Some 'Hunger Games' critics say Jennifer Lawrence was too 'big'

[MineralMan]

http://entertainment.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/28/10904124-some-hunger-games-critics-say-jennifer-lawrence-was-too-big-to-play-katniss

While Jennifer Lawrence's acting performance in "The Hunger Games" was generally praised, some critics are saying she was too large to play Katniss Everdeen, a teen from a starving futuristic land, who must hunt every day to keep her family fed.

In her March 22 New York Times review, Manohla Dargis wrote, “A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission."

Lawrence's weight comes in for some mention in other reviews as well, though none as harsh as the Times' writeup. Todd McCarthy's review for The Hollywood Reporter praises Lawrence's acting but points out her "lingering baby fat." And on Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells focuses on Lawrence's size as compared to co-star Josh Hutcherson, calling her “a fairly tall, big-boned lady,” and writing that "male romantic figures have to be at least be as tall as their female partners."

Here's a photo of this "big" actor, in character:



I find these criticisms to be appalling. Even though the area the character came from had lots of hunger, the character was a hunter who provided additional food by illegal hunting. The critics are perpetuating the rail-thin female actors who are today's standard of "beauty." The amazing success of this film with its target audience of teen girls seems to indicate that the actor who played Katniss Everdeen is just fine. What a bunch of morons we have criticizing films today!

[MineralMan]

1. Note: This is not an entertainment thread.

It is about our society's obsession with women's weight and the insistence on abnormal thinness for young women. I find this a good example of that.

[cthulu2016]

2. I doubt this has much to do with rail-thin models

Nobody is saying she is fat. They are saying she doesn't not look like a product of the world of the book, as they imagined it.

One doesn't have to agree, but it's not a major political or sociological thing. The actress does, indeed, not look like the product of a chronic starvation-driven society.

Nobody is saying the actress is fat. Nobody is saying she is too hefty to meet some standard of beauty. Quite the opposite.

The book isn't about how hot someone is. If someone wishes the attress were thinner is is because they feel she is TOO ATTRACTIVE.

So not being rail-thin makes her too healthy/attractive for the part. (In some eyes)

So is too attractive because she isn't emmaciated. That's the actual complaint. And that is somehow twisted into saying that the complaint promulgates the idea that thinner=more attractive?

Weird.

[redqueen]

3. Did they say anything about the actors playing the boys from her village?

No?

[belcffub]

25. why would they

she is the star... gets all the screen time... makes sense to me...

again this is not saying she looks fat... does she look like she comes from a region where people trade extra #'s in the lottery to be in the hunger games for food?? the guy at the beginning said his name was in the lottery 42 times I think... so he must have received extra rations... I don't remember her character making a similar statement...

editted :: oh and her co-tribute came from a family of relative means as he is seen throwing bread to the pigs... and to her...

[Baitball Blogger]

46. The rations are not all that great either.

[LadyHawkAZ]

69. she was also in the lottery numerous times

20 iirc.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. probably the same people who were upset that some of the actors are 'too dark'

when the book stated clearly that they were.

Put that girl next to the whiners and I bet she'll look positively anorexic...

[obamanut2012]

88. How about Liam Hemsworth (Gale)?

He had even more mouths to feed than Katniss, and was a growing young man. Why no criticism of him?

Because it is EXACTLY about Lawrence being too "healthy looking" ie not looking like she dines on Adderall with a Red Bull chaser every night for dinner.

And, Katniss was not close to emaciated in the book. She and her family were not well fed, but they were just on this side of having enough to eat to maintain a certain degree of health. They were hungry but not starved.

[DinahMoeHum]

4. Co-star Stanley Tucci is totally spot-on in his assessment

of those critics:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/hillaryreinsberg/stanley-tucci-calling-jennifer-lawrence-fat-is-r


"Big-boned? They should go make their own movie!" Tucci told BuzzFeed Shift at last night's launch party for Giada DiLaurentis's new cookbook "Weeknights With Giada" at the Andaz Hotel in New York. "That's it, that's all you can say. That's ridiculous, a ridiculous statement."


(On a pride-of-hometown note, Tucci is from Peekskill and Katonah, NY, in the northern part of my home county.)

And yes, I saw the movie a few days ago and thought Jennifer Lawrence was fantastic in the role of Katniss.

