I should be cleaning my mess of a dining room table, but I just had to take a few moments to continue discussing race. People’s true views always seem to come out at times when you just want to shake your head and say, “REALLY”. So, let’s talk about The Hunger Games.

Let me just say that I have not read the books nor seen the first movie (yet). I have a lot of friends that have been raving about the books and now that the frenzy seems to be growing, I will put them on my to-read list. This morning, I was perusing Facebook and someone linked this this article. Apparently, there is a lot of backlash over the casting of two black characters in the movie. One of these is Lenny Kravitz. Lenny Kravitz! I thought white people loved Lenny! It seems you are not so liked when you step off your stage and into the pages of someone’s favorite book.

I too have often been surprised at the casting of characters in a movie from a book that I have read. I am a very visual person so when I read a description of someone, I immediately have a picture of them in my head. A lot of times, Hollywood’s rendition and mine do not match. It takes a bit to get used to but I can honestly say I’ve never had an objection over color. Sometimes I object with the body style of the actor not matching the book’s description or even the actor’s personality, but never their skin color. In most cases (when you look at the kind of movie-from-book adaptations that are happening these days), color doesn’t even matter (Alabaster, sparkly skinned vampires aside). Alas, a mass of Hungry movie-goers do not agree with me.

Some have even gone so far as to say they weren’t upset about one of the characters being killed when they found out she was cast as a black woman. That hurt a bit. It hurt because its such a typical Hollywood thing to have the black actors cast as the expendable characters. It’s like watching the old Star Trek episodes. Based on the color of the uniform, you know who is going to get killed on an away mission. The same is true in many Hollywood movies. I’m always shocked when a black man or woman makes it to the end of the movie. I’m still surprised LL Cool J made it to the end of Deep Blue Sea. Once Samuel Jackson was killed in such grand fashion, I just knew LL was next. But, he made it. That is rare my friends. Very rare indeed.

And now I have to wonder if this backlash points at a bigger issue. Lately, books that I have read have had very loose descriptions when it comes to black characters. Even Suzanne Collins writes the Hunger Games characters as dark skinned rather than flat-out calling them black or African American. Do editors encourage writers to be loosy-goosy with black people. Will a book with no black characters or easily exchangeable characters be more likely to be optioned into film or tv?If you are a writer (published or not) or avid book-to-movie buff, I would like to know what you think. Do you shy away from black characters?

I went to Starbucks this morning to buy a bag of my favorite coffee blend-Breakfast blend. It seems anything made for breakfast is my favorite as the English Breakfast is my favorite blend of tea. I’m brewing a carafe of coffee to enjoy while I spend a little time with the computer catching up with the news, my RSS feed items and my blogging.

Let’s chat a minute, shall we.

I have been following the Trayvon Martin case in Florida and although I have been publicly silent about it, I have been quietly praying. I try to avoid topics that become overly political or racial on this blog, but today, I was so hurt when I read an article written by someone in Chicago speaking against the media attention that has been shown to one single shooting in Florida. He wants us to concentrate on the innocent people that have been shot accidentally in Chicago due to drive-by shootings. I agree that we don’t need to loose focus on our local issues but he fed right into the issue when he decided to make his first point that Trayvon was a “towering” figure standing over 6 feet tall. At that point his credibility went straight out the window. You don’t shoot a man because he’s taller than what you think you can handle. I am disgusted at the views that are coming out surrounding this issue. Regardless of which side you stand on, just take a minute to evaluate what your underlying views are. If a towering black man wearing a hood was walking down your street, would you get nervous? Would you shoot?

Serial killers are typically nerdy, middle-aged white men. Should I shoot the next one that the power company sends knocking at my door. Better yet, the mail man. He might go “postal” at my front door. I don’t look at anyone’s skin tone and automatically assume they are criminals. We need to stop letting our views on another race dictate how the law is applied in this country.

And it’s okay not to know how to feel, which is where I am. I have heard the story. I have heard the 911 tape and it breaks my heart. But I also think there is a lot to this story that we don’t know. What I do feel is the shooter should be arrested and charged. Let him post bail and defend his actions as any of us would be called to do in the same situation.