ghoti_mhic_uait

Now, I haven't read Hunger Games (although B has and says he thinks I might like it), but I have been reading some of the hype about the movie. This morning's offering, in which so called fans are shocked by the way the casting director chose black actors to play black characters, had me thinking.

It took me an astonishingly long time, as I believe I've mentioned, to work out what was wrong with Emma Watson as Hermione. Her acting's fine, she fits theoretically, but in my head Hermione was black. There's nothing in the books to contradict that impression (I went back and checked).

Do you think it was anticipation of the same sort of outburst that led to Watson, rather than a black actor, being cast? Or do you think the casting director merely had a different mental image? I'm hoping the latter, but even that's a problem, when the immediate mental image of a hero is white.

Oh, and just to make Martha relevant, I'd just like to say, I'm still hoping for a non-white Doctor. It could happen, we've been told it could.

So, why does one see Harry Potter films? That's right, for the knitwear! This latest film did not fail to please in this regard.

Hermione wears a delightful house-colours hoodie, ribbed with a little cabling and ribbons on the hood - a very unusual detail, and one whih I'm not sure I could get to look right first try. Also, it seemed to be made of quite fuzzy yarn, and the cabling detail was very subtle, not obvious at all.

Luna wears a delightful powder blue crocheted cape - but I have other patterns that fit the same niche, so I'm not too bothered by that.

Ginny wears a gorgeous mustard yellow (looks fab with her hair) chunky cabled waistcoat. She only wears it for a very short time, but ISTR it had deep ribbing around the sides, like it might be almost a bolero, but closed with chunky buttons or toggles.

Also, I love the new style school jumpers/cardies. Very understated - plain charcoal, but with a narrow band of house colours along the bottom.

Sadly, these (apart from Luna's cape) don't seem to be part of everyone else's hot spots (really, you all love Hermione's Gap sweater? It's so... generic), but I'm hoping someone else will bother to write (and publish!) patterns eventually.