[MineralMan]

9. I also saw the movie this week.

It never even occurred to me to wonder about her weight. An emaciated starving person could not have survived the games. The reason the character survived was because she had survival skills, honed by hunting for food for her mother and sister, along with herself.

[DinahMoeHum]

14. Absolutely. See post #10

n/t

[girl gone mad]

99. In the book, Katniss is described as small and thin..

with olive skin. While she's a good hunter, she is still going without meals on a regular basis.

I understand why the studio wanted Lawrence, she has screen presence and she had experience, but the critics have a point.

[riderinthestorm]

118. Lawrence is a size 2. Is that too fat in your book?

I'm sorry but this is ridiculous! My daughter's the exact same size and this is NOT heavy.

[Baitball Blogger]

48. I love Stanley Tucci!

The best character actor of our time.

[Ikonoklast]

59. Paul Giamatti and William H. Macy might disagree with you.

I believe John Turturro and Steve Buscemi are in the mix somewhere, too.

[Son of Gob]

85. Don't forget Philip Seymour Hoffman.

[Ikonoklast]

92. Don't you think he's graduated from the character actor roles, though?

I mean, Hoffman can carry a film all on his own nowadays.

Massive talent, just massive.

Big fan of his.

[Son of Gob]

96. Not really, he just played Art Howe in Moneyball

The movies where he's the lead aren't really big releases. With the way he's able to portray a wide variety of characters from Capote to the villain in MI3 to Brandt I'd say he's the ultimate character actor.

He stars in PT Anderson's next film "The Master" as an L Ron Hubbard like character. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Master_(2012_film)

[Ikonoklast]

98. You are wrong. Hoffman didn't play Art Howe.

He WAS Art Howe.

[Son of Gob]

102. Exactly!

[Bluzmann57]

5. At the risk of sounding like a dirty old man...

That woman is smokin' hot! Nothing at all wrong with her figure.

[Snake Alchemist]

6. Yes, but the book is about starving people. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

79. Not really. It tells of people in a society where paucity is used as a controlling element.

They get enough to work in coal mines and get along, if they do as they are told. They do not get excess, they also do not go fully without unless that is a punishment.
Of the lead characters, one, Peeta, is the son of a baker and thus gets plenty. Katniss hunts and trades illegally to enhance her own and her family's diet. Also, prior to the hunger of the arena, all the kids are fed and feted and prepped up for a period of time.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

104. They ate stale bread and while he was stocky...

...he goes on to explain in the books that while they had enough to eat, stale bread and day old cake gets old really fast. A lot of his bulk came from work, lifting large sacks of flour.

[obamanut2012]

90. It's about hungry people

There is a difference. And, Katniss and Gale supplemented their families' ration with game, and other food they received from trading extra game, and from the extra grain and oil (fat) they got for having their names added to the lottery many additional times.

Like someone else said, the amount of rations was used to control the Districts so they couldn't uprise again. Starving people couldn't mine coal and chop trees and work in fields. Hungry people could.

[MineralMan]

22. Actually, the filmmaker played down

this actor's attractiveness. My reaction to her was that she looked fine, but was a girl next door character, rather than a great beauty. Even in the clothing where she was presented in as glamorous a light as possible, I still saw her as a girl next door type.

In real life, the actor is a strikingly attractive young woman. They downplayed that in the film.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. I think they mean she looks too healthy.

Not almost emaciated and whip thin, like the book the movie is based on, led the mind to see.

[DinahMoeHum]

10. "Too healthy"?? Jeez Louise, no imagination, those people. . .

. . .if you spend a lot of time in the outdoors hunting and foraging for food, generally, you will be in better physical and mental shape than those who do not.

Plus, if the setting of that year's HG happens to be a forest, you'd have a better chance of survival, as you'd know your way about.

Like Stanley Tucci said, those critics should go make their own movie.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. The point is that's not how she was described in the book.

However film is never as good as the images your mind can create from a well written book. Any person whose ever read a book then watched a movie based on it knows that fact.

[DinahMoeHum]

32. Trouble is, those critics are too rigid to allow

for the fact that many moviegoers HAVEN'T read the book first.

But if seeing the movie motivates those people to buy and read the book, great, so much the better. Both book and movie benefit.

BTW, if a movie has to be made EXACTLY like the book, we'd be having movies lasting at least 3 hours. And even then, there will always be nit-pickers.

