May the odds be someday in your favor.

I will admit that I'm waiting to see The Hunger Games until summer vacation. I will also admit that I didn't want it to be made into a movie in the first place, because I was afraid that it, like so many movies before it, would glorify the physical and psychological violence described in its source material. But now I know better (at least, in theory), and will review the movie when I see it.

For now, though, something circulating on the internet has caught my attention. WHY IN KRUTZING BELGIUM'S NAME should it matter that Rue is black? Comments have apparently ranged from "not how I imagined her" to "her death didn't matter as much to me."

...I am speechless. Sure, I imagined Rue as pale and blonde, like lots of people did. But the important things to remember here are that 1) Movies DO NOT portray things the way people see them in their heads. Quite the opposite, in fact. In a few years no one will ever remember that they imagined Rue as white, because the cute little black girl will be the image of her that is everywhere.

And quite rightly, too. 2) Apparently there's a passage that all of us imaginers missed: Rue is described as having dark skin. So in this segregated world she should be played by a black girl if we're staying faithful to the book, which we are.

And yes, I said segregated. Reactions to the casting of black actors (Thresh, who comes from Rue's district, and Cinna, Katniss's chief stylist, as well) in The Hunger Games fit into the greater pattern here. I promised myself I wouldn't comment on Trayvon Martin's death, but I shall point out that both controversies stem from the same attitude: that people with darker skin are somehow suspect.

Notice also where the black characters come from: Rue and Thresh are from the same district, and are the only "dark-skinned" tributes. Does that make their district all black? Or all minority? Was this where Panem put them? What does that make Cinna? The son of a District 11 victor sold into sex slavery, as Finnick reveals he was in the third book? Panem is no better than its progenitor.

Or am I exaggerating? Was Cinna born white, and dyed his skin to go better with his gold eyeshadow? Are there other black, Hispanic, Asian, or otherwise minority characters? Extras, either in the Districts or the Capitol? (Don't count women; Panem preserves its gender balance quite carefully.) Will this look better when I see the movie?