Film The Hunger Games

[Kenickie]

I think the whole argument can be reduced to this ^ because that's what happens when you read books.

how? kind of rude to both marissa's points & mine. obviously 99% of the books i read have heroes that look nothing like me, nor do i imagine them to be.

and marissa -- why would the author waste time, words, and space describing someone's difference in appearance if doesn't matter? if she was just "white" like her sister, her mother, then why bother talking about how different the two of them are from katniss & her father? katniss is dark and "other" compared to her sister, her mother, and by extension Peeta -- the other person from a richer station within their district. i suppose you could say that it doesn't matter if she's white or mixed or has native blood or whatever -- but it does. your feelings towards Primrose would be totally different if she was a gawking, too tall, pale red head covered in freckles, than the feelings you have towards her now as a light, fair, tow headed child. it matters. 'Olive' as a colour is vague enough to describe everyone from my mother to Katniss Everdeen to Jacob Black (who is obviously a native american character living on a reservation) and anyone in between. now the author left enough room to have this conversation, which is something i'd rather be having, than just lamenting about how bullshit hollywood and young adult literature is. (it's bullshit.)

 

[marissaaaaaa]

how? kind of rude to both marissa's points & mine. obviously 99% of the books i read have heroes that look nothing like me, nor do i imagine them to be.

and marissa -- why would the author waste time, words, and space describing someone's difference in appearance if doesn't matter? if she was just "white" like her sister, her mother, then why bother talking about how different the two of them are from katniss & her father? katniss is dark and "other" compared to her sister, her mother, and by extension Peeta -- the other person from a richer station within their district. i suppose you could say that it doesn't matter if she's white or mixed or has native blood or whatever -- but it does. your feelings towards Primrose would be totally different if she was a gawking, too tall, pale red head covered in freckles, than the feelings you have towards her now as a light, fair, tow headed child. it matters. 'Olive' as a colour is vague enough to describe everyone from my mother to Katniss Everdeen to Jacob Black (who is obviously a native american character living on a reservation) and anyone in between. now the author left enough room to have this conversation, which is something i'd rather be having, than just lamenting about how bullshit hollywood and young adult literature is. (it's bullshit.)

well i said i believed her to look like me because my whole life my fair skinned irish grandmother always commented on how much she loved my "olive" skin tone as well as my full blooded fair irish mother. my father has much more of an olive skin tone than me as being more italian with his irish italian mix.

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you can see there the greenish/goldish undertones to the skin as oppose to pink. my mother clearly has the pinkish fair undertones, and he does not. i didn't realize that "olive" could even be used to describe non "caucasians" until this whole katniss debate emerged. i also believed her to look like me as the way her body was described, as i was always underweight and looked younger than my age.

and i believe that she did that to show how she was more connected to her father, as another way of symbolism and connection to him. she took after him in all his abilities; hunting and singing for example and prim took after her mother in her healing abilities. therefore it would make sense to have her mother and prim have blonde hair and the fairer skin. and dark features doesn't mean black. i have dark features. and olive skin. i'm not black now am i? and the grey eyes. how many black people have blue or grey eyes?
rue's skin color was much more clearly defined as black.
i feel like if she really intended the LEADING CHARACTER to be black, she would not have described her JUST as olive, and she def would have put much more emphasis on other descriptive terms that are more obviously and evidently and incontrovertibly black or mixed. just sayin.
and people usually write from their perspective in a way. so it makes even more sense that a white author would write from a white perspective as a white protagonist first person narrative. and if she wasn't, she would've made that very clear.

so i really don't think your argument holds any validity whatsoever. i'm sorry. this isn't the first time i've seen you complain about race things and thought that you were stretching it. if i thought your argument did have any merit at all, i would agree with you or empathize a bit. but i just don't. i've read this book 3 times and read the entire series. and there is just no way that they "white-washed" her character.

and to say that they're excluding people of color is ridiculous, when they chose to make a pretty major character black when he was not described as such in the books at all.

 

[MrGrunge]

how? kind of rude to both marissa's points & mine.

Because both are totally irrelevant to the actual film. Lamenting the lack of a non-Caucasian female lead in a story which does not feature such a character is pointless. It sounds to me like you're a non-Caucasian woman whose generally annoyed at Hollywood's tendency to give the good, strong female leads to white girls - which is true - but again, not relevant to the topic.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

na, Kenickie is saying that the text the film is an adaption of provides support for the idea that the the character is "whitewashed" by hollywood. right or not, she is presenting a relevant argument that appeals to logic instead of personal attacks.

 

[marissaaaaaa]

Because both are totally irrelevant to the actual film. Lamenting the lack of a non-Caucasian female lead in a story which does not feature such a character is pointless. It sounds to me like you're a non-Caucasian woman whose generally annoyed at Hollywood's tendency to give the good, strong female leads to white girls - which is true - but again, not relevant to the topic.

exactly.

na, Kenickie is saying that the text the film is an adaption of provides support for the idea that the the character is "whitewashed" by hollywood. right or not, she is presenting a relevant argument that appeals to logic instead of personal attacks.

she's wrong. flat out. so can we stop talking about irrelevant shit and get back to discussing the quality of a truly amazing story that seems to be adapted superbly into film from what has been shown thus far?