All this fuss about THG reads a lot like what happened when the movie version of Gone With The Wind came out all those decades ago, based on Margaret Mitchell's best-seller.

Same fuss, same nit-picking, different eras.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

84. I'm not saying a movie has to be made exactly like the book

I don't want you to think that's what I meant. I'm a reader. Much more so than a movie watcher. I won't see this movie because I've not finished the trilogy. Same with the Game of Thrones series, and the Dresden Files. Once I finish those series I will watch those, however. The reason being my minds eye has already created the images of these characters and I don't want to have someone's film portrayal of them leak over into that.

You know, maybe I am some kind if freakish book Puritan. Just in a slightly different way. I will enjoy the film when I watch it for what it is. I don't expect a film to match a book to the T, honestly. I just don't indulge in film depictions until I've finished all the books in a series. Having said that, I do know people who will pick apart film depictions for their lack of measuring up to their imagination. Why they bother with film versions is beyond me since they don't enjoy them.

[riderinthestorm]

54. She's also not a white woman either but nobody is complaining about that

Instead they're talking about her weight??!!

Geez, it really is sexist.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

87. Oh, lots of people are talking about that too.

That just wasn't the particular interest of this thread.

[obamanut2012]

91. She was not emaciated in the book

Her family and Gale's family had just enough to eat. They were often hungry, but never starving.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

94. Hey, I'm fine if that's how you saw her.

That doesn't mean that's how I saw her. That's the wonders of reading.

[redqueen]

8. For anyone actually buying the spin that it's cause of starvation and not the usual sexist

beauty standard bullshit, please provide quotes where any male stars are critiqued for being too big.

TIA.

[MineralMan]

13. The male actors who were featured in the film

were not thin, either. Nobody who was undernourished could have possibly survived. The critics' focus on this actor's weight was just as it appears to be.

[redqueen]

21. I know, it is staggering how easy it is to sell that crap though...

seems much more popular than the 'well ok dark but not *black*!' crap.

That we can apparently mostly see as racist BS.

This? This, way too many people are way too happy to buy into.

[MineralMan]

27. I didn't read the books. My wife did,

and she said that she thought the actor was perfectly cast for the role. Of course, she's not a film critic who is depending on some sort of snideness to maintain a persona. Her only complaint about the movie was that it couldn't contain all the detail in the book. I didn't even notice the actor's body type, really. It wasn't about that.

[Baitball Blogger]

50. Actually, Liam was asked to lose twenty pounds.

I don't think this is a sexist thing.

[riderinthestorm]

56. In the book she's described as olive skinned, not white

but here she's cast as white and nobody takes issue with that.

Instead they take issue with her weight??

That's sexist.

Come on, the book revolves around the fact that Katniss is this great hunter. Her family ISN'T starving....

[belcffub]

70. she may be a great hunter

but she is still staving

1) she mentions the deer was the first she had seen in some time
2) she sells the squirrels she gets to the other tributes family (he mentions all her shots are through the eye)
3) the other tribute comes from a family of better means as the scene they play over and over of her looking at him throwing the bread to the pigs and to her...

like I said above she is not fat... but she is not starving either...

[obamanut2012]

93. Liam Hemsworth (Gale) is a muscular hunk

And, he had more mouths to help feed and was a growing young man, so he would need more additional calories than Katniss to stay healthy, right?

[riderinthestorm]

18. +10000. I agree completely. nt

[belcffub]

28. her co-tribute came from a family of relatively better means

the scene where he throws bread to the pigs and to katniss give you an idea that she was supposed to be starving... he was not...

the other local characters have so little screen time it really doesn't mater...

[PCIntern]

12. Perhaps they should have cast a pathologically anorectic woman...

then all hell would have broken loose...maybe they should have used Ann Coulter.

the whole attack on the young lady reminds me of the last episode of St. elsewhere, wherein it turns out that the whole series took place in the mind of an autistic boy. People were outraged: You mean it didn't really happen???

No...it was a TV series...of course it didn't really happen...in ANY Universe...

On edit: why don't they just enjoy the film for what it is..?

[MineralMan]

17. The character in the film was able to survive the "games"

for the same reasons she was able to be healthy-looking. She was a hunter who acquired additional food for her family through her skills. No anorexic person could have competed and survived in the violent games.

[PCIntern]

23. Exactly...

I didn't utilize the thingie because I'm tired of doing so...

