RAMBLY JUMBLY POST ABOUT RACE (TW? ME NOT KNOWING WHAT THE FUCK I’M TALKING ABOUT? RACE? PASSING AS WHITE? POSSIBLY REALLY UN-PC THINGS? IDK JAYMEE SAID I SHOULD POST THIS)
Hey, so. On the left, the washed out pale creature is me. No. It’s not a flattering picture but bear with me here. On the right is the luminescent Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I comparing the two of us?
Because I, the person on the left, am of mixed race.
I want to disclaim a couple of things first.
1) It’s a shame on behalf of the casting staff for explicitly asking for Caucasian actresses.
2) It’s a shame that an actress of more visible non-white heritage didn’t get the chance to shine. I am NOT a fan of the white washing of Hollywood.
3) I think, however, it can be agreed upon by all that Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job in the role and is generally kind of an awesome person, regardless of what ethnic heritage she does or does not have. Not being a PoC doesn’t disqualify the work she put into being Katniss.
That said, I have a mother who is Filipino (possibly with some Spanish and Chinese mixed in) and a father who is of Scots-Irish and German descent. This is not unlike the color combination of Katniss’ parents in the book. Her father is described as having a look that is typical of the Seam, dark hair, olive skin, and gray eyes, but carrying the recessive DNA to produce a fair-haired daughter. Her mother comes from the merchant class and has fair skin, light eyes, and blonde hair.
Katniss’ District, canonically, is based in the remains of Appalachia. Its current ethnic population, as stated by Wikipedia, are largely the descendents of Scots-Irish, Welsh, and German speaking Swiss Europeans. There is and, likely at the time of the forming of the Districts, a small NDN population and a “scattered” Melungeon (mixed African-NDN-European) population. So assume this population has been isolated for at least 75 years’ worth of Hunger Games, with minimum interaction with other Districts pre-Rebellion, you’re going to get a fairly limited look to people. Indeed, there’s really only two looks described in District 12. And they’re Katniss’ parents.
What am I getting at? For the second time I was watching it, I realized why I was so uncomfortable with some posts I have seen, complaining that Jennifer Lawrence was too fair to play someone canonically described as olive-skinned. I don’t know how to say this in a non-egotistical sounding way but I, as a person of mixed heritage, look like Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. I am not claiming, at any point, that I am as “pretty” as her. And I’m certainly not as physically “fit” as her.
That said. Jennifer Lawrence and I both have a fairly small, straight nose; high (hers are much higher than mine) cheekbones; full lips; a similarly shaped jaw (hers is more slender than mine). Oh. And fair skin.
Granted, Katniss’ photo has been dressed up with bronzer and photoshop and mine is washed out from using a webcam with only minimal tweaking of levels to try and bring in some of the shadows, but nine months out of the year that is the skin tone I have. Even in the summer months, unless I am spending an intense amount of time in direct sunlight (not, say, under forest coverage like Katniss is) I don’t get that much darker.
So what am I trying to say exactly? To be really honest. I’m not actually sure. I don’t want to defend the exclusion of POC actors. I don’t even know if I’m defending the Hunger Games, so much as looking at the discussion of Katniss’ appearance as it reflects on myself. A person of mixed race, with light, olive-toned skin, and dark hair and eyes. That is to say, a person of mixed race who can pass for white. Who sees more physical similarities between herself and Jennifer-Lawrence-as-Katniss-Everdeen than Charice Pampengco, Darren Criss, or Dante Basco, much though I admire and idolize all three.
Walking down the street, people will guess any number of ethnic backgrounds for me. I’ve been generic “white” or Italian. Someone once thought that my Russian-Jewish best friend and I were sisters. The closest someone ever really came was “half-Korean.” I rarely get read as what I am; White-Filipino. I guess, basically, it hurts to read that someone of mixed ancestry couldn’t possibly look like that, couldn’t possibly be fair and a little, dare I say, generic American. By that logic, despite being first generation on my mother’s side, I don’t looked mixed race enough to be mixed race, according to tumblr’s standards.
What’s my conclusion to this? That sometimes people of mixed race don’t actually look like they’re mixed race? That maybe sometimes you can be a person of color without reading as one, and subsequently not knowing your place in the world?
I wish I knew.
(Source: complicatedtriangulated)
