I guess that some people's arguments are that Katniss's dad could be black or Asian. I don't know many black/white biracial people with straight hair, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. It would be atypical casting, though. Also, I think that given Collins wrote a District black, it would be of note if Mr. Everdeen were that same race. So, Asian, maybe? I know grey eyes crop up a fair amount in black/white biracial people, but I don't know if it's typical with Asian/white.
eta: And you also have to consider, I guess, that Katniss's dad has to have the recessive genes for blondness to pass them on to Prim. So he's unlikely to be full-blooded non-white.
I know the director's comments about changing the hair color may seem condescending, but after the announcement was posted on facebook, people went crazy, and the main complaint was the Jennifer Lawrence has blond hair.
I don't like that the search was limited to white actresses, but my main concern was that they cast a GOOD actress. I've heard rave reviews about JL in Winter's Bone, so I'm hopeful that she will be a good Katniss. (And to be honest, one of my initial thoughts was "They better damn well dye her hair! (and hopefully have her wear contacts too)." Imagine if they cast someone like Kristen Stewart in the role. Gah!
If they're trying to cast true to Appalachia, I could easily see Mr. Everdeen and many of the other Seam residents as having a good deal of Cherokee ancestry.
Anyhow, from what I know of Winter's Bone and the kind of character JL played there, I think she'll do a fine job as Katniss. What bothers me is the persistent sense that in TV and movie casting that caucasian is a sort of 'neutral' and that anything else is 'other' or somehow has to be justified or explained.
My thoughts are Anne's exactly.
I assumed Pennsylvania as Katniss's region because of the mining, which is probably only because I live here. And even though I think 50 or so PA counties are included in the broad definition of Appalachia, I don't usually associate it with the term.
I never really got a good sense of the where each geographical region was supposed to be. Wasn't 2 or 3 supposed to be beach? But the Capitol was far inland? I thought the districts were laid out in order, making 12 and 13 the farthest out from the Capitol, which was why the beach district confused me.
There was an apocalypse, so there were are regions of the USA that aren't inhabitable now (from my understanding). So I thought District 12 was around Tennessee/KY/WV and District 1 was CA/Oregon/WA area. Though it wouldn't surprise me if it was really Nevada/Utah/Colorado if CA fell into the ocean by then.
I have to say, as exploitative as the subject matter is, the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre was beautifully filmed. And if Matt Bomer still looked like he did in that movie I'd be drooling over him every week with the White Collar fans.
Wow. I think he looks so much better now.
somebody on lj made a map of how they perceived Panem based on the text we got. it's extremely specific and kind of made my head hurt, but let me see if i can dig it up.
aha! here it is!