[dkf]

19. Yup. Using someone too skinny isn't PC nowadays.

[kestrel91316]

45. Your whining about "PC" is something RWers tend to do.

Kind of unbecoming in a DUer.

[dkf]

127. You want to bet they considered this angle?

But maybe the no-no is pointing it out. Mustn't try to pull back the curtain.

[chrisa]

15. Did they get hit in the head with a brick?

She looks fine - maybe even a little too skinny, so she fits the part. There's nothing attractive about looking like you've been lost in the desert for 10 days, with your bones sticking out and dark circles under your eyes.

Apparently they think a meth-head would have been a better fit for the movie.

[dkf]

16. The point isn't that she is too big in general but that she doesn't fit the description in the book.

Maybe they didn't want the character to look too believable as the premise of the book is unsettling.

[MineralMan]

29. I didn't read the book. How was Katniss described

in the book? Can you quote a bit of the description?

[XemaSab]

68. Pretty much the entire description is

long black hair, olive skin.

She's the narrator, so she doesn't spend a lot of time describing herself.

[MineralMan]

71. Thanks. That leaves it pretty open, then.

I really am going to read the books, but I'm in the middle of others right now.

[dkf]

130. But she talks about how her mother let her kids turn into skin and bones.

Also how a good loaf of bread is a huge treat.

She puts in extra chances to be called up to get more rations. That is not the action of a person who has enough.

[varelse]

20. I knew before I started reading the replies

that this thread would depress me beyond my ability to express the feeling in words. We just cannot seem to move forward.

Also: I can't understand how anyone could see this woman as "big", let alone "fat". What am I missing?

[MineralMan]

24. I don't think you are missing anything.

The character is not big at all. The actor is not big. What is big is the head of the critic.

[DinahMoeHum]

34. "What is big is the head of the critic" TOUCHE!!

[varelse]

37. Thank you for that

I feel a little better already

[Odin2005]

30. That critic is an idiot.

[MineralMan]

31. Well, yes.

It is a frequent affliction of movie reviewers, I think.

[Odin2005]

39. As the saying goes, haters gonna hate.

[MineralMan]

41. So it seems.

[slampoet]

55. See my post below. It isn't the first time for this asshole critic.

[MoonRiver]

33. First she has a seductive, womanly figure, then she has "babyfat."

This is all sexist b.s.

[MineralMan]

36. Yup. Critics seem to have to find something to criticize.

She's "big-boned," too. All foolishness and vanity on the part of the critics, I think, with a bit of sexism thrown into the mix.

[MineralMan]

43. I have, and I've seen a complete range of people

in age and size at Walmart, just as I do at any large store. I'm not quite sure what your point is.

[Scuba]

83. I'm not sure either. Self-delete complete.

[RZM]

38. I think she's very attractive n/t

[MineralMan]

42. Yes. There are many young women actors who are very attractive.

They wouldn't have cast someone unattractive in this role, no matter what.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

40. I'd have to see the screenplay and speak to the casting director

I haven't read the book, either, but the book doesn't matter, as the screenplay's adaptation is what guides the movie. If the screenwriter saw the character as extremely rail thin, and if that thinness had to do with the plot (a world where people starve) then I don't think that's an example of obsessing over women's weight in general and a rail thin actress would have made perfect sense. Sometimes thin has an importance other than just an example of treating women like sex objects. We'd also have to know how the casting director tried to follow the script and why the particular actress playing the role was chosen. If the screenplay was specifically ignored, and a more ample-figured actress was chosen, it could be based on a lot of things (how she read the part at the audition, whether she's popular and can help sell the movie, or dare I say the "casting couch", among many other possible factors).

[Baitball Blogger]

44. Did you read the books?

She does not fit the description of Katniss. Someone like Saoirse Ronan was a closer fit, but she had just played in the role of Hannah.

Hunger was a major theme of the story. This is leading up to a revolt against the Capitol, so starvation and death games are strong motivations to get you to root for the heroine.

I agree that her hunting skills would have beefed her up more than the average person, but she looked very well fed.

That said, Lawrence did a great job. She has a wide range when it comes to expressing emotion.

I suggest you let this one go, because starvation was a main theme of the book.

BTW, that photo is taken at a flattering angle. She is a lot more womanly than that photo suggests.

