Why does rue have to be black

One: you may be a racist — congrats! Two: you definitely lack basic reading comprehension. Mazel tov! Of course, fandom has a way of getting upset about non-white casting all the time. Every so often there's uproar about the still-yet-to-happen possibility of a black Bond.

And of course there was the infamous Donald4Spiderman hashtag of Whenever these issues flare up, I like to think about Elba's comments to upset fanboys after his casting was revealed: "Can a black man play a Nordic character?

Hang about, Thor's mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That's OK, but the colour of my skin is wrong? But black people? Sir, you go too far! Meanwhile, the whitewashing of characters rarely gets more than a cursory glance. That's changing slowly: there was a rightful fuss over the casting in M Night Shyamalan's film, The Last Airbender , in which three of the four leads were cast as white, even though the source material has them as East Asian or Native American.

This stance made her look like a bird, ready to take flight. Her swift and almost invisible movements through the treetops added to the bird-like description. Rue says that what she enjoys most in life is music, something which greatly confuses Katniss when she considers the hardship Rue has endured on the fields in District She is described as 4' 8. Rue was the eldest of six children. She had five younger siblings, all living in poverty in District She usually gave her food rations to her younger siblings, and foraged in the fields to provide more food for them.

District 11 has very strict laws and Rue could be punished for helping her family in this way. Her parents were also seen weeping. A man in the back whistles her four note tune, and started a small uprising. The man was shot shortly after.

After Katniss sees the man get shot, she hears two more shots, which could possibly mean someone in the family was killed or wounded. Rue and Katniss had a loving relationship. Katniss formed an alliance with her and took care of her as well.

She was deeply cared for by Katniss. Rue told her everything about her, like her favorite thing in the world is music. Katniss felt empathy and pity for her. Katniss demonstrated her love for Rue by crying and mourning her death and covering her body in flowers at the time of her death to show that she was 'more than just a piece in their games'. Katniss trusts Rue because of her similarities to Prim and her gentle demeanor. Katniss also felt pity and empathy for Rue, being forced into the arena at such a young age.

She also realized she could trust Rue because she watched over her while she was asleep from the Tracker Jacker venom. One of the reasons Rue said she trusted Katniss, was because of her mockingjay pin. Rue and her bonded the night Katniss awakened from her tracker jacker injuries. Rue received a groosling leg from Katniss, after she refused the first few times.

Katniss and Rue tell each other about their life and district. Rue told her about the Career's camp and this helps her with her plan.

Rue trusted Katniss when she saw that Katniss had on a mockingjay pin. She then proceeded to help her with a plan to destroy the career alliance. But soon after the second fire was lit, Rue stumbled into a trap set up by Marvel, who stabbed her through the abdomen with his spear while Katniss ran to save her.

After dispatching Marvel, Rue begged Katniss win and to sing to her as she died. As an act of defiance and a way to honor Rue's death, Katniss covers Rue's corpse with brightly colored flowers and gives her District 12's farewell gesture, of the three middle fingers pressed to the lips and held up.

Thresh liked Rue and took pity on her since she was so young and nice and felt she did not deserve to be forced into the games. They seemed to have a fairly close friendship, as Thresh was infuriated and saddened by her death. During training in the film when Rue stole Cato's knife which caused him to attack another tribute , Thresh looked up and smiled at Rue knowing it was her.

During the feast, Thresh overheard Clove taunting Katniss about Rue and taking credit for her death, and was enraged by this, Thresh pushed Clove off Katniss and held her above the ground by her throat, yelling accusations at her. Terrified, Clove insisted she didn't kill Rue this is true, as it was Marvel who killed her , but Thresh didn't believe her, and crushed her skull with a large rock although in the film he bangs Clove against the Cornucopia until her neck breaks , avenging Rue's death.

Due to Katniss' alliance with Rue, Thresh spared her life, suggesting that he cared for her. Rue had a gentle and kind nature. Her greatest joy in life was music, and she loved singing with the mockingjays at home. The mockingjays liked her and were used to her; a few were even her special friends because she was the one who sang a four-note melody that signaled the end of a work day out in the fields.

While in the arena , Rue showed excitement at the prospect of adventure - one character trait that Katniss noted differed her from Prim. Rue was clever and quite observant of her surroundings, noticing every piece of information she saw when spying on the Careers.

Being the eldest child in her family, Rue was a caretaker and always made sure her younger siblings were tended to. Similarly, she helped heal Katniss in the arena and willingly shared her supplies and knowledge. Once allied with Katniss, Rue put a great deal of trust in her, falling asleep quickly that night and agreeing to Katniss's schemes.

She can hit the target every time with a slingshot. Rue had a talent for singing; her greatest joy was music. During work she would sing to the mockingjays and they would sing back. She was also able to whistle a four note song which had meaning in her district that the day of work was over. Exceptionally talented at climbing, she could silently jump from one tree to another without being noticed; Katniss compared her skill to that of the birds.

Rue was able to stalk and track Katniss and other tributes during the Games to gain information and no one picked up that they were being followed or watched by her. Also, she climbed to the top of the rafters during training after stealing a knife from Cato in the film.

Rue was also intelligent. She was able to survive by herself before she formed her alliance with Katniss.

She survived mostly on roots and berries that she found and discovered could be eaten. She was expected to have survived by staying off the ground and hiding in trees. She was very observant as well, picking up every small and important detail about the career's camp and some useful information about other tributes.

Rue was very talented with a slingshot. Rue's tribute token was a grass necklace with a wooden star, used as a good luck charm in the Games. She received a water skin and an extra pair of socks from the Cornucopia that she used to keep her hands warm. She also made herself a slingshot, which seemed to be of good quality, and a knife that she made from a sharp shard of rock.

Rue's mutt was one of the creatures that appeared at the end of the 74th Hunger Games. It was described as the smallest of the wolf-mutts with a curly dark brown coat. It also wore a woven collar made of plant fibers and straw. Rue's district number, 11, was woven into the collar as well. Her mutt seemed to have no connection to Katniss whatsoever, as it tried to kill her like the rest of the Mutts. Rue is named after a small mountain flower called ruta graveolens. Considering the flower is also known as "herb-of-grace", it may explain Rue's delicate touch and gentleness.

The Hunger Games Wiki Explore. Victors Gamemaker Rebels The Covey. Songs Songs from District Hunger Games film. Panem The Capitol Academy University. District 1 District 2 District 4. Thresh hails from the same district as Rue, and protects Katniss in repayment for her friendship to the young girl. And what is these tweeters' problem? For at least a few moviegoers, the decision to make Rue and Thresh African-American weakened the film's impact.

I'm not watching," bemoaned another. Were the characters black in the book? Collins clearly described them as "dark-skinned," if not specifically black. On page 45, Katniss sees Rue for the first time and describes her this way: "She has dark brown skin and eyes.

How have other fans reacted? Most people are appalled. We should all be disgusted by these "disappointing, sad, stomach-turning, and just plain racist" tweets, says Dodai Stewart at Jezebel.

These tweets expose a persistent prejudice in pop culture, says Bim Adewunmi at the U. Blacks "get to be the supporting characters — the redshirts — or the villains. But heroes?