 

[AmorRoark]

Why would anybody want to step into this thread when you're clearly just going to resort to personal, petty attacks when someone says something you don't agree with?

Anyway, relevant reading: http://jezebel.com/5890013/here-are-some-tips-to-get-you-hunger-games-skinny

 

[Kenickie]

i also don't understand the hostility. i'm not trying to take Katniss & her story away from you, marissa, or whatever else you think i'm being threatening about. it's a story that i think missed out on a lot of potential to make a powerful statement when it comes to women, hunger, poverty and oppression, and that it intersects with Hollywood's history of whitewashing just about anything and everything it can, and that we should talk about it. you may not agree with me or thing that i'm totally wrong, but you can say that without becoming hysterical. people freak out about these things -- the black guy who played a norse god in thor or whatever got death threats for weeks after he accepted the part, as just one example, but no one has freaked out such when it comes to Cinna (Lenny Kravitz is playing a character who has no description save green eyes, brown hair and looks 'normal'.) when no description of a character is given, or when it's 'vague', are we just supposed to assume that everyone is white? as hydrozucaine said, there is evidence to go either way, and that's a rare opportunity with a book. this topic is derailing this thread and i don't want it to turn nastier than it already is, so i'll just say, opportunity lost, and that's a shame.

 

[marissaaaaaa]

there is no opportunity lost, the film isn't whitewashed, because the main character is not black.
you saying that you're not going to see a film because the main character isn't black when she was clearly white in the books is ridiculous. that jez article pissed me off too. it's a stupid debate and an excuse for black people to bitch about racism.
that's why it annoys me.
this is what got me pissed

i'd support it if they cast a non white girl as Katniss Everdeen, but since Hollywood is full of such shit, I'll be avoiding this.

it's like if she was described as tan with blue eyes, and bunch of middle easterners flipped out because she wasn't cast as indian or something. clearly the author would have meant white tan. just as the author clearly meant white olive.

back on topic i'm just going to quote what i had on the other page.

anywaysssssssssssssssss.

i'm so excited for this film. when i was reading the books i was envisioning how perfect it will be for film. i had some hesitations initially about jen's casting because i pictured katniss to look more like me..and she was described as being small for her age and looking a bit younger. so i pictured her more with my body type and a smaller face and smaller features. (this is pretty much how I pictured katniss, not peeta in particular)

jen's got very big lips and pretty big tits. but from seeing her performances in the trailers and gif's that focus more on her, i'm going to be satisfied i think. she seems really great.

the boys i think look great. no hesitations there. josh hutcherson IS peeta. love that casting. we shall see how good liam is in catching fire.
and prim
this little nugget is too good.

effie is another GREAT casting. she really gets that role as josh does.

snow looks pretty good. seneca looks great too.
haymitch i'm meh about that casting. not quite how i pictured it but i think woody can get the essence of the character.


"There's 24 of us Gale, only one comes out."
"And it was decreed that each year, the 12 districts of Panem should offer up a tribute of one young man and woman between the ages of 12 and 18 to be trained in the art of survival and to be prepared to fight to the death.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mfmrPu43DF8
trailer 1,
i am obsessed with the set design. i think district 12 looks amazing.
i love what we see of the score as well.
i also really like how they included this in:

"At first one, then another, then almost every member of the crowd touches the three middle fingers of their left hand to their lips and holds it out to me. It is an old and rarely used gesture of our district, occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means good-bye to someone you love. "
This was really the first collective act of rebellion. It's seen in the books initially when Katniss voulenteers in her sister's place. The entire district recognized her bravery and sacrifice, respected it, and realized this would probably be the last time they see her.
She does it again in the arena after her alliance with Rue, and her special care of Rue when the hovercraft comes, she does this to pay homage to Rue's district.
We see it then in Catching Fire when she's doing the Victory Tour and she's in Rue's district. After her impromptu speech, I believe either one man or the whole district does this. I forget who. This is when the Capitol realized for sure that she has bridged the gap between districts and that they're losing power.
it's a very VERY symbolic and important resurgent ( and i'm so glad the director picked up on that. (lol idk why i went all formal with my typing there. feeling serious)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qoUT7q2iTbQ
in this trailer i really like the contrast between effie's and snow's excitement about the games during the reaping, and the district members obvious emotional distraught over it. i think it shows the disconnect between the capitol and the district quite well.
the bit of the interviews we see is pretty sweet as well.

and i LOVE this tv spot that aired tonight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qBASTjUGKt8

it is the first one that really presents it as katniss's story. the book was entirely from her perspective and first person narrative, so this does a great job at honing on her and district 12.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

people are excited about this movie, in one way or another. this thread is gonna be hot. there are going to be multiple veins of conversation and debate happening at once. they will bleed into one another appropriately. attempts to derail conversation and personal attacks will not be tolerated from this post on. this film thread has huge general appeal, and it will not degenerate into a disrespectful mess. i think enough cushion has been given; this is the warning.