[MineralMan]

47. Can you supply some of the physical description of the Katniss

character from the first book? I asked my wife about that, since I haven't yet grabbed her Kindle to read it. She didn't find any problem with the casting in the movie. So, maybe you can find a physical description in the book that contradicts the casting. That would be helpful.

[Baitball Blogger]

74. You asked your wife? So you're getting all bothered about this and didn't read the book?

Yes, Katniss describes herself as thin.

But that's too easy. Let's look at all the other clues. A writer uses more than a physical description to get the point across. In fact, that's the test of a good writer and in the beginning, it's only through clues that you get to know that hunger is a main concern for katniss because the book is written in the first person. So the writer portrays the point that the lack of food is a concern using various methods:

On the first page there is the description of Prim's cat. Katniss says this of the cat:

"He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home...The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed."

In the movie there's an encounter with the cat. Katniss tells the cat, "I can still eat you."

Page 6, "District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety," I murmur."

There's the bread that Gale brings to her on their first meeting in the book. In the movie Katniss shoves her nose in it to smell it. In the book she says this, "It's real bakery bread." Not like what they get with the rationing. So even with the rations she doesn't get enough. And one loaf of bread cost one squirrel. That is going to require a lot of hunting, and they generally hunt on Sundays.

On the next page she describes how her mother fell into a depression after her father died, allowing her children to turn to skin and bones.

This is a prelude for her meeting of Peeta for the first time. Because it was during this window, after her father died and before she turned twelve to earn rations, that she was ready to give up, when suddenly Peeta appeared and threw her the loaf of burnt bread in the rain.

So Katniss didn't get rations until twelve and she was now sixteen. Four years of rations which barely provides sustenance and hunting for game to trade for everything they need, not just food.

Page 10 she says that the first time she and Gale met, "I was a skinny twelve-year-old."

Page 13 she describes how often she had to submit her name in for more tessera because the hunting was not enough.

Page 28. Again starvation is the topic and how easy it is for people in District 12 to die from it.

And, of course, the clincher: Page 44 when she gets her first real meal on the train: She says throughout the meal Effie tells them to save space because there was more coming. "But I'm stuffing myself because I've never had food like this, so good and so much, and because probably the best thing I can do between now and the Games is put on a few pounds."

Then she says how she fights to keep the food down, and describes the food that she ate from the Hob which includes mice meat and tree bark. Not exactly the kind of thing that beefs you up.

Page 51 she describes how she learned to use the forest to supplement their food supply. Her appraisal: "I kept us alive."

She goes on to explain what I already said. The things she hunted were used to barter for all kinds of things. She says what they "didn't absolutely have to eat," was used to barter.

Page 55: More comparisons of the food they're served at the Capitol with what she was use to eating in District 12.

Page 94: The biggest comparison that indicates that Katniss, like many in District 12, don't get enough to eat. The scene is the first time they're in the same room with all the other tributes.

When Atala beings to read down the list of the skill stations, my eyes can't help flitting around to the other tributes. It's the first time we've been assembled. on level ground, in simple clothes. My heart sinks. Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than I am, even though many of the tributes have never been fed properly. You can see it in their bones, their skin, the hollow look in their eyes. I may be smaller naturally, but overall, my family's resourcefulness has given me an edge in that area. I stand straight, and while I'm thin, I'm strong.

So she's small, thin, and strong. Jennifer Lawrence only possesses one of those qualities.

That said, I'm looking forward to the next two movies because Lawrence has some serious acting chops.

[MineralMan]

77. I saw the movie, but haven't read the book yet.

I'm not really all that bothered, either. I just found that article interesting.

[Baitball Blogger]

78. Oh my God, what a waste of a morning.

Read the book and you'll get an entirely different picture.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

105. They never really said she wasn't tall...

or petite. The book just says hungry and that she's thin. That could be anything. Most of what you quote is terribly suggestive. Most of the time while reading the book, I was thinking about Natalie Portman, honestly. While Jennifer Lawrence is taller and has a larger bone structure, I wasn't put off by her in the movie. I thought she was fabulous, actually.
It is dramatic license. Honestly, there were a lot of things different between the book and the movie. Anyone who can't let go and see them as separate entities like we had to with Harry Potter on A LOT of things, just can't be entertained.
Most of DU can't let go of reality for 4 minutes to be entertained, so I'm not really surprised with all of this pandering to this moron critic.

