RACIST HUNGER GAMES FANS ARE DISAPPOINTED

(SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read/seen the Hunger Games, don't read ahead)

 

To read this article, click the following:

Racist Hunger Games Fans are Disappointed

Given the rapidly increasing success of the Hunger Games, I thought this article was relevant to racial issues that we've been discussing in class.

I read the books and always imagined Rue to be black, given the description Suzanne Collins put in the novels. I found the actress who played Rue very fitting. And when I came across this article, I just didn't understand the disappointment these people were feeling.

Collins clearly puts in the novel that Rue had dark skin. The actress didn't even have dark skin, but nonetheless, I found her perfectly embodying the character of Rue I had imagined while reading. Rue was supposed to be the person who Katniss ties with Prim, the reason she's in the arena in the first place. Collins created the character of Rue so that Katniss found another tribute, essentially her competitor, very much like her little sister, making the games that much harder to accept. This story arc is to show the cruelty of the Capitol and makes the Hunger Games more complex.

What I don't understand is the fact that Rue being black is such a big deal. Why does Rue being black make her death any less emotional, any less heart-wrenching? Why is race made such a big deal? Some of these tweets baffle me. One says that she's not watching movie solely because the user found out that Rue was black. Others found Rue's death less sad because she was black.

The thing that's even more baffling is the fact that people are angry that Rue is black. Many justify this rage by saying that they wasted emotions and wasted sadness for a girl who is black. Um, what? At the end of the day, Rue is still the same cute girl who looks up to Katniss, the same cute girl who was able to survive in the arena because she could climb, the same cute girl who died unfairly because of this dystopian, big brother-esque society. So why, why is her race such a contributing factor to how much people like her?

What are your thoughts?

By Fides Araneta