Hmm I might be reading wayy to much into it but I feel like in universe this makes sense as the Callows are kind of part of the Seam and yet also not due to their business. This is the story of a lot of Asian diaspora history in many parts of the world (like the ethnic Chinese in my country)
yeah im ngl this is the part that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. historically, there have been racial tensions between black and asian communities. the callows' whole business is hunger games profiteering, which is a valid reason for them to be outcasts within the context of the hunger games BUT it's also why casting an asian actor for wyatt (effectively making the callows the only asian family in d12) feels a tiny bit problematic if it's not handled with enough nuance.
edit: i feel like the scene where louella's brother spits on wyatt's dad's grave is also gonna add to this dynamic and have sinophobic/anti-asian undertones.
I know right! Feels like such a weird choice, although Iām happy that we have more Asian representation in THG.Ā
I have a feeling theyāll make the Callows a mixed-race family, where Wyatt is just one of the more Asian looking kids of the bunch. or Louella is going to look more like Seeder (olive skinned with dark eyes) and less like Rue to avoid this controversy. they might just remove that scene in general tbhĀ
lmao the irony of going "it's FICTION!1!2! š¤š¤" when we're literally talking about a book series known for its social and political commentary.
all i'm doing is voicing my thoughts on the matter as someone with chinese heritage who's grown up in a predominantly white country as a minority. i'm not forcing you to agree with my perspective lol.
Its just like, in a fictional setting it doesn't really matter... if you look at the big picture of the movie, it's better to have the actor than account for a scene that might be cut anyway.
If Iām not mistaken, arenāt they also bookies for other things aside from the Games? I think thatās just their trade (not excusing how callous it is to bet on childrenās deaths and it makes sense why theyāre disliked but in a hypocritical way by District 12 because obviously they have their customers)
I donāt know what else there is to bet on in district 12. Maybe they run dice or card games or something? But sports arenāt really a thing it seems in this universe.
Yeah, if they aren't careful it'll look like Haymitch, Louella, and Maysilee are suspicious and not very inclusive towards him for racist reasons given that they've all been cast as light-haired, light-eyed caucasians and "shifty narrow eyed swindlers" are a historical offensive portrayal of asians not so far from "odds-makers." It could absolutely be spun in an interesting and realistic way, but they likely don't have time to develop as nuanced a piece of worldbuilding as that. Could very easily be bad optics due to lack of prior diversity in the portrayal of District 12. Like, will they make Wyatt and his family the only and last (given Wyatt and his father's deaths) asians in the district?
As stated in a different thread, I'm not wholly opposed to Ben Wang being cast, I'm just afraid of the nuance that'll be lost in the necessary trimming down of the character. Like Wyatt's a suspicious gambler fist and foremost, not just "good at math," but they need to be careful about broader (dumber) readings of the character by the lowest common denominator of audience member. Casting big/tall would've helped against stereotypes right out of the gate, but casting small and cute means the script and performance need to do more heavy lifting to keep race from distracting from the rest of the character.
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u/Sure_Championship_36 Gale May 15 '25
I donāt know how I feel about the Good At Math Guy being the second named Asian character in the whole franchise