[LadyHawkAZ]

110. +1 Hooray for common sense! n/t

[Baitball Blogger]

113. Actually, she describes herself as small, thin and strong.

"When Atala begins to read down the list of the skill stations, my eyes can't help flitting around to the other tributes. It's the first time we've been assembled. on level ground, in simple clothes. My heart sinks. Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than I am, even though many of the tributes have never been fed properly. You can see it in their bones, their skin, the hollow look in their eyes. I may be smaller naturally, but overall, my family's resourcefulness has given me an edge in that area. I stand straight, and while I'm thin, I'm strong.

I don't see why people can't just agree that the book described her one way, but the role was cast another. No reason why it can't be an enjoyable experience either way.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

129. I think I'm short and fat...

...but I'm taller than my mother, who has never weighed 100 pounds. She thinks I'm tall and fluffy.
And I am enjoying. I just don't like Jennifer Lawrence being called Chunky. It just hacked me off because the girl is no where NEAR chunky.

[Baitball Blogger]

131. I would agree with you.

Lawrence is not chunky or fat. She just is shapely in the way that a woman would be if she had the appropriate nutrients while growing up. Healthy, in other words.

I don't think this will be an issue in the other movies where hunger is not a theme, as much as rebellion.

[riderinthestorm]

117. My daughter's the same size as Jennifer Lawrence, a size 2.

That's thin in anyone's book.

The anorexia demand for young female actors and models must stop.

[Baitball Blogger]

119. Obviously, Lawrence fits your request.

However, I believe in this particular book, the author was right to describe someone who was always hungry. It is a vital detail in the story. Especially with one titled, The Hunger Games.

[riderinthestorm]

121. I'm always hungry and I'm 30 lbs overweight. This is a sexist smear

on any female with curves.

It's blatantly misogynistic.

[Baitball Blogger]

122. We will agree to disagree.

Liam Hemsworth was asked to lose twenty pounds. Hunger did not just apply to the women. In fact, Katniss points it out when the tributes are together for the first time.

This is straight from the book:

"When Atala begins to read down the list of the skill stations, my eyes can't help flitting around to the other tributes. It's the first time we've been assembled. on level ground, in simple clothes. My heart sinks. Almost all of the boys and at least half of the girls are bigger than I am, even though many of the tributes have never been fed properly. You can see it in their bones, their skin, the hollow look in their eyes. I may be smaller naturally, but overall, my family's resourcefulness has given me an edge in that area. I stand straight, and while I'm thin, I'm strong."

This is not a sexist thing. She was thin because they did not have enough to eat, even with her hunting forays. The quality of food was not great either.

I imagine that if you were to cast the Grapes of Wrath, you would lose the impact if everyone looked well fed.

[riderinthestorm]

51. Why Saoirse Ronan? Katniss is described as having olive skin - I never thought she was white

I was less fussed with her physical weight since Katniss is described as being able to provide much more for her family than most of the other residents of her district. Of course she'd be fit and strong, not starved.

What surprised me more is that Katniss was cast as a white woman!

[Baitball Blogger]

58. I'm already over that argument.

I was very, very angry they picked a caucasian. I pictured an American Indian. But, if the point was to show a different complexion between her Prim and her mother, it was enough. Lawrence did a very competent job for me to get over it.

[riderinthestorm]

61. Thing is she's specifically described as a person of color. She's never described as starved

Yet her weight is what the critic picks up on about this actress.

Its sexist bullshit.

[Lizzie Poppet]

124. No she isn't.

She's described as having "olive skin." That covers a lot of ground, including people no one would describe as "persons of color" (Italians, for example...). Heck, I have a greenish undertone to my skin, and if I spent a lot of time outside (like Katniss would have, as a hunter), I'd be "olive skinned." And I'm of Welsh/English extraction...

Lawrence looks about right, IMO.

What got me were the idiots claiming to be offended because Rue and Thresh were played by black actors. Clearly said idiots have never read the books, as Rue is specifically described as having dark brown skin and eyes," and Thresh is later described as having Rue's coloring. They are both unequivocally "persons of color." When I first set eyes on Rue in the film, I thought, "she's perfect!"

[YellowRubberDuckie]

106. Olive skinned is not NAtive American.

Native Americans are reddish brown? I live in Oklahoma. My dad was very Native American and he was not Olive Skinned.

