A Bland Palette

[wordsmythe]

Without having checked her blog on the subject, I wanted to point out that the recent WTF-ness that happened in regards to The Hunger Games character Rue, who was certainly a person of color and described as such in the book, being the cause of wailing and whinging by people who supposedly read the book yet insisted that an actress of color in that role "ruined" the movie, also happened (happens, is happening) with at least one character in Cat Valente's Orphan's Tales. From an interview on ABW in 2007:

Catherynne: Well, Tommy is Japanese–in fact her whole story takes place in an analogue of Japan, so all the characters there are Asian. Sigrid is black–which has resulted in the most bizarre conversations, where I mention that, and a reader will blink and say “No she’s not.” At which point I blink, and assure them that she is. And then I have to quote my own book in regards to the brownness of her skin, which is mentioned repeatedly. (emphasis mine)

So, default = white, and even when the author herself states that a character is a person of color, some of the readership will insist otherwise. WTF, indeed.

Comments

[terriaminute.livejournal.com]

Or, as I have observed many times, people do not read AND comprehend. Or at least, too many don't.

We create a flier every year for our sf/fantasy/horror convention, Necronomicon. In it are all bits of pertinent info - where, when, what, who, (we are the 'how) - and yet... Every year, some dufus calls while holding one, and asks a question that is answered therein. Often it is more than one dufus. They'll stand at registration and ask a question and stare at the poster with the answer on it - that one is particularly stunning.

Wanting these mentally challenged folk to pick up subtle clues like a character's skin color is asking too much. BUT. It is not too much to expect them to accept a person of color in a role in a subsequent movie! That really is my tripping point. If anyone near me expresses this dismay, I am entirely too likely to lay into her no holds barred. I am all done with the racist bullshit.

[thenanerbananer.livejournal.com]

What that Terri lady said.

And...

For the record, I thought the little actress who played Rue was lovely! And played the role perfectly.

Some people are just assholes. That is all.

[custardfairy.livejournal.com]

When I saw clips from the film, before I went to see the film in its entirety, I knew Rue on sight immediately. That actress is my Rue, the girl I saw in my mind when I read the story, the girl I cried over in the passages where heartbreak seemed like too meaningless of a word. The author's descriptions certainly informed my vision of Rue, but I was shocked to see her brought to life by Amandla Stenberg. It made knowing what was to come a horrible thing, an experiment in dread.

[elflingsmama.livejournal.com]

I know I don't get out much, but seriously, people are having an issue about Rue's skin color? I think they did a fabulous job casting for the movie, right down to the little details like skin color. I'm sure that's not as easy as we think it is.

[djinneth.livejournal.com]

It's funny, when reading I didn't catch that Rue was 'black' - I read that she was brown, and my mind went somewhere different than African-Amercan style brown. I wasn't shocked to see a black actress in the role, and thought "Huh, I must've missed something." But I certainly wasn't up in arms about it or anything - I figured I was the one who had mis-pictured, or that it didn't matter what *ethnicity* she was - just that she was beautiful and reminded Katniss of Prim. Which the actress clearly fits, regardless of genetic ancestry. Can't we all just be people?