Yes - JKR is pretty explicit when characters are not white, which of course leads to the assumption that if she doesn't say, they're not.
There were also people upset that Dean Thomas was black.
Mind you I did read a blog post yesterday from someone upset that non-white actresses were explicitly excluded from the part of Katniss (I have encountered people who thought she might be mixed race but I think it's a reach). They argued that just because a character is portrayed one way in one form doesn't obligate you to maintain that portrayal, but the argument as a whole was a real reach, particularly as it applied to this book and movie. Someone like Jessica Alba maybe, but it had to be plausible that her mother and sister were blonde, unless they wanted to change the entire family. In addition, I am sure the same blogger would've objected to whitewashing Rue and Thresh--so it opens it to accusations that changing race is okay in the service of one goal only, and not as an artistic decision in general.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2012-03-27 12:51 pm (UTC)There were also people upset that Dean Thomas was black.
Mind you I did read a blog post yesterday from someone upset that non-white actresses were explicitly excluded from the part of Katniss (I have encountered people who thought she might be mixed race but I think it's a reach). They argued that just because a character is portrayed one way in one form doesn't obligate you to maintain that portrayal, but the argument as a whole was a real reach, particularly as it applied to this book and movie. Someone like Jessica Alba maybe, but it had to be plausible that her mother and sister were blonde, unless they wanted to change the entire family. In addition, I am sure the same blogger would've objected to whitewashing Rue and Thresh--so it opens it to accusations that changing race is okay in the service of one goal only, and not as an artistic decision in general.