[Baitball Blogger]

112. There was more than one tribe in the U.S.A.

Do a search for olive skin on google. The one thing in common in just about everyone is brunette hair, and Katniss was described as having black hair. Mediterranean looks would probably come the closest. But the kids that were cast for the wolves in the Twilight series would also qualify.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

128. I was thinking Mediterranean or Middle Eastern...

[MineralMan]

65. Saoirse Ronan is a fair-skinned, blue-eyed Irish actress.

And you think that would have matched the description in the book? The character in the book had olive-skin and dark hair. Sounds more like a southern European look to me.

[Baitball Blogger]

80. I'll tell you what they promised all of us when they picked Jennifer Lawrence.

They would use make up to darken her complexion. They painted her blue as Mystique in a previous movie, so it was feasible.

They could have done the same for Saoirse, who will probably be using contacts when she plays her role as the Wanderer in the coming Host movie.

[The Straight Story]

49. They need a real cracker playing that role anyway

make it more authentic :note, cracker is allowed and only refers to class (well, white class, but ignore the race part) I hear.

As far as not looking starved enough...she looks fine, just would have been more authentic with a southern cracker (it's like having white guys play indians back in the old days. We have plenty of southern crackers who could have played that role...)

sarcasm over

[Baitball Blogger]

53. Actually, I think they selected Lawrence because of her portrayal of a cracker

in Winter's bone. Personally, I think her acting ability outweighs everything else. But then again, I've watched four of the five Bella Swan movies, and though the actress was perfectly cast based on looks, I'm dying from her lack of emotional range.

Hopefully in the fifth book she gets to open up her character's dimension so it doesn't turn out to be the same ole same ole.

[The Straight Story]

63. I just wonder if she is the saltine variety

[MineralMan]

66. I'm thinking more of a Triscuit.

[MineralMan]

72. I'm thinking it's more her acting ability.

Winter's Bone was excellent, and her role was played perfectly. She had an Oscar nomination for best actress for that role. It was not a dissimilar role, really, in that both called for a young woman with a very strong, determined personality that didn't take no for an answer.

Seems like a good casting choice to me.

[slampoet]

52. Not SOME PEOPLE just ONE Person no one likes.

http://www.ifc.com/fix/2008/12/manohla-dargis-is-mean

http://www.observer.com/2011/02/manohla-dargis-whoopis-perceived-slight-misses-the-point/



This critic has been a woman hating jerk for a long time.

It's sad that the cruelest critics women have about appearance are each other.

[MineralMan]

62. Two other critics were also quoted in the article.

What about them?

[Posteritatis]

57. That, the skin color freakouts; some people are really coming unglued about this movie, no? (nt)

[hedgehog]

60. Some of us are big boned:

and some of us are small and sturdy



and some of us are fine boned



How comes we can see the beauty in all these sorts of horses, but not in all sorts of women?

[Skidmore]

64. Oh, for crying out loud. It's a freaking movie...

playacting. Don't people have imaginations to suspend anymore? Must everything be a reality show?

[MineralMan]

67. There ya go.

I thought the movie was great. Well-acted, too. Overall, it get's a 3.5 from me.

[white_wolf]

89. 3.5?

Just wondering why you'd give it that score when you thought it was great? I'm assuming you mean 3.5 out of 5. I haven't seen it yet, but I've read the books, so I hope the movie's good. Anyway, I'm just curious if there was something you didn't like about it, since a 3.5 seems like a mediocre rating, not bad, but not great. Anyway, you should definitely check out the books when you get a chance.

[Son of Gob]

103. Most movie scoring is 4 stars.

1 star - bad, 2 stars - average, 3 stars - very good, 4 stars - Excellent. I would give the movie a 2 out of 4. I didn't think it was that good.

[MineralMan]

108. I use a four-star scale. Sorry, I should have mentioned that.

The same scale is used by our local movie reviewer, who also gave it 3.5.

[obamanut2012]

86. Katniss and her family were "well-fed" compared to her neighbors

because she and her friend Gale hunted game, and she traded some of the game for other food, and she received additional rations, including fat (oil), for allowing her name to be added additional times to the tribute drawing. Because of her ranging and hunting, she always would have been athletic in built.

Going on to Lawrence: she is a teeny thing, she just actually has some curves and meat on her bones compared to most actresses, who are very much forced to starve, Red Bull, and Adderall themselves to an unnatural size for them.

