I'm chiming in on this a little late, but it's been absolutely heart-breaking and horrifying--and I wasn't sure how to respond in words.
If you haven't heard: many Hunger Games book fans chimed in on Twitter about their disappointment that some of the book's characters were African-American in the film. Okay, let's just say it the way it is: they tweeted hateful and racists things like:
"why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie"
AND from another Tweeter:
"kk call me racist but when I found out rue was black her death wasn't as sad"
(Maybe there should have been a third "k" in that greeting?)
Heart-breaking, horrible and horrifying on so many levels: 1) that these folks are so limited (read racist); 2) that these young people can't muster any empathy for someone different; 3) that their imaginations are so limited.
BTW: As this blog post explains, Rue was described as brown skinned in the book. Somehow, these Tweeters also failed in reading comprehension. (In the film, Rue is played by the very talented Amandla Sternberg who happens to be a fellow Afro-Viking (African-American and Danish)--be sure to check her out in Columbiana too.)
What does this say about our society?
