I admit I was a little surprised at rue being portrayed as black, but I re-read the book and I can see it.
Uhhmm, really? She is explicitly described as black.
"…And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very like Prim in size and demeanor…"
Could have been Mexican.
No, it expressly said "dark brown." The Mexican coloration tends to be more bronze.
There is a range of coloration among Mexicans -- probably based on what percentage of their ancestry came from European Spanish (light skinned with maybe some olive tones) stock vs. local native stock vs. various other groups (African slaves, etc.) brought to Mexico. I'm not Mexican (or any other Latin American ethnicity), but I often get mistaken for it (even by Latin Americans) due to my name and my appearance -- they're probably assuming I'm of mostly Spanish stock (which, being Portuguese, isn't that far off). Then again, I also get mistaken for Italian and Greek sometimes too.
Now I haven't read the books, but I did read the descriptions of the characters. I wouldn't have automatically assumed those characters were black -- they could've just as easily been Latin American or middle eastern or south Asian or whatever. However, seeing black actors cast in their parts, I would've been like "Yeah, that works too. I can see that."
Oh, there's definitely a range of skin tones associated with Mexican heritage, I agree. I disagree that I'd characterize the majority as "dark brown," though. "Dark brown" as a color is very very very close to black - it's darker than a lot of people think.
I could see parsing the sentence as "dark, brown skin" instead of "[dark brown] skin," though.
No matter which way you slice it, though, that little girl was not white and blonde.
Yeah... oh, and let's not forget that the Director collaborated with Suzanne Collins on all the big decisions in the movie. If they were casting the characters wrong, she would have said so.
Katniss was definitely described as more of a Mediterranean or Native American complexion, but whatev. At least Jennifer Lawrence is shaped like a real person.
Oh, there's definitely a range of skin tones associated with Mexican heritage, I agree. I disagree that I'd characterize the majority as "dark brown," though. "Dark brown" as a color is very very very close to black - it's darker than a lot of people think.
I could see parsing the sentence as "dark, brown skin" instead of "[dark brown] skin," though.
No matter which way you slice it, though, that little girl was not white and blonde.
Agreed. I parsed the sentence as someone of a darker complexion, but not necessarily "black" per se. However, anyone with a darker complexion, whether black, south Asian, middle eastern, etc., would've fit that description in my mind so the exact ethnic group didn't matter as long as it was one with a darker complexion. Using a little blonde white girl wouldn't have fit at all.
I'm wondering if the "outrage" is really just Twitter trolls. I mean, unless people have literally zero reading comprehension, they would have realized that Rue was a dark-skinned girl.
I really really really want to believe that people aren't this stupid.
I'm wondering if the "outrage" is really just Twitter trolls. I mean, unless people have literally zero reading comprehension, they would have realized that Rue was a dark-skinned girl.
I really really really want to believe that people aren't this stupid.
I've lost my faith in the intelligence of people a long time ago. People are this stupid, sadly.
I'm wondering if the "outrage" is really just Twitter trolls. I mean, unless people have literally zero reading comprehension, they would have realized that Rue was a dark-skinned girl.
I really really really want to believe that people aren't this stupid.
Propably just the same sort of people who carry on with the "I liked it better when it was called battle royale" joke.
I'm wondering if the "outrage" is really just Twitter trolls. I mean, unless people have literally zero reading comprehension, they would have realized that Rue was a dark-skinned girl.
I really really really want to believe that people aren't this stupid.
I think maybe half of them are trolls, but the other half are in fact upset Rue is not a blonde blue-eyed Aryan girl.
It's really frustrating to look back on photographs from my four years of college and have to acknowledge that anything before November 2011 comes with a big ol' asterisk saying "Months after this jubilant photograph was taken, the gentleman with the glasses and the pretty lady proceeded to betray the tall gentleman. Currently, this ordeal remains unresolved, dear viewer". I guess everyone has lost a close friend or two from a petty fight (in this case, over a girl), but it stings so much more when you sincerely try to make things right and are faced with immaturity and self-righteousness.
It's shitty. This was the first time in so long I had to dismiss something by saying "Some people suck". It still affects me, and most of my friends are sick of hearing about it. Still, stuff like graduating just open these old wounds.
So, apparently, there's an (Android) ad network that works by hooking in to the system alarm process. That's not the annoying part, however. The annoying part is it replaces the first ten seconds of ringing when you call someone with an advertisement. What the actual fuck. Are we actually at this point as a culture that someone would do this? I barely tolerate in-app banner ads (actually, I don't tolerate them at all, I rooted my phone and run NoAds).
Granted, I don't make it a habit to install shitty apps, but still.
So, apparently, there's an (Android) ad network that works by hooking in to the system alarm process. That's not the annoying part, however. The annoying part is it replaces the first ten seconds of ringing when you call someone with an advertisement. What the actual fuck. Are we actually at this point as a culture that someone would do this? I barely tolerate in-app banner ads (actually, I don't tolerate them at all, I rooted my phone and run NoAds).