[quinnox]

95. haven't seen it yet, but yea, she is a little chunky

if her character is supposed to be starving, her body doesn't fit that image. But I'll reserve judgement, if she is good in the role, its not that big a deal.

[lib_wit_it]

100. Chunky? Really? I tend to agree with those saying she should be thinner portraying a character who

is described as close to starving. But the fact that you describe Jennifer Lawrence as "chunky" shows why this is such a sensitive issue.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

107. WTF?

Chunky? Seriously?! Wow.

This girl is not CHUNKY in anyway. That is sickening that you would say that.

[tammywammy]

109. Did you only read the title?

He followed that up with 'if her character is supposed to be starving'.

[riderinthestorm]

120. But that's just it, her character is NOT starving.

In fact that's part of the point of the book - her character isn't starving because she's developed these great hunting skills that she's parlayed into bartering for more food for her family as well as supplementing their own diet. Besides, in the book she's had weeks to GAIN weight before the actual games so she's fit to compete.

This is nothing more than a sexist smear on women who dare to look outside the anorexic starvation helpless waif.

[girl gone mad]

123. Katniss is not a helpless waif..

she's a clever waif, adept at hunting. But she is still a waif in the books. A short, olive-skinned waif, at that. So, of course, Hollywood picks a typical WASPy all-American buxom model type, ala Katherine Heigl. At least this one can act.

[Lizzie Poppet]

126. Agreed.

Not only was Katniss better fed than many in her district (due to her hunting skills), all the tributes spend several weeks training, during which they are quite well fed.

In addition, it makes no sense that Capitol would want the population of most districts starved to the point of waif-like anorexia. You can't mine coal if you're starved to the point of weakness. I'd think the districts would have no surplus, no plenty (and little variety or foods one might truly love), but they'd not have been literally starving.

[SomethingFishy]

97. Yeah.. passing 200 million in it's second week.

"Some Hunger Games Critics" need to just get the fuck out of the way.

Sorry if you don't like the portrayal of America as the one percent live like kings while the rest of us are relegated to "districts" each one dedicated to working to make sure the one percent has all they need. I know it's very hard to look in the fucking mirror.

I saw the movie. My son read the books and asked me to take him.

While I find the basic idea of the story has been stolen, mostly from a japanese film called Battle Royale, I enjoyed the movie, I didn't give a shit if Katniss wasn't emaciated, I didn't care that Rue was black, it was just a cool way to kill a few hours.

I don't know who these "critics" are but shitting on the hottest movie of the year so far is probably as dumb as attacking women for using birth control.

[JI7]

101. While she does look "bigger" than how Katniss is described, what is more important

is whether she is able to play the part well in terms of her relationship with others. is she able to get across the concern for her sister that you get in the book ?

while people have said the movie is good i think some who read the book first said the biggest problem with the movie is you don't get to hear/see Katniss's thoughts as you do in the book. but this is just how it is with movies vs books.

also while Katniss is described as being physically smaller as you say the book does show that they are better fed just because she is able to hunt for the food for their family.

[wordpix]

111. the book sucks - maybe the movie's better

"Literature" this book is not

[trekbiker]

132. movie is weak

havent read the book but I figured it had to be better than the movie. Acting was good but story and screenplay not so good. But I watch every Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie that comes out, no matter how bad.

[Beaverhausen]

114. I just got back from seeing the movie

This is bullshit. I didn't read the books
So I guess I didn't have a preconceived notion of the characters. I got it that they were hungry. She did a fantastic job. I highly recommend it.

[Lizzie Poppet]

115. I love Lawrence's own take on that point.

She deliberately decided not to diet down to a thinner look. She said that Katniss is supposed to be scary on several levels and that "no one's going to be afraid of Kate Moss coming after them with a bow and arrow." Love it.

I had reservations, before seeing the film, about Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. Not because of her (terrific) figure, but because despite the acting chops she displayed in Winter's Bone, I wasn't convinced she was right for Katniss. Now I can't imagine anyone else playing her. A superb performance...

[girl gone mad]

116. I would be scared of Kate Moss coming after me with a bow and arrow.

Her comment is ridiculous and why does she feel the need to insult women with a different body type? A great actress could pull off being intimidating at any weight.

[Tom Ripley]

125. If I were holding, I would definitely be afraid of Kate Moss coming after me with a bow and arrow

[lapislzi]

133. Anything to distract from the message

The scary message, the political message.