Mar 27, 2012, 09:22 AM - Edit history (7)

Heads-up: Some of the names listed in the photos don't seem to match actual Twitter accounts, and some of them are professing not to know anything about this. For example:
https://twitter.com/#!/abimaxwell/status/184482184839696384

Although THIS one kinda doubled-down on it...
https://twitter.com/#!/maggie_mcd11

And this one is clueless:
https://twitter.com/#!/LexieBrowning/status/184363672460730368

'Hunger Games' Cast Subjected to Racist Attacks in Shocking Tweets

Actors Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi definitely hit it big when they landed the roles of Rue and Thresh, respectively, in "The Hunger Games."

But the relative unknowns playing tributes from District 11 in the dystopian saga (which scored a historic $155 million its opening weekend and rave reviews) are the subject of an offensive debate among a few, totally clueless fans of Suzanne Collins' blockbuster young adult novel, as pointed out at Jezebel.

Why? Although both Rue and Thresh are described as having "dark brown skin" in the book, some bigoted fans, oddly enough, object that both Stenberg and Okeniyi are black.

<snip>

Another tweeter even uttered the "N" word in decrying adorable African-American actress Amandla Stenberg's race.

<snip>

The Tumblr blog "Hunger Games" Tweets was first to decry the shocking, offensive trend. "The reactions are all based on feelings of disgust," the blogger wrote. "These people are MAD that the girl that they cried over while reading the book was 'some black girl' all along. So now they're angry. Wasted tears, wasted emotions. ... This is a BIG problem."

More:
http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/hunger-games-cast-subjected-to-racist-attacks-in-shocking-tweets-1673504.story


See also:

Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed



<snip>

But. On page 45 of Suzanne Collins's book, Katniss sees Rue for the first time:

…And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very like Prim in size and demeanor…

Later, she sees Thresh:

The boy tribute from District 11, Thresh, has the same dark skin as Rue, but the resemblance stops there. He's one of the giants, probably six and half feet tall and built like an ox.

Dark skin. That is what the novelist, the creator of the series, specified. But there were plenty of audience members who were "shocked," or confused, or just plain angry.

The tumblr Hunger Games Tweets has collected a smattering of Twitter postings, with the goal of exposing "Hunger Games fans on Twitter who dare to call themselves fans yet don't know a damn thing about the books." What people are saying is disappointing, sad, stomach-churning, and just plain racist.

More:
http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made

[Ecumenist]

1. I read about that about an hour ago. These little twits obviously never read the book

the character has "dark Brown Skin". That aint Japanese and Rue sure isn't nordic. Neither is Cinna. And what difference does it make? This is one f*cked up country..SMDH

[eShirl]

2. It's not their fault the racists were confused!

They aren't used to thinking of black people as fully human as themselves.

[Ian David]

3. It looks like some of them canceled their twitter accounts or scrubbed their posts. n/t

[Lizzie Poppet]

4. Being racist is bad enough....

Being racist and illiterate is just doubling up on the fail. Rue and Thresh are pretty clearly shown to be black: "dark brown skin and eyes." I thought the casting was perfect. Thresh's part in the film is quite small, so it's hard to get a take on the performance, but Rue is terrific.