'Hunger Games' Black Cast Racially Attacked Online

Movies based on novels are bound to get some negative feedback from devout fans who are irritated by any deviation from the book. Unfortunately, for some viewers of The Hunger Games, casting black actors for a few of the roles was such a major disappointment that it erupted an explosive racial controversy online.

The fuss revolved around three roles in particular, which included Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), the stylist assigned to lead character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), along with  Rue (Amandla Sternberg) and Thresh (Dayo Okeniyi), the child tributes from District 11.

Although the castings were arguably in line with Suzanne Collins’ book, a few disturbing tweets and Facebook comments made their way around the web:

 

“Why does rue have to be black (sic) gonna lie kinda ruined the movie.”

“K call me racist but when I found out Rue was black her death wasn’t as sad. #ihatemyself.”

“Awkward moment when Rue is some black girl and not the little blonde innocent girl you picture.”

“Cinna and Rue werent suppose (sic) to be black… Why did the producer make all the good characters black”

“I was all sad and like ‘she’s black!”

“Wtf cinna is Black?????!!!!!!!(just saying wht everyone is thinking)lol”

“Umm I got the impression Cinna was what…”

 

After a heavy spotlight exposed the unfortunate sentiments of some Hunger Games fans – even sending some Twitter accounts into hiding – a counter movement was launched. One tweeter even hijacked the deleted  account of a perpetrator and tweeted satirical versions of the owner’s tweets:

“Why does Frederick Douglass have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined abolition” and “Why does the Harlem Renaissance have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the New Negro Movement.”

Interestingly, some outlets have pointed out that Rue and other characters in The Hunger Games are described by Collins as dark-skinned:

“And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11.  She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that she’s very like Prim in size and demeanor.” (Prim is Katniss Everdeen’s sister)

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