Granted, I don't make it a habit to install shitty apps, but still.
My brother...potentially said the DUMBEST, OFFENSIVE thing I've ever heard.
So, we were watching Breaking Bad which is my favorite show on television. Something that he's watching, but can't admit to liking and going "Oh, I KNEW that was going to happen" during various moments. But, we were watching Episode 3 of the 1st Season, and I can admit the women aren't too likable in the show. We were watching a scene where Marie is talking with Skylar that, if Walt Jr. is smoking pot, Skylar should try several tactics to press Walt Jr. about the danger/seriousness of gateway drugs. (Granted, Marie is incorrect on the questioning, but it plays out) My brother breaks out midway through the scene and goes:
Him: Wow, this is the dumbest twat I've EVER seen on television in my entire life.
Me: Are you serious? You are telling me out of the television you have watched, you honestly tell me that this is the dumbest woman on TV who is simply concerned for his family?
Him: No no, I said DUMB TWAT not Dumb Woman, there's a difference.
...reasons like this is why he will NEVER get a woman or partner.
"twat" is very interchangeable with "cunt" in that type of context. It shocked me just that, my smart brother who was watching a quality television show, automatically calls someone he barely knows a "twat" to an intense degree. But it shocks me that he tries to go through that circular logic to justify his crap statement.
It makes me mad mostly because my brother has been socially decaying and moments like that really point it out.
"Cunt" in the UK is much less offensive than it is in the states. As is, I believe, twat. Twat is to the level of Fuck, and Cunt is one of those words that, if used right, makes everyone stop what they're doing and stare at you in stony silence.
I don't really see how that's offensive, except maybe to the actor or the writers of the show.
He's getting at the sexism of using a word referring to the female genitalia to describe a woman negatively.
I get he's getting at that, but I don't see how that's sexist, or more sexist then calling a guy a dick. He goes out of his way to justify that twat is not every female, and perhaps it's not gender specific. You could get angry over using genitalia to describe people, but that's a whole different can of worms.
It makes me mad mostly because my brother has been socially decaying and moments like that really point it out.
Your brother being rude is something that I could easily see you getting upset over.
"Cunt" in the UK is much less offensive than it is in the states. As is, I believe, twat. Twat is to the level of Fuck, and Cunt is one of those words that, if used right, makes everyone stop what they're doing and stare at you in stony silence.
I dunno. "Cunt" is getting more acceptable in the US. I say it fairly often, but I only ever level it at guys; no one seems to take issue. Calling a woman that, though, that is a boundary you cross as a declaration of war.
I know the other people here on my program (read: other UIUC students) get really, really uncomfortable around that word, so I tend to use it with gusto around them because it's amusing to watch them get quiet and squirm anxiously. We've been in a country that throws that word around like the Americans say "dude." It's time to ease up and take the power away from that word; if you're so uncomfortable with "cunt," you should be equally as uncomfortable with calling someone a "dick" or a "cock."
Calling a woman that, though, that is a boundary you cross as a declaration of war.
Equality my ass.
I know the other people here on my program (read: other UIUC students) get really, really uncomfortable around that word, so I tend to use it with gusto around them because it's amusing to watch them get quiet and squirm anxiously. We've been in a country that throws that word around like the Americans say "dude." It's time to ease up and take the power away from that word; if you're so uncomfortable with "cunt," you should be equally as uncomfortable with calling someone a "dick" or a "cock."
Cunt" is getting more acceptable in the US. I say it fairly often, but I only ever level it at guys; no one seems to take issue. Calling a woman that, though, that is a boundary you cross as a declaration of war.
The word "bitch" went through a similar evolution in the 90s. It became increasingly socially acceptable use the term in a particular disparaging way toward men, with a different meaning from when it was used toward women. It grew a different contextual connotation depending on the gender identity of the target.
Cunt" is getting more acceptable in the US. I say it fairly often, but I only ever level it at guys; no one seems to take issue. Calling a woman that, though, that is a boundary you cross as a declaration of war.
The word "bitch" went through a similar evolution in the 90s. It became increasingly socially acceptable use the term in a particular disparaging way toward men, with a different meaning from when it was used toward women. It grew a different contextual connotation depending on the gender identity of the target.
Cunt is easily following the same route.
Well, I would say that bitch has also evolved to the point of being a verb, but again, whole other subject.
I did find offensive that my brother got so pissed at a semi-realized version of a woman to call her a "twat." It makes me think his ass is going to do it at some point. I've seen him insult women in public, I just know he's gonna go over the border at some point.
I did find offensive that my brother got so pissed at a semi-realized version of a woman to call her a "twat."
To be fair, we're talking about the ladies in breaking bad. I got madder then I would at these women in a different context. The show is supposed to be intelligently written, but those characters... Really, all of the characters infuriate me in that show. I could easily see someone getting angry over them.
I'm not defending your brother in any way, I know way too little about the situation. I just wanna say that breaking bad has awful characters.
