The Hunger Games' 'stomach-turning' racist tweet scandal

"Why does Rue have to be black?" wonders one fan, arguing that the ethnicity of the child actress playing the pivotal role "ruined the movie"

The Hunger Games character Rue
(Image credit: Courtesy Lionsgate)

Some young fans of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games novel are lamenting the new film adaptation... for rather unsettling reasons. The characters Rue and Thresh — who fight alongside heroine Katniss Everdeen in a government-sponsored reality TV death match — are played by black actors, and fans who'd presumed the characters were white have tweeted provocative complaints about the casting. The "racist tweets" have quickly gone viral, sparking a larger conversation about tween and teen prejudice. Here, a guide to the controversy (Caution: Some spoilers lie ahead):

Who are these characters?

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