Whitewashing isn’t just wrong because it’s inaccurate, because it upsets the numbers game, or because it dulls the reader’s appreciation of diversity, although it is all of those things. Most importantly, whitewashing is wrong because it hurts real people. Because people have always looked to art to show them their potential but some people don’t see themselves there.

Because now it doesn’t matter what Collins wrote, when people read The Hunger Games they will see Jennifer Lawrence’s face. Katniss used to have an “olive-skinned” face, but now she has a White one. She was stolen away from the people who needed her most.

This isn’t just an academic exercise. This isn’t just numbers on a spreadsheet, although I’m sure money is how Ross justifies the race-exclusive casting call. This is saying to people of color, “It doesn’t matter how little you have, just a few ambiguous words on a page, or how long you can make them last - we can take them back whenever we want.”

(Source: katnissisoliveskinneddealwithit)