An observation from my personal view, so feel free to disagree, but there is still a difference between "cunt" as a slur versus "dick." I don't think they are equal, merely because women are still a social group that faces more oppression than their male counterparts. When we stop viewing female things as inferior, it will be cool to use both interchangeably as rude slights. Now, when I hear the word "cunt" it possesses a level of implied sexual aggression, a added layer of insult on top of the base insult. When people stop denigrating the female body and glorifying the male sexual organ, we can have equality in our potty mouth words.
I guess it's kind of like how the slur "cracker" seems less potent than the slurs leveled against black people. All things being equal, they should be the same, but since one slur is associated with more violence and oppression, it feels much more hefty in it's emotional violence.
Glorifying the male sexual organ? Seriously? You call someone being reduced to just his sex organ glorifying? The same organ men get ridiculed and harassed for here in our western world? A man breaks your leg, a woman rips you emotionally through a fucking wood chipper. Saying you can't call a cunt a cunt because her social group "faces more oppression" is not going to make any headway towards gender equality. Call a cunt a cunt and a dick a dick and everyone an asshole.
Using gender inequality as an excuse for people not to use one insult while saying the other isn't as bad is fucking denigrating towards gender equality and steps towards trying to make the genders more equal. Just because men and society have learned to deal with it when it comes to "dick" and "asshole" and all the male-genital based insults in every fucking language on the bloody planet, doesn't make it anything other than an insult and a fucking word. Or do you think people should use "bitch" and "whore" some more, because those are a lot more popular than "cunt" and "twat", right?
Insults are insults, get your fucking gender equality bullshit out of their way. Instead use fucking gender equality to get women the same fucking wage for the same fucking job, and men the same fucking chances for custody when their wives walks out drunk on him with the kids.
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I could see parsing the sentence as "dark, brown skin" instead of "[dark brown] skin," though.
No matter which way you slice it, though, that little girl was not white and blonde.
Katniss was definitely described as more of a Mediterranean or Native American complexion, but whatev. At least Jennifer Lawrence is shaped like a real person.
I really really really want to believe that people aren't this stupid.
It's shitty. This was the first time in so long I had to dismiss something by saying "Some people suck". It still affects me, and most of my friends are sick of hearing about it. Still, stuff like graduating just open these old wounds.
Granted, I don't make it a habit to install shitty apps, but still.
So, we were watching Breaking Bad which is my favorite show on television. Something that he's watching, but can't admit to liking and going "Oh, I KNEW that was going to happen" during various moments. But, we were watching Episode 3 of the 1st Season, and I can admit the women aren't too likable in the show. We were watching a scene where Marie is talking with Skylar that, if Walt Jr. is smoking pot, Skylar should try several tactics to press Walt Jr. about the danger/seriousness of gateway drugs. (Granted, Marie is incorrect on the questioning, but it plays out) My brother breaks out midway through the scene and goes:
Him: Wow, this is the dumbest twat I've EVER seen on television in my entire life.
Me: Are you serious? You are telling me out of the television you have watched, you honestly tell me that this is the dumbest woman on TV who is simply concerned for his family?
Him: No no, I said DUMB TWAT not Dumb Woman, there's a difference.
...reasons like this is why he will NEVER get a woman or partner.
It makes me mad mostly because my brother has been socially decaying and moments like that really point it out.
I know the other people here on my program (read: other UIUC students) get really, really uncomfortable around that word, so I tend to use it with gusto around them because it's amusing to watch them get quiet and squirm anxiously. We've been in a country that throws that word around like the Americans say "dude." It's time to ease up and take the power away from that word; if you're so uncomfortable with "cunt," you should be equally as uncomfortable with calling someone a "dick" or a "cock."
Cunt is easily following the same route.
I did find offensive that my brother got so pissed at a semi-realized version of a woman to call her a "twat." It makes me think his ass is going to do it at some point. I've seen him insult women in public, I just know he's gonna go over the border at some point.
I'm not defending your brother in any way, I know way too little about the situation. I just wanna say that breaking bad has awful characters.
I guess it's kind of like how the slur "cracker" seems less potent than the slurs leveled against black people. All things being equal, they should be the same, but since one slur is associated with more violence and oppression, it feels much more hefty in it's emotional violence.
Using gender inequality as an excuse for people not to use one insult while saying the other isn't as bad is fucking denigrating towards gender equality and steps towards trying to make the genders more equal. Just because men and society have learned to deal with it when it comes to "dick" and "asshole" and all the male-genital based insults in every fucking language on the bloody planet, doesn't make it anything other than an insult and a fucking word. Or do you think people should use "bitch" and "whore" some more, because those are a lot more popular than "cunt" and "twat", right?
Insults are insults, get your fucking gender equality bullshit out of their way. Instead use fucking gender equality to get women the same fucking wage for the same fucking job, and men the same fucking chances for custody when their wives walks out drunk on him with the kids.