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A review by softrosemint
The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
it's hard for me to rate important books and i feel this book is truly important.
i have been on the internet for more than half of my life and have, in fact, belonged to many the fan spaces discussed in the books. i remember amandla's casting as rue and the uproar (and the casting of jennifer as katniss, for that matter too, and how for a poc coded character suddenly it was fine to cast a white actress as long as "she suited the role best"), the nasty treatment of angel coulby as guinevere, the assassination of bonnie bennett by her own show writers. i also remember many black fans rightfully calling out the above treatment and reflecting on their wider fandom experience.
with this in mind, i am very glad that such experience has been academised. i think it is important to bring issues of race and the treatment of characters of colour, particurarly black characters, to the forefront and to the attention of virtually any non-black person who would like to pursue any form of storytelling. it is important to listen to the experience of others and learn to see their point of view.
i have been on the internet for more than half of my life and have, in fact, belonged to many the fan spaces discussed in the books. i remember amandla's casting as rue and the uproar (and the casting of jennifer as katniss, for that matter too, and how for a poc coded character suddenly it was fine to cast a white actress as long as "she suited the role best"), the nasty treatment of angel coulby as guinevere, the assassination of bonnie bennett by her own show writers. i also remember many black fans rightfully calling out the above treatment and reflecting on their wider fandom experience.
with this in mind, i am very glad that such experience has been academised. i think it is important to bring issues of race and the treatment of characters of colour, particurarly black characters, to the forefront and to the attention of virtually any non-black person who would like to pursue any form of storytelling. it is important to listen to the experience of others and learn to see their point of view.