Kenickie, continue to post in your current respectful manner and you can say anything you want about this movie. the "whitewash" theory seems completely relevant to this film. if others are not interested in the topic, they do not have to address your posts about it. i assure you that your comments will no longer be met with personal attack. i'm sorry that they ever were. if it continues, an effort will be made to make sure you never see those posts anyway. marissaaaaaa, glad you are excited about the film. check out the OP's post; you are not the only one who is thrilled. it hits theaters toward the end of this month; the number of fans contributing to this thread will only grow. but lots of people are going to rip on this one. it's adopted from a book series with a fanatic following, it's extremely hollywood, it's trying to target both adults and children. expect it to catch some flack here in F&T. don't let that piss you off. choose to address or ignore whatever comments you want, as long as you are respectful to other members when you do address comments you disagree with. notice how other posters were able to question Kenickie's view on what the character looks like without it turning into bullshit. if you have any questions about basic F&T etiquette, feel free to PM me. i'm quite nice and want nothing more than for F&T's base of regulars to grow.

no one respond to this post in this thread, please. PM me or another F&T mod for clarification and about any related issues.

 

[Max Power]

i'm quite nice

understatement of the year.

And I echo the rest of the aforementioned sentiments as well. This thread will be monitored closely.

 

[marissaaaaaa]

just saw this series of gif's, love

district 12 lookin goood

 

[Kenickie]

so... no ones seen it? assuming so since this is on the third page. the reviews i've read have been pretty mixed, although everyone agrees that Jennifer Lawrence is a great actress.

anyway, i just came here to post this pretty fantastic joke.

What do they call The Hunger Games in France?

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[shimazu]

Battle Royale was better

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

sorry about the delay. poll added! ^so vote about it.

What do they call The Hunger Games in France?

NSFW:

got a big smile from me. maybe even something audible.

 

[Max Power]

got a big smile from me. maybe even something audible.

maybe you're human afterall.

 

[ocean]

Saw this one last night.
I didn't really know the story (haven't read the books) but thought the movie was great!
Now I really want to read the second book.

 

[Kenickie]

got a big smile from me. maybe even something audible.

hey i lol'ed too.


i downloaded the rest of the books (two & three) on to read on my ebook mac program thingy Stanza. it's a terrible way to read books, but with something like this it's basically ebook or nothing, seeing as the queue at the library is over 200 people or something.
halfway through book two, all i can ask is -- is that all there is for choice? a boy who loves you as an ideal woman because you represent the ideal he's in love with, or a boy who loves you way more than you'll even like him?

i liked it better maybe when Katniss was a hungry dog (a hungry dog is an angry dog) instead of this like... weird love interest. I don't care about love interests, okay? This is a dystopia. Love isn't real.

 

[dfwwhat]

pretty good. It has the 3rd largest weekend opening ever at (drum roll please) 155 million.

 

[Utahrd]

yayness for gayness! first to put five stars! nah, actually, I liked it because they went absolutely minimal on the special effects, and, well, the film didn't "blow me away"which was great because I hate when movies try to fuck with you by using over the top ridiculousness to get your attention. but I did shed a little tear at some point cause I'm like that.

It left me with something to think about, but didn't leave me obsessing. Also hair design was absolutely the shit (even facial hair design). And the costume design was also rich. Seems a lot like the giver

 

[marissaaaaaa]

i thought this was the best film adaptation of a book i've ever seen.
i mean that, peeta's interview on page...

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i didn't even think of what was cut while watching it, and what was added was essential. i loved the reprieves from the arena.
my favorite added bit had to have been...district 11's rebellion. in the books it's all first person narrative from katniss's point of view so we have NO IDEA what the hell is going on outside the arena for...2 weeks she's in for the books. she gets out and haymitch is like GURLL YOU GOTTA WATCH YOUR SHIT. and she's like..huh?
so to me it was really cool to be aware of how the government and the district's were responding to her.
and suzanne collins wrote the first draft of the screenplay and was pretty hands on in that aspect, so you know that's what she envisioned was going on around the games!
i can't wait till CF. it's killing me, i read all the books literally like back to back, this wait is deadly
can't wait to see the film again...and again. bahaha so obsessed.

how was it for people who did not read the books? did you find it hard to follow? the subtlety of lawrence's acting/facial expressions are really key for the film...because you lose her entire inner monologue which is literally at least 85% of the book. i feel like people watching without knowing/having an idea of what's going on in her head might not have enjoyed it as much. i must say that lawrence did a great job. she read the book like 8 times, so she was definitely channeling that internal monologue as much as possible with every little thing she did.

and josh was AMAZING. what sold me on him was in the very beginning, just after the reaping on the way to the train. effie is sitting in the car between the 2, and peeta looks to his left out the window, and for literally 2 seconds tops as he turns his head to look out the window, his face is just...emotionally wrecked, devastated, full of fear, sadness..he lost his composure. i can't even describe it..but me and my friend who i saw it with (he and i are both huge fans and he was not happy about josh's casting)turned to each other and were like OMG DID YOU SEE HIS FACE? SOLD. PERFECTION.
real crappy gif of that

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does anyone remember that/were non-readers who weren't hyper-aware to every gesture picking up on subtle things like that?