[ SECRET POST #2869 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2869 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 061 secrets from Secret Submission Post #410.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I haven't read that specific book yet, but I agree that there are always tons of white readers who miss incredibly blunt statements of race (Rue in Hunger Games being one stunning example) let alone subtle ones.

Personally I have the problem where unless I make a special effort, I picture characters as looking like whatever random actor or actress comes to mind -- usually someone who has played an entirely different character with a similar name -- regardless of description. I can't be alone in that failing. Readers need descriptions early in a work, or we make up our own and can't shake them. Recently I read an entire book thinking the main character was black, due to geographic location and hair style, only to have her refer to herself as "white trash" (ugh) in the final chapter.

[diet_poison]

...how do you miss Rue being black?

[(Anonymous)]

It all hinges on the part where it says that Rue reminds Katniss of Prim, so clearly that means they must look identical and that means white?? I guess??

[(Anonymous)]

This baffles me so much - Katniss describes the way she reminds her, and it is always down to Rue's body language and aura, never their actual physical look apart from size.

[diet_poison]

because people of different races can't have similar personalities/dispositions??

at least though this one is kinda more a case of lazy thinking, rather than the comment below yours which is more...yuck

[cakemage]

I've heard people honestly say that they didn't realize she was black because she was so sweet and innocent. I wish I was kidding.

[diet_poison]

...holy shit. Do they not hear themselves???

[(Anonymous)]

Considering when Rowling revealed that Blaise Zabini was black, there were people who said that he couldn't possibly be black because he was handsome... I'm guessing not.

[(Anonymous)]

prepare to hate the world

http://jezebel.com/5896408/racist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made

[diet_poison]

Now I'm just sad. Rue was blatantly and canonically black before the movie was even conceived, and people are actually saying "it's not in the book!". Shit.

[(Anonymous)]

I actually know a few people who pictured her as Latina, myself included. I don't know why in particular- I assume it was the combination of "dark" and agricultural work brought to mind current trends rather than historical, and I still maintain that it was one valid reading. I think the movies went further with the Civil Rights metaphor so black was absolutely the right choice for the medium, but just reading the novel and not getting BLACK-BLACK BLACKETY BLACK doesn't make me racist.

Of course, I also argued that population-wise Katniss wasn't likely to be a WOC, and if she was it was likely Native American ancestry. This caused a ridiculous amount of wank and led me to the conclusion that I am too damn old for most fandom stuff.

[(Anonymous)]

Right?! The quote from the book says, "And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very like Prim in size and demeanor…"

IT'S. RIGHT. THERE.

[(Anonymous)]

It's not just white readers. People in general tend to mentally assign whatever race is considered "default human" in their particular culture to a character unless either there's a blatant description, or the character codes strongly otherwise to them personally.